:D

Third in my series on Hololens Shaders is the “Shards of Light” shader for the original prototype of Fragments. When I was first hired at Microsoft, my job was to work on various prototypes for Hololens projects. One of those projects that would see a full release was Fragments.

The Fragments “Shards of Light” shader was our solution to the question of “How do we get holograms in and out of your world.” The shader would be eventually be simplified as the game got more complex and awesome, but originally it consisted of three main elements.

The first element was the standard opaque shading. I blew out the main light and pushed hard on the edge lights to give it that hyper-tight lighting of a fried chicken commercial. Looking back, I sorta regret the lighting decisions I made here. They were very “for a screen” decisions, and I had not yet internalized the various implications of mixed world rendering.

The second element was the wireframe. I computed the wireframes in a geometry shader and then tarnished the vert position around the edges. It was a controversial decision to show the wireframe, with some people worried we would reveal how low-poly the scene was. I always subscribed to the Toy Story 1 school of thought, where you should just embrace your weaknesses. In the case of Toy Story, they told a story about characters made of plastic because that’s what all CG looked like back then. In the case of Fragments, we used the faceted polygonal nature of the models as an intentional graphic element.

Finally there were the little balls of light. I computed the light cards in the geometry shader as well, and then put some random motion on them so it felt like the edges of the scene were never fully resolved. People really got excited when the lights would respond to the players movement. It wasn’t an intentional beat in executive demos, but they could always feel it all around them, which I was told really helped sell the story of the device.

FACE:

-Becca Backlight Priming Filter -Make Up Forever Ultra HD Foundation stick in 115=R230 -NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Chantilly -Lush Cosmetics Emotional Brilliance translucent setting powder

BROWS: -Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow in Soft Brown -Anastasia Beverly Hills clear brow gel

CONTOUR: -Too Faced Chocolate Soleil bronzer -Urban Decay Afterglow blush in Obsessed -Becca Shimmering Pressed Skin Perfector in Pearl

EYES: -Maybelline gel liner in blackest black -Manny MUA x Make Up Geek collab palette (Beaches & Cream, Frappe, Aphrodite, Mars, Cosmopolitan) -Too Faced Better Than Sex waterproof mascara

LIPS: -Manny MUA x Ofra Cosmetics liquid lipstick in Charmed

WARTILE is a great looking blend of turn based tactics and CCG the aims to bring strategic board gaming to life as you use a select group of miniature viking figurines in strategic combat.  It uses a cooldown based combat system, giving a nice blend of real time and turn based combat.

http://www.thetownoflight.com/

https://www.facebook.com/TheTownOfLight

My typical, super simple approach to character concepts.

1. Start with a contact sheet full of tiny silhouettes. The lack of detail benefits you in two ways.

One, you know how the figure will read at distance or in low visibility situations. This is important in games and film. Does the baddie read in the heat of battle coming over the hilltop with the sun to his back? It probably should! Two, iteration comes quickly when you don’t get caught up in the details. If a design works monochrome and small, it works big and colored.

2. Value work is the meat and potatoes of an image. You can use super atypical hue ramps and get away with it if your value is correct. By painting in all value before moving on to color, you ensure that the masses work before getting bogged down in hue decisions.

This is great in character concepts especially because…

3. …coloring atop your value layer using an Overlay or Color layer separately allows clients to make changes to the finished art with less manual labor on your end.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

System: PS1, Sega Saturn, PS3, PSP, PS Vita, Xbox 360

Release: 1997

Developer: Konami

Info: Wikipedia / MobyGames

Video: Gameplay Video

Image Source: vgjunk.tumblr.com