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Let's dive into some Animal Crossing graphics discussion!
Right from the start, there are some fun and cool things going on.
This scene, for example, has a light depth of field effect. However, because there's no visible anti-aliasing, it gets a little choppy around areas like the ATM in the corner.
This scene, for example, has a light depth of field effect. However, because there's no visible anti-aliasing, it gets a little choppy around areas like the ATM in the corner.
Something else to note:
Timmy and Tommy's models OR textures are high enough resolution that it's tough to tell where it's UV islands or texture detail. The low-ish resolution is a boon here because it hides some ugly details.
Timmy and Tommy's models OR textures are high enough resolution that it's tough to tell where it's UV islands or texture detail. The low-ish resolution is a boon here because it hides some ugly details.
Something I really like about the animal rendering is the noisy Fresnel that makes them look very felty and fuzzy like stuffed animals. Super cool, and very subtle unless you're specifically looking for it.
The rounded corner of this desk looks like it could have either a noisy normal map, a modulated half-Lambert with a gradient map for banding, or more likely both. I think they did both to give a fuzzy, soft effect that feels more cartoony, though I can't be sure.
Something I'm curious about: The reflection on the base of this stand has the pole in it, and I'm not sure where that comes from. That is, I'm pretty sure they're not using screen-space reflections, so it's probably baked into the cubemap that this metal material uses.
The shader used for the hair uses anisotropic shading along with comb/flow maps to give the impression of clumping and texture changes. You can see this in the banded shading on my character's hair; it's a distinct elongated band rather than a circle.
This screenshot has two different types of transparent blending, which is interesting.
The glasses have some sort of tinting going on, possibly a dual-layered add and multiply for the highlight and tint, whereas the dragonfly's wings have dithered transparency.
The glasses have some sort of tinting going on, possibly a dual-layered add and multiply for the highlight and tint, whereas the dragonfly's wings have dithered transparency.
Something else to note:
The edges of the rock going into the water have white washing up onto it. There's probably a shader they use specifically for sea rocks that defines where the foam can go, and I wouldn't be surprised if they use a 2nd UV set or poly strips to place it.
The edges of the rock going into the water have white washing up onto it. There's probably a shader they use specifically for sea rocks that defines where the foam can go, and I wouldn't be surprised if they use a 2nd UV set or poly strips to place it.
This is a neat little usability feature. When you access your inventory, anything that might get in the way stops drawing in everything but the shadow buffer.
You can see the shadow from the tree next to me when the inventory is open, and the tree itself when it's closed.
You can see the shadow from the tree next to me when the inventory is open, and the tree itself when it's closed.
I'm not certain how they rendered the fish in the water, but I think it might be an animated billboard underneath a layer that only shows Fresnel to fake reflections.
The fish has a bit of a dark halo, I suspect they're rendered as two separate passes, so this may be right.
The fish has a bit of a dark halo, I suspect they're rendered as two separate passes, so this may be right.
If you look carefully in this shot, you can see that there's a slight halo around the flowers and leaves.
This tends to happen when the shadow buffer is rendered at a resolution lower than the screen using certain shadow techniques. But on the Switch screen you'll never notice.
This tends to happen when the shadow buffer is rendered at a resolution lower than the screen using certain shadow techniques. But on the Switch screen you'll never notice.
Some other fun stuff to notice in the river scene:
The waterfall uses multiple overlapping textures scrolling across at different rates and sizes to give a variety. You can see at least three or four here if you know what to look for.
The waterfall uses multiple overlapping textures scrolling across at different rates and sizes to give a variety. You can see at least three or four here if you know what to look for.
The bits of cliff you see below the water look, at first glance, like reflections, but that's just because they have a dark tinted layer on top and they fade out to nothing at the bottom
This, combined with the soft edges of the Fresnel reflections, give a lovely effect
This, combined with the soft edges of the Fresnel reflections, give a lovely effect
The foamy edge of the tide is a fairly small texture, but they're modulating its UVs very cleverly to give the impression that there's more detail there. I suspect the edge is actually very high poly and has a continuous strip of UVs going along the entire thing.
If you look closely, you can see the same repeating pattern being distorted in various ways, giving a lovely impressionistic tide line effect.
I love this.
I love this.
This one's pretty subtle, but it's neato.
I suspect these puffs from the chimney use procedurally generated noise in the shader to give crisp, smooth detail to each individual part of the smoke plume. Using a compressed texture would most likely look blocky.
I suspect these puffs from the chimney use procedurally generated noise in the shader to give crisp, smooth detail to each individual part of the smoke plume. Using a compressed texture would most likely look blocky.
There's something in the background of each of these screenshots that I love. Do you see it?
When you're walking around, the grass is all completely flat. However, as the grass approaches the horizon, you start to see grass cards appear right at the apex before it goes behind everything.
This is only visible on the horizon to break up the line
Fucking amazing.
This is only visible on the horizon to break up the line
Fucking amazing.
