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Utilizing Next-Gen Technology to Create a
Dynamic Game Environment
Mat Toellner, Nick Heitzman, Elizabeth Stringer

Abstract— With the release of the eighth generation of video game
consoles, the visual capabilities of games and their engines have
improved to allow for more options in the creation of dynamic
environments. The primary characteristics of dynamic
environments are that they change in real-time. This paper
documents the technology and development techniques in the
creation of a set of materials that allow the gameplay space to
change while players are experiencing it for a next-generation
dynamic environment.
I. INTRODUCTION
F
or a game environment to be successful it needs to restrict
and guide players through the game while providing a
context to the world they are experiencing, how they can
interact with it, and how it affects them [1]. Specifically,
developers are able to apply the concept of a dynamic
environment in which the passage of time shows changes in
the setting and how the world communicates to the player the
results of their interactions. Technically speaking, to make an
environment dynamic, its assets need the capability for quick
modification in real time [2].
The primary goal is to create assets for a dynamic
environment using next-generation game technology and
discover techniques applicable to the new console generation
(PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Wii U) while analyzing what
techniques from the previous generation can be carried
forward. The project utilizes the Unreal Engine 4 (UE4) to
focus on developing assets for a horror/survival game that
takes place in an abandoned arctic base.
UE4 has advanced technology for making game worlds
more dynamic: real-time lighting, physically based rendering
(PBR), material instancing and layering, and mesh distortion
via materials [3]. These capabilities allow for added visual
depth due to materials’ interactions in the environment,
specifically with bounced light and reflectance resulting from
light scattering and world-space specific reflections due to
PBR[4]. For the project artifact, the majority of the real-time
changes to the environment utilize parameters in material
setups and the Blueprint scripting system. This allows the
environment to change while players navigate through, instead
of remaining static for the duration of the user experience.
II. RESEARCH REVIEW
Dynamic environments in videogames often include changes
in lighting, different weather particles, and animated assets [5].
Examples of popular games from the previous generation of
consoles with dynamic environments include The Elder Scrolls
V: Skyrim [6], Journey [7], Dead Space 3 [8], Uncharted 2:
Among Thieves [9], and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
[10]. Analyzing these titles provides insight into ways that lastgen games successfully create their locations. This analysis also
provides ideas to expand upon environment interaction with the
player to convey aspects of gameplay to them through the
changes in the environment. Observable traits include how
games use of textures, colors, lighting, particles, player
visibility, and character interaction with the environment.
Skyrim’s northern regions feature an abundance of snow and
ice [6]. Assets have lower color saturation in this area than other
regions of the game. However, large blocks of ice have a blue
coloring rather than being simply white or grey. There is snow
on the top of structural models in the texture, but smaller models
do not have snow on them. There are also snow and ice models
used to make certain areas appear to have more build up than
others. The day and night cycle features different lighting
effects. The day lighting is primarily neutral (unsaturated), and
can be rather dark depending on the active weather. At night,
there is mostly green and blue lighting, as well as added sky
illumination with an aurora borealis. Interior space lighting
differs dramatically depending on the space, but man made
interiors tend to have warm lighting (from flames) while caves
have primarily blue tinted (cold) lighting. Use of fog and low
saturation color create the atmosphere for this mostly frozen
region. Similarly, ice-covered interiors have a swirling mist
effect and certain areas have dripping water particles to suggest
that ice is melting; these effects make the space less static.
Exteriors also have frequent snowfall particles that further
enhance the atmosphere. Characters in the game do not leave
footprints or kick up any snow as they move around, creating a
minor break in player immersion. Overall, the snow does not
dynamically build up anywhere, but instead the illusion of that
is a result of different areas having varying amounts of static
snow and different frequencies of snow particles. This makes it
seem as though the snow level is changing while the player
travels through different locations.
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Fig. 1: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim [6].
