• Register
Post news Report RSS City of Steam Art Dev Journal - Cityscape Changes

Thanks to more advanced version of Unity 3D, our artists polished and improved some of the older suburbs a great deal. Now they are taunting you, daring you to explore them!

Posted by on

A repost from City of Steam Dev Journals

Hi-ho again, readers! We’ve got more art-related goodness for you this week: this time, let’s talk cityscapes!

Even great changes can go unnoticed by those who only see the overall process in small, gradual steps (in this case: us developers). This week, after stumbling across some of the older City of Steam screenshots that were tucked under the rug, it was clear to see how far we’ve come. Thanks to frequent Unity 3D updates and the tons of new and improved graphical features that were implemented over time, we were able to add and improve on particle effects, environmental effects, lighting and shading, and a bunch of other little things.

Take Gardenworks, for example:

Notice a difference? Ok, sorry, dumb question, yes, it’s very obvious. The skies went from a disaster-level smog alert to an even more sickening noxious green haze. We removed some of the clutter from all the houses being packed together, and added more varied detail instead, going with the theme of how plantlife is taking over.

Shuffling over to Central, we see:

Again, the sky looks a lot better here. Also, you’ll notice that the canal has more of a mist effect, which helps obscure the unknowns that are hiding down there.

Here is another location, Beryl’s Folly, which some of you may recognize (from screenshots or perusing the site); see how many improvements you can spot:

Beryl’s Folly looks a lot more sinister now. What could be lurking in those depths?

Before, the excavation pit in Beryl’s Folly was just a dark hole. Intimidating in its own right, but lacking the air of mystery surrounding it. Adding some glow, smoke, and floating embers makes the place seem more alive (and dangerous).

Needless to say, we’re feeling good about how things are turning out; we really want to make a good first impression at alpha (and subsequent releases, of course!), and every little daily tweak we’ve made had really added up. It’s good to take a step back once in a while and just enjoy the view!

As always, comments and thoughts are welcome! Feel free to drop by the Forum and discuss.

Post comment Comments
rottenhedgehog
rottenhedgehog

o_O Wow, this looks sooooo great. Why online and free2play?! Gna...

Reply Good karma Bad karma+1 vote
CoS_Ethan Author
CoS_Ethan

What we are creating is a browser game with a tiny download, I just think that these new suburbs look really amazing.

Reply Good karma+3 votes
booman
booman

Amazing detail! So much eye candy and so epic!
Thanks for updating us on some of the smaller details... I'm impressed with the amount of structures and space to play. It always excites me knowing I will have plenty of mysterious places to explore

Reply Good karma Bad karma+3 votes
CoS_Ethan Author
CoS_Ethan

Thanks. Be sure to support City of Steam this July. :)

Reply Good karma+2 votes
Post a comment

Your comment will be anonymous unless you join the community. Or sign in with your social account: