Author Topic: The Graphics of Underrail  (Read 2879 times)

screamingbrain

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The Graphics of Underrail
« on: July 01, 2021, 06:20:25 am »
Aspiring game-graphics-guy here, and I'm super curious about the tiles and scenery used throughout Underrail.. I mostly work with 2D isometric (or dimetric) projections, much like the style of Underrail, but not quite on the same level of glorious detail. While I have spent many hours playing this fantastic game, I've also spent just about as many hours admiring and studying or analyzing the graphics in the game. I could tell there is a mix of 2D animation work done by hand blended with lots of 2D renders of 3D objects, but I really would love to know more about the process behind the texturing/shading and overall design of the tiles and objects! I'm not exaggerating even a tiny bit when I say there is not a whole lot of information out there in the wild related to Isometric Graphics that isn't just a simple "use Blender." I absolutely love the pixel perfect 2:1 isometric techniques being used throughout the artwork in Underrail. I know this might be a bit of a deeper question, as there may be some secrets the artist is not willing to divulge, and most people probably won't be as interested in the process as I am, but I would love to learn a bit more or pick someone's brain on the subject!
« Last Edit: July 01, 2021, 11:27:23 am by screamingbrain »

Mac Orion

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Re: The Graphics of Underrail
« Reply #1 on: July 01, 2021, 09:13:02 am »
Besides the classical use Blender, there are small details that are important.
A huge chunk of assets and effects are 3d, 99% of the assets i did in the last 2-3 years are done with blender with almost no Photoshop retouching.

I use a specific setup for my camera and keep it Mathematicaly perfect, so that when i render and something is straight it gets those nice 2x1 pixel steps.
I used Photoshop only to fix up some small details, even less now.
Most of the texturing is done through procedural shaders or i use some texture and clean them up from sharp details, it's better to make details through geometry than rely on textures.
Have a small library of shaders for various materials.
Always use the same Light/hri setup.
set the pixel filter to a low filtering value, it does not need to be nearest neighbour, just set it lower, the default for blender is 1.5 (i use between 0.1 and 0.5 depending on the asset)
there are a lot of small things that you just learn with work, always learn, always try to improve, time is success.




screamingbrain

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Re: The Graphics of Underrail
« Reply #2 on: July 01, 2021, 11:20:57 am »
Thank you so much for the detailed response! The mathematically precise camera is probably the part I have struggled with in the past. That and aliasing lol. I've actually been dabbling with Blender and orthographic cameras, and nailing that perfect angle has been incredibly tricky for me. I've mostly worked off a few specific angles and some messy math I stumbled across on ancient forum posts. I do tend to work with procedural textures/shaders as well with my work, though I am still learning in that area :) But it is really nice to know that I'm not too far off track when it comes to some of the renders I've been working on!

I really appreciate you taking the time to go over the camera settings and the math involved, that is exactly the kind of thing I was hoping to ask as well! I have very rarely come across anyone breaking down the math for that specific 2:1 perspective, and even what I have been able to find and study online has been rather limited. It is a very particular art style that I have always been fascinated with, and I have much love for your work! And as always, I'll keep at it and refine my techniques! Thanks again!!
« Last Edit: July 01, 2021, 11:50:21 am by screamingbrain »

cypherusuh

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Re: The Graphics of Underrail
« Reply #3 on: July 04, 2021, 05:03:37 pm »
I didn't know the game is completely 3D but with math magic to makes it looks 2d.
is that means, with camera and total control rework, is it possible to play, or at least walk around the map through PoV?

Mac Orion

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Re: The Graphics of Underrail
« Reply #4 on: July 05, 2021, 11:54:04 am »
I didn't know the game is completely 3D but with math magic to makes it looks 2d.
is that means, with camera and total control rework, is it possible to play, or at least walk around the map through PoV?
Theoretically but not practically, the assets are prerendered, not the whole map (sometimes big chunks), but there is a lot of visual voodoo going on that would break once you rotate the camera. But this is one of those interesting challenges going further, now that the characters are going to be 3d, they need to be similar to the rest of the environment.

https://stygiansoftware.com/infusion/devlogs/3-real-time-3d-models.html