its on Godot now (as of when unity did 'the thing') so I'm not sure when or where this information came from
if the thing about unlit shaders is true I'll be really interested in finding out what he did cos it sure as hell looked like it had lit shaders when i played it last
You can check his dev blogs on Patreon. He explains he doesn't want to use PBR to distract from the core game development for now. He also says that his photo-based workflow keeps him productive.
This guy is the human embodiment of 'getting shit done' to me. This assertion is borne out by the fact that Vostok is the only instance of an engine change not completely ruining development ever recorded
Everyone here should buy the game whether they want to play it or not (it's not bad at all btw. just small at present)
Is this really unlit, though? Might be a communication problem. Even if he used an unlit shader as a base that he then modified, the scenes are clearly lit and shadowed and at least some don't seem to be using lightmaps, either.
It's quite self-explanatory when looking at the provided assets really isn't it ? Models textured to look good without just a single diffuse texture with some faint top-down shading built-in, ending up looking also quite convincing under simple in-engine lighting and shadows.
Basically high end PS2 SilentHill/MGS4 or PS3/360 era Call of Duty style.
From a player's POV think his game does have a bit of CS.GO/CS2 "Black Mesa' - kind of vibe about it alongside old school modding cred as well i.e.
Asset Pack Usage
- 100% Free (CC0) - No attribution needed - Commercial use allowed
Although having both ex-forces and an industry background to be honest are probably prerequisite skillets, you'd want as solo dev tackling a shooter of this scope. Anyway I reckon he's onto a winner.
I love how this technical choices regarding the assets make complete sense and could be applied to many bloated productions - essenctially reducing ressources by about 10x, simply by adopting 2005-ish standards and a visual style just ever so slightly different from the usual, while at the same time recalling some nostalgic gaming experiences of the past.
if it plays well and doesn't feel too "samey" the only ones who'll notice the lack of pbr will be other game artists it's quite the challenge he's taken on... I guess the promotion is to aid funding with a view to getting some help.
I love how this technical choices regarding the assets make complete sense and could be applied to many bloated productions - essenctially reducing ressources by about 10x, simply by adopting 2005-ish standards and a visual style just ever so slightly different from the usual, while at the same time recalling some nostalgic gaming experiences of the past.
Looking forward to playing this !
Yes, there is a strong "HL2 Episode 2" art vibe to it, but with higher-resolution textures.
Well it's not an unlit shader since he uses dynamic lights/shadows. Also on videos, we can see normal maps reacting to dynamic lights. Lambert/Blinn shading/(cubemap reflection) on dynamic objects, most specular/reflections directly baked down into the diffuse map, directionnal lightmaps... It's a mix. We kinda do the same for mobile VR, trying to squeeze everything and still looking decent. Interesting devlog, so thanks ! Yeah, very HL2-esque (which is a monument on many technical aspects)
if it plays well and doesn't feel too "samey" the only ones who'll notice the lack of pbr will be other game artists it's quite the challenge he's taken on... I guess the promotion is to aid funding with a view to getting some help.
iirc he's said he's pretty determined to do it solo and to document everything. I've not played the last update but all the previous ones ive touched have been very solid indeed.
Replies
He also released all of it under a permissive license: https://roadtovostok.itch.io/road-to-vostok-assets-vol1
its on Godot now (as of when unity did 'the thing') so I'm not sure when or where this information came from
if the thing about unlit shaders is true I'll be really interested in finding out what he did cos it sure as hell looked like it had lit shaders when i played it last
Additionally, for assets created by freelancers, he bakes down the PBR into a diffuse: https://x.com/roadtovostok/status/1506386451533021186
This guy is the human embodiment of 'getting shit done' to me.
This assertion is borne out by the fact that Vostok is the only instance of an engine change not completely ruining development ever recorded
Everyone here should buy the game whether they want to play it or not (it's not bad at all btw. just small at present)
Basically high end PS2 SilentHill/MGS4 or PS3/360 era Call of Duty style.
Asset Pack Usage
- 100% Free (CC0)
- No attribution needed
- Commercial use allowed
Although having both ex-forces and an industry background to be honest are probably prerequisite skillets, you'd want as solo dev tackling a shooter of this scope. Anyway I reckon he's onto a winner.Looking forward to playing this !
it's quite the challenge he's taken on... I guess the promotion is to aid funding with a view to getting some help.
Lambert/Blinn shading/(cubemap reflection) on dynamic objects, most specular/reflections directly baked down into the diffuse map, directionnal lightmaps...
It's a mix. We kinda do the same for mobile VR, trying to squeeze everything and still looking decent.
Interesting devlog, so thanks !
Yeah, very HL2-esque (which is a monument on many technical aspects)
I've not played the last update but all the previous ones ive touched have been very solid indeed.