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Allegorithmic Substance for Non-Artist, Tools for Amping up Graphics?

Jake Jollimore · 2016-04-04T23:36:24

Hey Everyone, I'm finishing up development on a small game I'm working on, and I've started planning (quite in depth) the next project I'll be working on, which will be pretty large scale. Bare with me while I describe the game a bit. In a nutshell, it's going to be a first-person walking simulator/puzzle/exploration game developed in Unity with a heavy story. For the final product (which, if my huge plan goes accordingly, should be released sometime in late 2017/early 2018) I really want to have gorgeous graphics. However, I'm a programmer, not an artist, so I'm really going to be stretching/expanding my skillset for this project. I do however have a little bit of modelling experience in Max. When I think about the games that have inspired this project, at least as far as graphics/environments go, I think about the following (to give you an idea what I'm going for): The Witness (minus the kind of cartoony style) Layers of Fear Mind: Path to Thalamus Gone Home The game, as far as I've planned so far, will only have maybe one other character that you ever see in the game, so the environments really need to be engrossing. The majority of the game will take place outside, but there will be many scenes inside a modern home and small structures found within the outside environments, as well as inside something more decrepit (think Outlast, etc. for these scenes). So the environments are going to be quite varied. Normally, excellent graphics are not that important to me, but the nature of the game really calls for it (the immersion of the exploration will be vastly increased by great looking environments). I really want the player to stop, look and marvel at the little details (cracks, pebbles, reflections, etc.) as well as the overall feel of the environments. I feel it's these kind of minute details that can bring this kind of game from the level of good to great. In order to achieve this, I've been researching a lot and here are the things I've come up with: Fully learning/harnessing Unity's GI capabilities Mastering Unity's Physically Based Shader (the new Standard Shader) Perhaps augmenting/replacing Unity's standard shader with UBER - Standard Shader Ultra from Unity's asset store Picking up some really nice weather effects assets from the Asset Store Utilizing Allegorithmic's Substance software Using free 3d assets from the Asset Store and Turbo Squid, etc (only if they're high quality and fit the game) Purchasing/commissioning other 3D assets if needed Leveraging Unity's Post-Processing affects So now that you know a bit about what I'm trying to accomplish, and some ways I'm thinking about getting there, I've got a few questions: Like I've said: I'm not an artist. I really like the way that Allegorithmic's substances look, as well as the ability to modify/animate them at runtime. However, based on what I've seen so far (at least in the tutorials), it seems tailored mostly to 3D artists generating textures and maps for specific models. I would want to use it primarily for environmental purposes (terrains, walls, floors, rocks) and for creating effects (accumulative snowfall, etc). What's the learning curve and workflow like (remember I'm not an artist)? Would you recommend it for my purposes? Has anyone used the UBER Shader asset, and would you recommend it? Would Substance and the UBER Shader compliment each other, or would it be overkill (should I go with just one of the two)? Other than Turbo Squid and the Unity Asset store, can you recommend other resources for high-quality free 3D assets or reasonably priced paid assets? Do you have any suggestions for tools or approaches that I haven't mentioned here? Thanks in advance for any help!

2D and 3D Art Visual Arts

Started by JEJoll April 01, 2016 12:16 PM

12 comments, last by JEJoll 8 years, 2 months ago

riuthamus

8,390

April 02, 2016 10:11 PM

Substance's ability to edit in real time is for the editor only, if you make a packaged game Substance's libraries doesn't pack with it, otherwise you would be giving every person a free version of Substance.
I don't know if UBER allows for this, I have never used it.

Have you used the Substance trail and some free models, to see if it works the way you want?

Actually with UE4 this is incorrect. You can edit directly in real time (game) using substance materials. You however, have to already have created the HLSL via Substance Designer. :P And any parameters you are modifying in real time need to be open for edit via Substance Designer. That said, no clue how it works for Unity

Scouting Ninja

4,574

April 02, 2016 11:33 PM

You however, have to already have created the HLSL via Substance Designer.

Didn't even think of this. If you made a HLSL shader with Substance and had a way to communicate with it then you should be able to use it in real time.

kburkhart84

3,224

April 03, 2016 12:01 AM

Unity has a Substance engine I believe to be comparable to UE4's. If the Substance has exposed parameters you can change them, and if the material is being used as a Substance(not as baked textures from the substance, as not all platforms are supporting it yet), you can change those parameters at run-time.

I'm no artist, but I can tell you, these softwares, if you learn at the least some basics, can help you make better graphics, especially combined with pre-made textures(like GameTextures.com textures). I don't think it will help with "hand-made" textures like some cartoon styles because those require actual art skill generally, while using pre-made textures and Substance Painter you can take a UV, mask off the UVs, and apply materials that can look good if done right. But this is more skill with software, not so much with actual art. It is like making textures/graphics relying primarily on Photoshop filters instead of actually drawing things with the brushes. It CAN work though in my opinion.

About Substance Designer, I think it is also a worthy investment. In theory it allows you to not be an artist and via the node system still create good textures. I haven't done much with it, but given time I've been able to make a couple things that I wanted to.

I honestly believe the LIVE Subscription is perfect for me. The $20 per month isn't much for me, a working adult with 3 children and a wife. But I had a bit of a head start, having learned basics of modelling with Blender3d, and knowing basics of UV mapping, etc... despite not having actual artist skill.

JEJoll

695

Author

April 04, 2016 11:36 PM

Thanks to everyone for all of the input. I'll have to review the full features for each software (Substance and UBER) to fully make a decision, and I'll also have to try out the free trial of Substance (I might wait until I actually am ready to add some Substances to my game, as anything made during the trial period is usable in commercial works. I know most of this will be time spent learning, but it might cut down on cost a bit).

Right now though, it seems like Substance is the strongest option.

I'll open another thread somewhere to discuss how I made out eventually.

Who knows, maybe some of you will also get a commission request from me in the not too distant future.

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Allegorithmic Substance for Non-Artist, Tools for Amping up Graphics?

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Allegorithmic Substance for Non-Artist, Tools for Amping up Graphics?

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