Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/77744
Gaming ■ ■ ■ ■ game," explains Nava. "We tried to fi gure out some other type of solution." Th e artists cre- ated a new technique that took advantage of special UV sets, which allowed them to lay out the unique shadows on individual objects. "In doing so, we were able to overcome the pitfalls of dynamic shadowing," he adds. thatgamecompany's engineers allowed colors to span beyond 100 percent brightness. Th is gave the artists a richer color palette to work with, and enabled special eff ects, such as phys- ically based light bloom, fi lmic tone mapping, and high-quality motion blur. Th e color palette itself shifts and varies Also, by placing the control of the lighting in the hands of the artists, thatgamecompany was able to more fully explore the paint- erly, illustrated style that has come to defi ne Journey—a look derived from the natural textures and techniques used to simulate the shadows and other elements in the game. Furthermore, the HDRI systems written by in the game based on a curve established by the artists that is refl ective of the narrative. "We tried to make the colors guide the play- ers' emotions and reactions/experiences in the game," says Nava. "We tried to make the game visually arresting, diff erent from what you see in other games." As he notes, many next-gen titles are extremely de-saturated, gritty, with ultra-sharp, depressing, scary colors. Instead, the Journey artists strove for "bright, gorgeous, vibrant, rich colors for a magical experience." Even though the look of Journey is more illustrative, it does contain carefully selected next-gen technologies that add realistic ele- ments to the overall aesthetic. "We chose the technology and pieced it together to en- able players to really immerse themselves in the game," says Nava. "Th e game creates a powerful atmosphere through the visuals, perceived light, fog, and wind. It's atypical but achieves a solid visual." Since the debut of Flow a few years ago, thatgamecompany has been applauded for its innovative titles, which have won numerous awards and nominations. It appears that Journey is likely to follow this same successful path. ■ Karen Moltenbrey is the chief editor of Computer Graphics World. Windows-32 / Windows-64 / OS X-32 / OS X-64 32-bit only $399 SynthEyes: Tracking for the Real World See the new SynthEyes 12.08 online or at SIGGRAPH Booth 905 Use SynthEyes for animated critter insertion, fixing shaky shots, virtual set extensions, making 3D movies, architectural previews, accident reconstruction, virtual product placement, face and body capture, and more. 12.08 Andersson Technologies LLC