Journey introduces its wintery environment rather abruptly,
with introductory areas of snow piles and light snowfall [7]. The
player then enters a very monochromatic landscape of rock and
snow, with excessive wind that blows flurries of snow along
with the player. Throughout majority of this area, there is a
constant light snowfall. There is snow built up on tops of
surfaces and sides of models facing the wind, and areas bare of
snow to convey safe paths to the player. In some sections, there
are cloudy particles to further develop atmosphere and obstruct
the players view. The snow terrain acts similar to sand shown
earlier the game, with players permanently displacing it as they
move through it. The player’s character slowly has snow
accumulate on them. This causes them to lose saturation in their
red clothes as the character frosts over from the edges of their
clothes inward. Similarly, the corners of the player’s screen
begin to white out and on-screen visibility lowers as the player
makes their final ascent to symbolize the character’s exhaustion
in this frozen locale. Overall, a majority of this final area lacks
saturation and relies mostly on bluish greys, contrasting the
warm areas earlier in the game.
Fig. 2: Journey [7].
Dead Space 3’s arctic environment varies a lot depending on
the different gameplay that takes place [8]. Overall colors on
environment assets are low in saturation, but there are vibrant
colors on electronics. The exterior structures and assets have
frost and snow on them, which shows the most build up near
the ground. There are sections in the levels with very low
visibility and others with a lot, depending on the atmosphere
needed for gameplay. The use of either heavy or light snow
particles is what determines this the most. In addition to heavy
snow particles, there are tarps attached to various parts of the
outposts flapping in wind to emphasize the high wind speed.
Exterior lighting relies on the dynamic skylight, but there are
sometimes red flares on the ground to guide the player. Interiors
are mostly dark with various colored lighting, which depends
mostly on the colors of different electronics. The interiors also
have icicles and soft snow particles where there are holes in
ceilings or broken windows. In the corners of rooms and along
the walls there is snow built up to show that these interior
environments have had weather exposure for a while. The
player’s character has frost built up on their armor, which
changes based on if they are in an exterior or interior. The frost
dynamically grows/shrinks based on the players exposure to the
weather. The character leaves persistent boot prints in the snow
as they walk around. The character also has visible breath
particles to further show the environment’s low temperature.
Fig. 3: Dead Space 3 [8].
Uncharted 2’s environment assets have more color saturation
than other games’ snowy environments, but are darker in
contrast to the snow [9]. Environmental objects have snow and
frost on them, which is heaviest near the ground. The various
forms of ice are mostly white, but have a blue/green sheen.
There is snow built up along edges and in corners of the floor,
as well as in cracks between stones on various materials. Large
surfaces, such as rooftops, also have snow spread unevenly
across them for variation, rather than being an even blanket.
Generally, there is a light blue atmospheric fog over majority of
the environment, which adds depth to objects in the distance.
Lighting is mostly neutral sky illumination, occasionally tinted
purple or blue. The lighting is significantly bluer in darker areas
and enclosed spaces, such as caves. There is falling snow and
soft cloud particles that convey weather without obstructing the
players view, except when gameplay intends for it to. The
player character has dynamic snow and frost build up on them
that fades over time, and is specific to areas that encounter snow
(mostly the legs). The character kicks up snow piles behind
them as they walk, but the piles disappear quickly over time.
However, characters do leave persistent footprints in the snow.
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III. METHODOLOGY
Fig. 4: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves [9].
Twilight Princess’ Snow Peak exterior is mostly snow and
rocks, with its interior textures being mostly desaturated earth
tones [10]. The interiors have open windows with soft
snowflakes drifting in. Snow piles are in most corners, if there
is a prominent amount of snow in the room. Where the walls
meet ice floors there is frost creeping up the sides. Lighting in
the exterior is primarily neutral with a slight blue/green tint.
Indoor lighting is the same, but there is orange lighting around
flame light sources to bring attention to important or safe areas.
In certain areas, there are constantly blowing fog-like particles
to represent the wind direction, with the occasional use of snow
flurries to further obscure players’ view. There are large ice
blocks with a vibrant green/blue color and mist particles. The
color and particles serve to warn players they take damage on
contact. The player does not leave footprints nor raised snow
piles, but there are particles of snow kicked up when moving.
This artifact-based thesis primarily focuses on the creation of
art assets for a team-developed horror/survival game that is set
in an arctic base. This game, called Snow depends on a changing
environment to communicate to the player that the frigid arctic
is starting to reclaim the facility around them. Using the arctic
as the setting for this thesis allows for quick changes in the
environment from snow build up while also communicating to
the player about temperature differences in their environment.
Assets needed to develop this dynamic environment include
accumulating snow, melting snow, and frosting glass. Snow,
developed in UE4, focuses primarily on using multi-parameter
materials to simulate the location’s conditions changing around
the player. These materials are also set up using a vertex color
expression, specifically pulling from the green channel, to
allow vertex painting to better denote where snow builds up
rather than relying solely on the masks.
