In The Night's Willow environments are made using still images, it's really important to add animated objects to the scene to make the environment feel alive. This is why we've spend extra time creating our own foliage system.
To create trees we take reference photographs of actual trees around the office and in nearby forests. We take full reference shots and scan branches and leaves (using a portable white backdrop). These images are then processed and the background is removed to create sprites which can be used in the game engine.
These images are then processed and the background is removed to create sprites which can be used in the game engine.
Within the game engine the sprites are positioned and rotated to generate a tree. Branches and leaf groups are put in nodes to connect them. Our foliage code makes the branches, leaves and trunk react to forces in the game (like wind and rain). The game automatically positions the branches and leaves in 3D space.
Together with a little particle emitter the end result is this;