Rigid-perspective 3D models, or really, really well-done sprites and lighting?

[Julius Seizure]

I was recommended this game by a friend, and I'm enjoying what it has to offer so far. The controls are tight, the combat is fun, and complements to whoever does the sound design. What I'm baffled (and impressed) by, however, is the graphics.

They look like 80s/90s-style isometric sprites updated to modern standards, but the way light acts and reacts to the environment gives the impression of being rendered in a 3D space with a few perspective gimmicks in place to make it look like sprites.

It's a really cool effect, and I'm wildly curious as to how it was managed.

[Boss Tweed]

Everything is sprite based. All the assets were created as 3D models and baked down to 2D sprites, but we also use the zdepths to handle/approximate lighting and depth sorting. So it's several layers of wizardry going in to making the game look as it does :)

[Julius Seizure]

Originally posted by Boss Tweed:

Everything is sprite based. All the assets were created as 3D models and baked down to 2D sprites, but we also use the zdepths to handle/approximate lighting and depth sorting. So it's several layers of wizardry going in to making the game look as it does :)

Oh, I see it now. It's sort of an evolution of how the old DOOM games simulated 3D monsters using digitized pictured of clay models, only now the models were digital to begin with because we're in the future.

Ten levels of brightness for lights in a game from a known developer was revolutionary back in the day, and here's an indie game with 2D sprites managing to fool me into thinking they're 3D models with the way light interacts with them. I cannot wait to see where you guys go with this.

[Boss Tweed]

Thanks Killbeard! We use 64 rotations for vehicles, though we're able to cut that in half and use mirroring in cases of symmetrical vehicles. For reference, here's the sprite sheet for an agrav that isn't currenlty in the game yet: http://i.imgur.com/vvxXGOv.png

There's a secondary sheet as well which has all the depth information, though it mostly just looks like grey shapes.

[Julius Seizure]

Originally posted by Boss Tweed:

Thanks Killbeard! We use 64 rotations for vehicles, though we're able to cut that in half and use mirroring in cases of symmetrical vehicles. For reference, here's the sprite sheet for an agrav that isn't currenlty in the game yet: http://i.imgur.com/vvxXGOv.png

There's a secondary sheet as well which has all the depth information, though it mostly just looks like grey shapes.

Antigravity oldsmobiles were something I never knew I had to see until I saw one.

I really appreciate the fact that you took the time to share this, and I'm looking forward to seeing your future vehicle designs... And taking them to the streets to wreck stuff.

[Boss Tweed]

Yeah buddy!

[V3RTIGO]

Originally posted by Boss Tweed:

Thanks Killbeard! We use 64 rotations for vehicles, though we're able to cut that in half and use mirroring in cases of symmetrical vehicles. For reference, here's the sprite sheet for an agrav that isn't currenlty in the game yet: http://i.imgur.com/vvxXGOv.png

There's a secondary sheet as well which has all the depth information, though it mostly just looks like grey shapes.

Wait... so that... gets guns!?

[MagneticJerk]

Originally posted by V3RTIGO:

Wait... so that... gets guns!?

Nah, but there'll be dudes inside that do drive-bys with laser Tommyguns.

[Boss Tweed]

Hahahahh laser tommyguns may or may not be included, but yes there will definitely be weapons mounted on that thing.

[Sunflower Cat]

why did you bake all the models down to sprites instead of just keeping them 3d?

[Boss Tweed]

The engine we built from scratch was made to handle sprites, and by baking them down it dramatically sped up the art pipeline. The artist (you'll see him post occasionally, Gauss) used kitbashing methods and some procedural texturing that allowed him to build ship quality assets in less than a day.

[SEAN CONNERY]

Originally posted by Moose7:

why did you bake all the models down to sprites instead of just keeping them 3d?

What people don't appreciate is just how trivial a 2D asset pipeline is compared to a 3D one. Although the source art is done in 3D, the amount of work to render the images and get them into the game is nothing compared to the asset pipeline required in a full 3D game. And that's just the tools side of things.

The actual content creation process is much quicker for us because the 3D models don't really need to be UV mapped or any other laborious texturing related process. If we need more detail, just add more polygons; there's no such thing as a polygon budget in our game. So long as we get images to feed into the game, that's all that matters.