These assets allow the application of next-gen procedural
techniques to create successful environments while reducing
the amount of development time needed [11]. Some of the key
features that make a game’s environment look next-gen revolve
around materials, polygon counts, and lighting; however, this
artifact focuses primarily on materials [4].
A. Accumulating snow
Snow accumulation on a variety of surfaces is a result of
fluctuating masks linked to a scalar parameter. The setup for the
snow accumulation effect differs depending on if the snow is
on flat surfaces or models.
Fig. 6: Accumulating Snow Materials
Fig. 5: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess [10].
All of these last-gen games have similarities in how they
build the features of their locations. The common takeaways
from these games are textures with low saturation and snow
build up only on areas snow would be able to collect or stick.
This tends to be on objects’ tops and sides closer the ground.
Some independent snow and ice assets are also helpful to have
in order to show an uneven buildup, with snow piling higher
along walls and in corners. Lighting either would be tinted
blue/green or be neutral, unless there are important areas that
need emphasis. Having fog and additional particles to help
build atmosphere can help to add depth to the space and make
it feel less static. In addition, any sort of interaction the
character has with the environment, such as displacing snow or
leaving footprints, makes the environment seem more dynamic.
For flat surface or BSP textures, the material setup includes
texture parameters, which allows the swapping out of base
textures. To help the snow build up in an uneven manner, the
albedo map is desaturated and applied as the base mask. What
is darker on the albedo is where the snow appears first. To help
this work better, having some shading in the albedo makes the
snow build up in areas of recession before completely covering
the base textures. An ambient occlusion or cavity map would
work well for this purpose too, however to simplify this
material the mask only uses the albedo.
In the albedo segment of the material, the mask plugs into the
alpha of a linear interpolate (lerp) expression to determine
between either the base or snow textures. This lerp then goes
through a power expression to make the snow more apparent.
Afterwards, it goes into another lerp, which is set to add a 5%
overlay of the original base material, which keeps the snow
from completely overriding the base texture.
The normal segment is also set up so that the snow does not
completely cover up the base normal map. To achieve this, the
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result of the first lerp plugs into another lerp along with the base
normal texture. The mask, plugged through a clamp limiting it
to 70% strength, then determines between the base normal and
the first lerp. The result is that the base normal is always at
approximately 30% strength at a minimum.
The metallic, specular, and roughness segments are all
standard simple lerp combinations, with the exception being an
added scalar parameter in the metallic segment. This parameter
is multiplied over the base texture to override it (by making it
black) in case the base texture set does not include a metallic
map. Conversely, a plain black texture used in the metallic
texture parameter would work as well, in which case the
multiply and scalar parameter expressions would not be needed.
Fig. 8: Material Setup for Accumulating Snow on Models
B. Melting Snow
Snow tracks shrinking and water puddles growing simulates
the effect of melting snow. This material uses set values for the
puddle’s base textures rather than relying on maps except for
the normal texture. The snow texture maps are the same as the
ones used in the previous materials, with exclusion of the mask
being unique for the boot-print pattern.
Fig. 7: Material Setup for Accumulating Snow on Flat Surfaces
For models that have snow building up on top of them, a
similar material setup to the prior one is used. The main
difference is that this material features mesh distortion to make
it appear as though snow is piling up only on the tops of the
models. For this, a custom mask makes the snow build up
unevenly, rather than relying on the base albedo texture for a
mask. This is because the material has a world-space vertex
expression that calculates the model’s positive z-axis as part of
the mask, so snow only builds up on the tops of meshes
regardless of the base textures or orientation.
This material also features mesh tessellation and
displacement so that the geometry of the mesh moves upward
with the snow, to create the illusion that there is actual snow
collecting on top of the model. To achieve this the mask is
multiplied with its clamped world-space vertex normal and that
result is multiplied with the initial scalar parameter (now
clamped to a maximum in 20 instead of 1) too allow for more
height of the snow buildup. Afterwards, it multiplies with
another world-space vertex normal to make sure it follows the
same axis restriction. In addition to this, a scalar parameter
plugged into the tessellation multiplier node on the material
output allows for varying vertex tessellation in the buildup,
which may need adjustment depending on the model.
