Radiant Sword

Scene from a level inspired by one of my favorite games of all time, Vagrant Story. Veterans of that game may recognize the reference! #jrpg #srpg #lowpoly #indiedev #gamedev

An example of how the lighting is painted into the textures to achieve the final effect. Top is the in-game render, and the bottom is one of the source textures for the terrain mesh. The textures are drawn at the pixel art level. #indiedev #gamdevelopment #pixelart #srpg #jrpg

Another battle stage, this one from the third act. To get the right style, most of the lighting and shadows are drawn directly in the textures. Scene lights are just used as a finishing touch. #gamedev #indiedev #gamedevelopment

Here's another level from later in the game. Getting the right lighting information in the textures was quite challenging for this scene! #gamedev #indiedev #srpg #jrpg

Quick diagram of how the levels are constructed and arted!

1) Just polygons & UV layout. Initial gameplay testing is done at this phase.
2) Textures with no lighting information.
3) Paint lighting information into textures.
4) Enable scene lighting.

#lowpoly #indiedev #srpg #jrpg #gamedevelopment

...for lighting which is unlimited palette. The result is that it still looks like the texture stems from a limited 16-color palette, but the lighting looks a little more sophisticated & clean than you could get on the PS1. I'm using my unlimited color budget to "cheat" in that regard. :D

...although it's still easy to tell that the textures were limited palette, even after lighting.

In my textures, I start with the rough 16-color limitation, but I fake some of the engine lighting within the texture. So there's one set of layers that's limited palette, and another set (cont)

So, I'm actually cheating a bit here. (This will take a bit to explain.) On the PS1, you'd have essentially the source texture with its 16-color palette + the game's in-engine lighting. Once the lighting is added, the # of colors in the final image goes well past 16, although... (cont)

That's correct. Although, even though the texture sheets are unique to the level, they weren't all made completely from scratch. You start with a source texture or atlas for the type of rocks or grass you want, paste into the texture sheet, and then paint over it until it matches the topography.

Thanks, you too! I really enjoy digging into the technical details of these old styles, so feel free to ask anytime!

Lastly, the color restrictions are an important part of the style. Most terrain textures I studied were limited to one 16-color palette per poly, with 256-color images reserved for things like portraits or key art. I didn't adhere to a strict 16-color limit, but it was a general guideline.

FFT was somewhat unique in using entirely hand-drawn pixel art textures with no photosourcing, so I went for that route. Also, it doesn't use texture atlases for the final models. Instead every level gets a unique texture sheet with textures that match the unique contours of the terrain. (cont)

Glad you like it! The modeling style is quite easy to emulate, but the textures are the toughest part to nail. Studying the source textures from PS1 classics helped a lot. Most Playstation 1 textures are a mix of either pure pixel art, or low-resolution photosourced textures that were pixeled over.

I consulted a lot of photo reference of old stonework for the details on the textures, but the actual level layout was done ad hoc. The layout morphs a lot in the greybox stage as I do gameplay testing, so I try not to get too attached to a specific scene reference!

A failed ritual. #JRPG #indiegames #indiedev #gamedev

Thanks for the kind words! I sent you a DM with the relevant info.

Wow, I really love this! Fantastic vibes and atmosphere.

The Gladiator paradigm specializes in grapple techniques. Throw can be used on both enemies and allied units, but please be careful not to cause damage your friends when throwing them! It will make them mad... #srpg #jrpg #gamedevelopment #indiedev

Yes, for procedural rotations, it uses the mesh collision to determine if the ray between the camera and the character is blocked. Ultimately, however, each terrain portion that's culled needs to be manually sliced off and marked up in each map.

Demo of the scene camera rotation! Walls that would block the view get automatically culled as you move the camera around. #jrpg #srpg #indiedev #lowpoly #gamedevelopment

Here is the version of the battle scene I was texturing earlier, but with lighting added. #jrpg #srpg #indiedev #gamedevelopment

When doing the pixel art textures for terrain, I usually begin with a simple tiling texture. However, when you first apply them, you can see it looks pretty bad (image #2). The trick is to paint over the initial texture so that edges and corners resolve naturally! #pixelart #srpg #jrpg #indiedev

Midnight, ocean estate. Mission: Apprehend the fugitive sorcerer Zossima! #jrpg #srpg #indiedev #gamedevelopment

Hi! The game is indeed very inspired by Final Fantasy Tactics and I have tried to incorporate that style. However, no material from FFT is used in the game, & all content you see is original.

Quick diagram of how the levels are constructed and arted!

1) Just polygons & UV layout. Initial gameplay testing is done at this phase.
2) Textures with no lighting information.
3) Paint lighting information into textures.
4) Enable scene lighting.

#lowpoly #indiedev #srpg #jrpg #gamedevelopment

More spell animations for late-game spells! I think the windup for this needs a bit of polish, but it'll get there. #indiedev #gamedevelopment #srpg #jrpg

One feature I was sure I wanted to include was the very exciting, elaborate spell animations from classic PlayStation JRPGs. I tried to make sure they weren't too long, even with endgame spells, but there is a fast forward/skip option just in case. #indiedev #gamedevelopment #srpg #jrpg

An example of how the lighting is painted into the textures to achieve the final effect. Top is the in-game render, and the bottom is one of the source textures for the terrain mesh. The textures are drawn at the pixel art level. #indiedev #gamdevelopment #pixelart #srpg #jrpg

From a recently completed event scene early in the campaign. Making camp inside a forest cave. I always enjoy doing "cutaway" interiors in this style, where the edges are sliced away for visibility to create a diorama. #gamedevelopment #indiedev #pixelart #srpg #jrpg

Thank you for your kind words! I will try to have more material and gameplay videos soon.