KIT207 ~ Self Study 5

This week the focus was on lighting within unity and the impact this feature has on game feel. To begin this self-study, a tutorial by Brackeys (www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnG2gOKV9dw) was followed to produce lighting for an enclosed area with two light sources on one object. Different techniques were used to enhance lighting and soften shadows to produce realistic environment results and form atmosphere. The use of ‘post process’ was utilised to enhance the effects used as this can shift the existing environmental dynamic of the scene. This was then followed by shadergraph study to learn more on materials with movement. The chosen focus was on the water material as this best suited the current environment. After following another Brackeys tutorial (www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg0L9aCRWPE) on this and implementing it on a provided object, it was then integrated into the progressing scene.  The stacked barrel area was replaced by a dam reflecting water movement with the implemented shader and terrain was then edited to integrate this. After this was successfully done, I experimented with options within the shadergraph with a focus on the 'shape' section. I created a 'radioactive goop' version of the previous water with movement representing 'creatures' swimming. This was also baked into the navigation mesh as a non walkable surface.

Key Lesson Learned: Creating movement (sometimes) doesn’t have to be complicated :)

(Figure 1: Monkey object with lighting)

(Figure 2: Monkey object with applied water shadergraph)

The final stage was the shift in lighting for the game scene. The original use of light was within a dawn setting with a use of pink skybox and warm directional light and this was replaced by a night sky as lighting use would be more apparent with a darker environment. A direction light was maintained within the scene with the colour changed from the original pink tint to slightly off white to mimic moonlight and positioned close to the moon location on the skybox to set a light source for shadows. The reasoning behind this lighting use was to keep the scene visible to the player as removal of this component was cause extensive dark, blocking visibility. The next light form implemented was point lights to act as guidance for the player, emphasising the pathway. A lamp post was 3D modelled for this purpose to integrate the light source naturally and mesh this component with the existing scene. The player is led down the path towards the tourist attraction and shadergraph water as these are the primary focus points of the game while the other pathway is a dead end.

Key Lesson Learned: Lighting gives soul to your game :)

(Figure 3: Previous gameplay lighting)

(Figure 4: Previous map lighting overview)

The lighting previously implemented was intended for full visibility during testing due to the components being added. This was necessary in the learning process and realtime lighting was used with a single directional light utilised for full scene lighting with skybox settings.

(Figure 5: Post lighting overview)

(Figure 6: Lamp lighting use)

(Figure 7: Tunnel lighting)

(Figure 8: Shadergraph application in scene)

(Figure 9: Custom goopified water shadergraph)

A mix of realtime and baked lighting was used for the end result. The amount of point lights caused glitching and 'blinking' during gameplay with realtime lighting, and switching to 'baked' fixed this issue by solidifying the light location within the scene. Tunnel lighting also used point lights to mimic the bright increments of fluorescent lights, although an area light was attempted in this area, it was not functional within the tunnel and would only light the area around the location. The lamp parts of the lamp posts had a custom material with emission enabled to provide a glow, syncing it with the corresponding light use and enhance its use. Overall this self-study changed the entire atmosphere of the game and added another layer of visuals to enhance the gameplay.