Fig. 9: Melting Snow Tracks Material
The shrinking snow tracks use a scalar parameter that, after
being multiplied with the mask, goes through an additional
one-minus expression (to invert it), before plugging into the
final clamp. The expanding water uses the same scalar
parameter as the snow tracks and is set up similar to the
previous materials. Both of these masks then use a lerp to
determine the textures to display in the corresponding areas.
The effect of this double mask is that the snow diminishes as
the puddle grows.
This material is set to be translucent so that it does not
cover up the floor where there is not snow or the puddle. This
material also has a scalar parameter tied to the overall opacity,
which makes it look like the puddle slowly fades overtime.
The albedo, metallic, roughness are set up similar to the
previous materials, only with two lerp nodes instead of one.
However, the specular is one map individually and does not
use a lerp.
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IV. RESULTS
Fig. 10: Material Setup for Melting Snow Tracks
C. Frosting glass
Glass frosting over due to the cold is a result of using a Linear
Interpolate with a Scalar Parameter multiplied through the
mask. The mask has a radial gradient so that the achieved affect
makes it appear as though the glass is frosting from the corners
inward. This material is also set to be translucent, as the player
needs to see through the glass.
Fig. 11: Frosting Glass Material
This frosting glass material uses the mask to directly lerp
between the plain window and the iced window textures. Much
of the material is comprised of simple lerp combinations, but
the opacity and refraction segments are slightly more complex.
Both of these segments feature an additional set of expressions
used to make the inside of the glass obstruct the player’s vision
less. To achieve this, the normal map data lerp goes into a
Fresnel expression. The Fresnel, which calculates the edges of
an object against the camera, then plugs into two lerp
expressions, one in opacity and one in refraction. These two
lerp expressions then determine between the prior glass/ice data
and another set value to make the insides of the glass less
opaque/refractive.
Fig. 12: Material Setup for Frosting Glass
The artifact is successful in creating a base set of materials
for a dynamic environment. The material shaders allow for the
real-time alteration of both meshes and materials by adjusting
them in Blueprint. The active buildup of snow and ice also
conveys to the player that the environment they are in is
changing and they will need to move to escape the cold.
Furthermore, the artifact also successfully applies next-gen
techniques. It applies PBR to distinguish the appearance of
materials by making surfaces reflect differently depending on
the light scattering resulting from the roughness and metalness
maps. The material setups also utilizes parameters in the
material to adjust the procedural snow accumulation to
accommodate different base textures. The procedural
capabilities are particularly successful with the tessellated snow
material, which allows snow to build upwards on any model,
despite its orientation.
However, while the artifact does create a good base for a
dynamic environment, the game world would benefit from
more dynamism. The implementation of particles, changing
lighting, and animated assets would reinforce the amount of
real-time changes that communicate with the player about their
surroundings. The use of flickering lights, blowing snow
flurries, and moving assets would make the world much more
engaging than relying on shaders alone.
Fig. 13: Artifact Materials Applied to a Scene
Despite the successes of the artifact, there were issues found
during its development. One such issue is that the snow
accumulation material, which uses the base albedo as the mask,
has a lot of variation on when snow will begin building up
(based on the parameter’s value). Specifically, darker albedo
maps will begin accumulating snow faster than lighter ones. To
correct this, using ambient occlusion or cavity maps for the
different material textures would serve as a consistent base to
calculate the snow accumulation on.
Another problem found during development of the artifact is
that mesh distortion on models with UV seams that are in an
area with tessellation have a chance to make holes in the
geometry of the mesh. However, optimizing models so that
there are not UV seams where snow builds up fixes the issue.
Similarly, this material works better for static objects because
if an object rotates the snow will auto adjust to the positive zaxis for the new orientation. This could easily break a player’s
immersion, as the snow would seemingly slide across the
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surface while the object rotated.
An additional issue discovered was that UE4, as of version
4.6.1, does not support the use of parameters in material layers.
Part of this artifact was to have multiple electronics that would
easily toggle between different light states. The electronics
were intended to be tied together using a material layer for the
light level so that they could all easily switch through
on/off/low power states, however since the parameter could not
be used in a material layer each material has to be called
independently in Blueprint. The ability to apply a material layer
that has a parameter to multiple other materials would give
developers control over everything that used that material layer
in a single instance.
