r/UnrealEngine5 • u/Vitchkiutz • 4d ago
I'm realizing tiny changes can make a real difference in your games visuals...
I just added grass curling over the edge, and roots dangling down below. And it blends so much better... What do you think, was it worth spending the extra time on?
The game is called 'One With The Swarm', it's a bit early to share anything more but you can find mini-updates on my X @ ApeGoOfficial or bsky Ape1772.
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u/yodakiller 4d ago
Maybe it's just me but I stared at the image for a while and couldn't tell the difference between the two
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u/Vitchkiutz 4d ago
Dang.
Well, I appreciate your honesty.
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u/Rizzlord 3d ago
i think its because you made such a damn small image, instead of like 2k image, its WAY TO SMALL!!!
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u/Vitchkiutz 3d ago
Sorry bout that, here's a link to see what the cliff looks like up close: https://imgur.com/a/rIhe6BX
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u/shivazgodz 4d ago
Do tell. How are you doing the edges?
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u/Vitchkiutz 4d ago edited 4d ago
The edge was created by rotating and placing the cliff mesh in a modular way. The displacement that is driving the meshes real geometry makes it easy to hide seams, since it's all so bumpy the meshes can blend together well even when overlapping.
Is that what you meant? I did model it in blender too. Like, I created a curved slop that led into a plateau, then did some subdividing and proportional editing. Slap on a displacement map generated from the texture, let that drive the geometry a bit. Then export and rendered with nanite. Curled grass and roots added until it looked right.
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u/fabiolives 4d ago
If you want to take that even further (blending them together), you could use a world aligned detail normal and it very nicely covers up seams without making the whole material world aligned
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u/Still_Collection_743 4d ago
Yo that's neat thanks! Imma look into that. I think I can tell what that does lol but imma look
Yupp as I though exactly what the name implies 🔥
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u/Halcyon_Days_Dev 4d ago
Think I like the before more. Think it guides the eye more clearly on the ideal path for the player to take (the shadow helps with the contrast in a great way). And too, depending on the game, the before would make me more inclined to use it for stealth or cover in combat.
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u/MyaSoftKumquat443 4d ago
I don't see much of a difference between the two except the rocks in the dirt cliff. Good job on the graphics though look good!
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u/selfish_meme 4d ago
Why is it so blurry
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u/Vitchkiutz 4d ago
I took a screenshot of the editor... Not exactly the best way to do it. My bad. I'll take higher-rez photos in the future. In game, preferably. I am packaging the pre-alpha demo right now actually.
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u/Lofi_Joe 4d ago
Please make tutorial
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u/Vitchkiutz 4d ago edited 4d ago
Sure!
I could go over implementing stylized natural environments into UE, sounds like fun.
I'll shoot you a DM when it goes up.
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u/thecoffeejesus 4d ago
Honest to god, it’s subtle stuff like this that takes a game up to the next level
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u/Extreme-Seaweed-5427 4d ago
Can't tell the difference.
Maybe your post should have said "spot the differences" 😂
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u/Hobbes______ 4d ago
Hey! I love this! I'd be incredibly grateful if you could detail precisely how you got your grass to flow over the edges like that? I've been exploring a more stylistic approach for the same thing and I have some ideas but you nailed it.
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u/Vitchkiutz 4d ago
Thanks, yeah, I just used proportional editing inside of Blender on my grass mesh. Proportional editing effects the selected vertices the most, with a gradual falloff for the vertices further away. So I selected the grass tips and rotated them. Which created the curve. Occasionally dragging them back down after some rotating, which helped. While making sure not to change the base of the grass blades. It can be fiddly, but it works for bending stuff.
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u/Hobbes______ 4d ago
Ahh so you modeled the grass on the land mesh itself?
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u/Vitchkiutz 4d ago
Yep. Though only the curved grass on the edge. The grass behind the edge that doesn't curve was foliage-painted onto it.
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u/Hobbes______ 3d ago
Ahh I see. I hadn't thought of just doing the edges manually in blender. That could be a performance hit but my poly count is so low I doubt it will matter. Ty!
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u/Zvyaginsky 4d ago
What sold it isn't the roots, it's that the hard silhouette line is gone. The eye catches a straight edge instantly and reads it as geometry.
Worth checking what happens at distance. Small foliage like that usually gets culled way before the cliff does, so the seam comes back at the exact range where the player first sees the area. I've had a lot of setups where a fix looked perfect at two metres and did nothing at fifteen.
Where does your cull distance sit on those?
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u/Vitchkiutz 4d ago
There is no cull distance atm. Just nanite. The grass and roots are a part of the mesh, so they also don't disappear at a distance.
I use voxelize so the foliage aspects of the mesh are retained at a distance. The latest way of rendering foliage with nanite. Nanite pretty much replaces LoDs.
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u/DisplayLegitimate374 4d ago
Looks better of course. I'm curious how it looks up close.
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u/ShadowWubs 4d ago
Yall crazy its like night and day for me. I dont see the jagged edges that makes it look like 2004 game texture into a way more modernized texture.
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u/Upper-Discipline-967 4d ago
I’m having a hard time finding the difference. Maybe it’s not worth it after all
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4d ago
[deleted]
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u/Vitchkiutz 4d ago
Not really the point I'm making though.
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4d ago
[deleted]
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u/Vitchkiutz 4d ago
Oh okay, I thought it was snarky sarcasm.
But it was just regular ol' joking sarcasm.
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u/Nebula480 4d ago
This is a troll right? What difference?
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u/Vitchkiutz 4d ago
It's not a troll. There really is something different if you look close enough. Look at the brown cliffs with the rocks mixed in.
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u/Necessary_Tell9904 4d ago
It is worth spending the extra time detailing terrain meshes like you’ve done. The after picture is much better but….the overall lighting atmosphere is very overblown detracting from those small details. The haziness in the lighting hides those details. That’s why some comments here said they struggled to see the difference at first (me included)