Cross of the DutchmanEnvironment Effects: Floaticles
Between our last post and this one, the team has been kicking ass and making huge progress with the design of the maps. Most of the assets and textures had already been created, meaning that the designers are able to focus on creating a map that is interesting to look at, and provides with a good layout for the gameplay. However, creating a map for a game is not just about positioning the props and thinking about the paths players can take. In a lot of cases it is about the small things that really help bring the environment to life. In this new series, we will discuss each environmental effect individually starting with our very own invention; Floaticles.
Essentially, Floaticles are particles. But because we’re just a bit different, we decided to give them another name. Our floaticles resemble dust particles that spring from the fields and (dusty) roads. However, creating an effect like this is a more delicate matter than you might think at first. We don’t want particles to be spawned all over the map because of the performance impact it might have, but we do want them to be positioned relative to the ground increasing the spatial awareness effect you get from walking though the “clould” of floaticles.
Still to come; Water, Grass, Trees, Butterflies and Grasshoppers. We’re not done yet, no sir!
Floaticles in Unity
8 Comments on “Environment Effects: Floaticles”
Niceh! I watched Tjallings presentation today at the NHL about league of virus!
Good stuff… I’m especially curious about the water effects in the game…
I love you guys!! this is like watching and following my fav. soap
walking on a sandy road will bring up a nice poof of dust, while walking trough the grainfields (Nôtfjilden) the dust particles will almost be tastable!!
flowers > Leaves > Papers > Butterflies > Flies > Dust > Waterdrops > Snowflakes > Fog . i want to see it all!
Great job guys i really love the info we are getting.
Q: what kind of background will there be cuz the pic has a darkblue one?
(i would think of a 2d slide background, the last and far one would be picturing the nearby villages, and then two infront holding land and trees)
@spazz, the background is just the “default” Unity background. We’re actually using a shader that is changing the colors to a blue hue depending on how far away objects are from the camera. Since the game will feature a birds-eye (but top-down) perspective the entire time, you won’t see the sky at all!
Just downloaded the unity 3d and had a go with it.. wow thats hard for a programming noob like myself
i have build a platform with a sphere on it and let it move using the default character controller..
im now fingering out how to make grass.!!
Unity is a cool tool butt hard to learn for me (Ill get there)
Knowing this my “Wow Amazing Face” is growing even larger for you guy’s
Now let the die ciepels from Greatte Pier make A Masterpies (woot wooot) (ps. dat is hout)
Masterpies… Sounds delicious…
Aren’t the “particles” part of the Unity Engine? I would say the “particles” are done in one of last stages of the game?
Usually it is one of the final steps in creating an atmosphere for the environments. This was the case for us as well. Once we had our assets, vegetation, shaders and lightmaps done, we started working on effects such as particles, small bugs (like butterflies) and water effects to make the environment feel more alive :-)