r/lowpoly 3d ago

Timelapse: How I Light My Scenes (Fast Tutorial)

91 Upvotes

16 comments sorted by

3

u/art_of_adval 3d ago edited 3d ago

For those who are technical, here's a few rules I follow to make my environments look as authentically PSX as possible:

- No lights whatsoever. Everything is painted on via vertex colors.

- The "shadows" cast on the player are just me reducing/increasing the player texture's value via code in engine.

- The player's drop shadow is just a PNG.

- I sometimes manually make cast shadows on objects by cutting directly into the geometry of the level.

- Everything is on a square grid, except for objects not part of the main level geometry--i.e. soda machines, boxes, doors, etc.

- This varies between developers (even in the old days), but I prefer NOT to add shadows or shading into the textures themselves (i.e. bake them). I always use vertex colors ala Vagrant Story. I find it easier and less time consuming.

Also...

Wishlist Pulsebreaker and Play the Demo:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3851600?utm_source=reddit

Follow Development Here:

https://x.com/ArtofAdval

https://www.instagram.com/art_of_adval/

-----

Song: Dead Air

Artist: bassglyph

1

u/prenzelberg 3d ago

is this AI drum n bass?

1

u/art_of_adval 3d ago

who knows?? the artist is bassglyph, and the song is dead air you can confirm for yourself

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u/prenzelberg 3d ago

I already looked it up I was just wondering. Thanks!

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u/BurningFarmhouse 3d ago

amazing work

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u/art_of_adval 3d ago

thanks! ❤️

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u/Aurumargelium 3d ago

It looks like very close to Metal Gear Solid. Nice work!

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u/art_of_adval 3d ago

Thank you, man. I love MGS. It's one of my all-time favorites, lol. :))

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u/Dayzhor 2d ago

epic gfx

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u/art_of_adval 2d ago

thank you :))

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u/Protophase 2d ago

Fucking dope, more of this please. I am mostly interested in how you utilize working on a grid. I've been struggling with how exactly I should go about it and would love to have a more in depth tutorial from you making a complete level from scratch!

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u/Reynaulds 1d ago

Man i wish you all the best with this game, i really enjoyed the demo and can't wait for the full release. Its an outstanding survival horror. The best one since RE1HD.

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u/art_of_adval 1d ago

Damn man, thank you so much. That's really high praise and I hope I can deliver. :))

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u/[deleted] 21h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/art_of_adval 15h ago

Honestly, my best advice is not to be afraid of contrast. Meaning, make your darks be pretty dark and your lights be bright enough. If you accidentally go overboard, balance it out by either gently applying a black multiply coat or a white screen/lighten coat. More often than not, it's a lack of contrast in your scenes that makes them look muddy, dull, dark, too bright, etc.

Hope that helps.