This time on 'Through the Gunsights' we take a look at the visual effects workflows currently in development on '83. Taking a closer look at prototypes for destruction, explosions and our gore.

Everyone at Antimatter has been working really hard through this strange and interesting year. We wanted to spread a little bit of joy by giving you, our awesome community, a daily gift! So for everyday until the 24th our Advent Calendar will open a new door and give you a peak of what we've been developing.

So from all of us at Antimatter Games, to all of you....
Happy Holidays and an excellent New Year!

https://www.antimattergames.com/2020-calendar

In our latest Through The Gunsights we answer your most burning questions about '83!

Hi everyone!
We wanted to let you know that we’re all still hard at work to bring you ‘83 during these difficult times. With that in mind we have an exciting update for you: Weapons and Webcams!
Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Hi everyone! Seems like it’s been forever since we’ve had time to sit down and do a proper update on all things ‘83. We haven’t forgotten you, we’re just super busy developing the best game we can make. We want to take this time to a through update. So strap on your AK, reload your FAL and get ready to defend your future!

New Maps

Since our last update our level designers and environment artists have been hard at work creating two new maps. We have yet to reveal the titles of either of them but we have shown pictures like the two shown above. The one on the left is a map of valleys and villages, and the one of the right is a level of forests and hidden buildings. We’re still taking guesses on the locations on these maps, so if you think you know where they are Tweet us @83TheGame!

New Weapons

We’ve had so many new weapon announcements since last we spoke! The Bren L4A4, the Makarov Pistol, the Browning Hi Power, the L42A1 and the Dragunov SVD! These are all in the blockout stage but they are all in engine and we’ve really enjoyed shooting our co-workers with each and every one of them!

New Uniform

Our Soviet Soldier, Vlad, was given a new wardrobe for the hot summer days he'll be fighting the enemies of communism. The iconic M69 uniform is paired with the SSH-68 helmet, pictured below, in engine.
Thank you for your continued support!
Antimatter Games


'83 Facebook[www.facebook.com]
'83 Twitter
'83 Reddit
'83 Discord[discordapp.com]
'83 Website[83thegame.com]

Why Photogrammetry?

83 was proposed as a realistic tactical shooter and because of this it was decided very early on that the use of photogrammetry should indeed be used; not only for speeding up art production but more importantly for the high fidelity that can be achieved through such a process.

Workflow

There are many processes involved in photogrammetry but we begin by capturing surfaces. In order to generate accurate PBR textures we need to collect as much data as possible. Basically meaning we need to grab a camera and take a ton of shots from various angles. All images need to be consistent, with some overlap, and the same lighting conditions from the beginning to the end of capture.

We then proceed to importing our photographs into a relevant photogrammetry software such as Agisoft or Reality Capture. This software compiles all the relevant capture data, calculates where they are in 3d space and finally recreates a 3d model.

When we are happy with our 3d model we then usually export to a sculpting package and optimize any topology. The capture tools can often produce artifacts depending on how complex they are, so it’s important we clean these models up and smooth them out. The end result is our high poly asset.

The final step of our workflow is to create a low poly version of the asset for optimsation purposes. We bake the necessary maps such as albedo/ normal / height from the high scanned version to the low-poly version and then proceed to importing the assets to game for testing.

The Basics

Our first goal when beginning the animation for ‘83 was to get the basics feeling really smooth. This gives us a baseline for playtesting; a bare minimum that we can expand upon and eventually apply more advanced systems to as we progress. These animations include, but are not limited to walking, crouching and proning. Each of these animations have subsections, for instance, under crouching we have a walking and crouching. These animations also require transitions; from walking to jogging, from jogging to proning. Getting these transitions to feel realistic and smooth can be a real challenge, but one that our experienced animation department are used to!
Weapon Animations

Our animators start work with a very basic block out of each weapon type. This allows them to create basic animations with a variety of weapons. A player weilding a rifle, for instance, walks very differently to a player weilding a pistol. Each of these animations have to be created in first person and third person.

A new system currently being introduced is a Freelook mode for first person, giving the player the opportunity to survey the area without full body movement while in cover, or spot enemies while sprinting through a battlefield, making movement more tactical and give control to the player. With this comes a new way of animating first person, no longer is there only the arms and weapon on a locked camera to consider, but now we have full upper body animations, giving a sense of realism to the player as they see animations in more detail.
Advanced Systems

Our animation department have pitched a ton of cool and unique systems for ‘83, most of which we want to keep under wraps at the moment! We can, however, confirm that movement such as ladder climbing and physics based death animations are currently being prototyped. Our coders and animators are also currently working on dynamic mantaling, leaning and limping.

The priority for animation at this early stage is to push the range of the movement for the player, working with designers to get a sense of where the limits should be, how high can climb? How far can you jump? We do not want the player to feel restricted in how they navigate the maps.