How do you make your game stand out when you're working with low-complexity assets and a dark, moody color palette?

Capybara Games' Colin Weick got into it at GDC 2017, when he hopped onstage to chat about the techniques used to achieve high visual fidelity in the context of the simplified yet dense aesthetic of the studio's upcoming roguelike Below. 

It was a neat talk because Weick dug into a variety of techniques used to maintain clarity of small 3D primitives, which helped achieve the atmospheric look including and in turn influenced the design of the game. He also opened up about the methodology used to reduce perceivable banding and artifacts inherent to making a visibly dark game, and how that created the opportunity to make a greater range of lighting situations.

If you missed it the first time around, no worries! You can now watch Weick's whole talk for free over on the official GDC YouTube channel!

About the GDC Vault

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its new YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC, GDC Europe, and GDC Next already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.

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