Creating Immersion Through Weather Effects

[Arsene Lupin]

Note:

 

I realize many of us are part of the crowdfunding initiative for both this game, Project Obsidian (which, I'll be honest, I find the most exciting all of the crowdfunded cRPGs) and InXile Entertainment's "Torment: Tides of Numenera." InXile's Torment forums have a very nice set of mechanics in place for contributing game ideas--a mechanic I have made full use of in the past several days. My basic line of thinking was this: What are the things that annoy the hell out of me in isometric RPGs? What are the things that I always want to see an RPGs but never do?

 

That train of thought led me to propose several ideas both mechanical and aesthetic. Because both Torment: Tides of Numenera and Project Eternity are very much being developed in the vein of classic, Infinity Engine cRPGs, I feel that these ideas are applicable--and, to a certain degree, vital--to both titles. As I mentioned, these are things that I believe belong in every RPG of good standing, and while some may read these notions of mine and think, "that's obvious," or, "that's too simple of a thing to bother proposing,"--and while I may agree with those sentiments--I still believe that some things simply need to be said.

 

I will do my best to fully articulate these ideas as best I can--which means I'll be writing as much as I feel necessary to clearly convey both my ideas in specific, as well as their emotional impetus. If you don't have the time or inclination to properly hear me out, please just avoid this thread.

 

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Creating Immersion Through Weather Effects

Alternate title: The Benefit of Proper Perspective in an Isometric Game

 

Rain perspective is one of those little things that every game seems to do wrong, but that no one really seems to notice or care about. But it's something I always notice and--the more I see it, the more I care about it.

 

Most of the time you see rain in a game, it's not really rain. (This applies to all forms of precipitation, but I'll be using "rain" instead of of "rain and snow and sleet and hail and drizzle"). In many 3D game, and virtually 100% of isometric games, rain is depicted with a clever optical illusion that makes use of two different semi-transparent animation overlays.

 

First, you have the "ground" animation layer--this is, as you might imagine, a layer on the ground that shows the impact of the precipitation. For rain, you'll see little raindrops hitting thr ground, maybe some steam rising, things like that. (This layer isn't necessary for all kinds of precipitation; snow, for example, falling on a snowfield requires no "impact" animation).

 

Second is the precipitation layer--this is usually applied directly to the screen, and is the most visible element. Usually, rain is depicted as constantly falling in parallel trajectory from the upper right of the screen to the lower left. If you've played many old RPGs or RTS games, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Rain looked like this:

 

 

 

And it looked terrible. Isometric games are supposed to present the game world from a top-down perspective--the "camera" is placed high in the air and aimed downward. So why is rain depicted from the same lateral perspective that Morte and The Nameless One down below would see it?

 

Isometric games need to depict rain (and other forms of precipitation) in the proper perspective--and in a 3D perspective. There are two ways to do this. First, a game could render weather in full 3D--this is more work, but allows for more dynamic weather effects like wind and random thunder/lightning lighting effects. But the same effect can be achieved the same way rain was depicted in the older isometric games--using the exact same optical illusion! All it requires is a little bit more work from the artists in charge of creating the animation overlays, and a very small amount of new work.

 

Here's a quick mock-up of what rain should look like (and should have looked like) from an isometric perspective:

 

 

 

Since you are looking down on the action from above, the rain is falling away from the "camera" toward the ground. Because of this perspective, the density of rain in greater along the periphery of the screen, and lessened in the center--effectively framing the game-play rather than obscuring it. This effect would be be created by using two different animation layers for the falling rain--larger droplets "up close" that are more detailed, and smaller droplets that are "further away" that are less detailed. Furthermore, you easily create the illusion of wind by having the the say back and forth--the "close" rain would sway back and forth more than the "far" rain, and the speed at which the swaying occurs could easily be increased or decreased to simulate stormy or calm weather.

 

Implementing this kind of more accurate effect accomplishes several very important things:

 

1. It increases the realism of the game world by accurately depicting what rainfall would look like from the camera's (player's) perspective.
2. The proper perspective would naturally result in the rain effects "framing" the action, thereby infusing the game with a nice atmosphere without obscuring terrain to the detriment of play.
3. It allows for weather systems to be much more dynamic and visually stimulating, which is important in a game where the player is "removed" from the action through the isometric perspective.
4. The game naturally becomes much more immersive, as the accurate perspective (especially when coupled with wind effects, sound effects, lighting effects and character effects--like fog appearing near creatures' heads to simulate visible breath on a cold day, or steam rising form the ground) makes the player feel like he or she is "really there."

 

Because the camera angle of an isometric game is fixed, it is vitally important that all of the visual and audio elements contribute to the player's immersion in the world. Attention to detail is what makes these worlds come alive, what makes them so compelling and interesting and worth exploring--and well-thought and well-implemented weather effects are a vital part of crafting that detail.

Edited May 4, 2013 by Arsene Lupin

[Sabotin]

The view is at an angle, not top-down. And since it's isometric, the weather effects should be, too, I think. To keep the picture consistent, even if not entirely realistic.

 

Regardless of that I would indeed like to see improved weather effects. I guess rain can be really hard to simulate in such a game simply because water droplets are smaller than a pixel. Perhaps if it is modeled more as a fog with the tiny splashes on the ground (and/or make the ground a bit darker as if wet?). Based on that dynamic lightning shown in the video lightning flashes should look great.

[Arsene Lupin]

Well, one of the benefits of proper perspective would be that rain would necessarily be too small to be detailed. Drain in the distance could be rendered as simply as a "haze" made out of semi-transparent lines (so no "falling" motion) w/ the "up close" layer consisting of larger, visible "rain drops" whose detail you could make out (i.e. they wouldn't have to be the same size as a pixel).

 

And from the screenshots, it does not appear that the game will be 100% isometric. (There seems to be a clear background/foreground in the terrain, if small). But, that said, the isometric angle effects the perspective of the ground and things on it... weather effects affect the perspective of elements above ground--not the people or terrain, but the camera height & placement.

 

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And regarding simulated rain, etc., like I said in my post, it's really not that hard to simulate rain--it just requires spending a bit more time on the animation overlay to create the illusion of dynamic "wind" effecting rain trajectory.

 

Also, even the Infinity Engine games got rid of the idea of "accurate" pixel-sized rain in favor of more visible, stylized rain "streaks."

Edited May 4, 2013 by Arsene Lupin

[AGX-17]

...yeah, I'm not going to quote that excessive OP.

 

At first glance, you seem to be presenting this from the perspective assumption that rain can only fall from 180 degrees behind the isometric camera's viewpoint. There is a thing called "wind," after all. The first screenshot is entirely plausible given the right wind conditions. Regardless, aren't you just complaining about bad visual effects from an old game? What basis do you have for suggesting that Obsidian is going to lazily go about constructing the game world? We've already seen a video demonstrating a day/night cycle, and the game's development is still, to my knowledge, pre-alpha stage.

 

All the things you're stating about the value of weather effects to a game's atmosphere are givens, not secrets shamefully denied by the developers or skeletons in a closet you're dramatically unveiling to an unwitting public.

Edited May 6, 2013 by AGX-17

[TrashMan]

One thing - wouldn't the size of the droplets depend from the distance to the camera?

 

In other words, you can't see droplets in the distance, those close are big and so forth....