V. CONCLUSION
Overall, the components used to make dynamic
environments in last-gen games carry over to the new
generation with some improvements. Rendering lighting in
real-time instead of pre-rendering it helps make spaces more
dynamic because the lighting is less static and reflections and
highlights are much more responsive to the camera and world
space. The major additions come from new technological
allowances to create real-time adjustments to meshes and
materials, which further help convey to the player about
changes in the game space. While the development of next-gen
games focuses more on procedural techniques to reduce
development time and disk space, they also use more
processing power than the last-gen method of development
[11].
The majority of lessons learned during development of this
artifact was about procedural generation. Using a parameter tied
to the mask for these materials allows the shaders to work with
most base textures. It also reduced the amount of time needed
to create the visual effect of snow/ice accumulating and
melting; once the parameters and the material were set up
correctly they were applicable to many different surfaces. Being
able to adapt this to more assets in the future will allow faster
iteration along with more flexibility in the look of materials.
However, procedural generation also has a chance to work
improperly, so it may require optimization or tweaking
depending on its use.
Furthermore, using UE4’s PBR system in conjunction with
real-time lighting allowed for easier distinction between
different material texture types. This is because the addition of
roughness and metalness expressions to the material editor
allows light and reflections to be scattered off the surface
differently depending on the input value. However, there are
potential risks with using PBR. The primary risk is potential
for increased development time upfront; it is a newly adopted
technique with a learning curve, but once artists learn it future
development should not take any longer. PBR is also likely to
cost more GPU than memory, so in terms of performance it
just needs consideration to the project’s constraints. Similarly,
real-time lighting may be more taxing than precomputed
lighting. Performance will vary depending on assets in the
level in addition to the amount of dynamic, static, and shadow
casting lights. To optimize performance, keeping a low
number of shadow casting dynamic lights would be the most
beneficial, as well as using spotlights over point lights, since
spotlights only affect objects within a cone.
Additionally, with minimal adjustments the materials created
for this thesis artifact could have a variety of procedural
applications, despite their intended use in an arctic setting. An
example would be changing the snow textures and masks to
dirt/grime, which would make these materials usable for
different levels of weathering.
Further study of this subject would include research into the
Snowdrop Engine from Ubisoft Massive, as tech demos of this
engine have shown dynamic snow accumulation in an urban
environment. Additionally, this engine is in development in
conjunction with the next-gen game Tom Clancy’s The
Division, which primarily takes place in New York in the
winter. Analyzing this game would also help provide insight
into more next-gen techniques for creating a dynamic
environment.
Additionally, any further development done in combination
with programming assistance could provide additional support
to optimize the procedural materials further by adding more
features to the tools. One such example would be the ability to
use parameters in UE4’s material layers. This function could
add more possibilities and reduce the amount of set-up time for
new materials, since a material layer functions independently
from the normal materials that use it.
VI. REFERENCES
H. Smith and M. Worch. Game Developer’s Conference 2010, Topic:
“What Happened Here? Environmental Storytelling.” San Francisco,
California, March 2010.
[2] M. Walsh, Game Developer’s Conference 2010, Topic: “Dynamic
Navmesh: AI in the Dynamic Environment of Splinter Cell: Conviction.”
San Francisco, California, March 2010.
[3] Z. Parrish, 'Unreal Engine 4 - Tools Demonstration GDC 2014', YouTube,
2014.
[Online].
Available:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hwhH7upYFE. [Accessed: 07Apr- 2015].
[4] S. McAuley, Game Developer’s Conference 2015, Topic: “Rendering the
World of Far Cry 4.” San Francisco, California, March 2015.
[5] Capcom, 'Dragon's Dogma dynamic environment', 2011. [Online].
Available:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybJD9jAg_Cg.
[Accessed: 08- Apr- 2015].
[6] The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Bethesda Softworks, 2011.
[7] Journey, Thatgamecompany, 2012.
[8] Dead Space 3, Visceral Games, 2013.
[9] Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Naughty Dog, 2009.
[10] The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Nintendo, 2006.
[11] M. Olsen, Game Developer’s Conference 2015, Topic: “The Ultimate
trim: Texturing Techniques of Sunset Overdrive.” San Francisco,
California, March 2015.
[1]
M. Toellner has been creating art for video games for two years while
attending The Guildhall at Southern Methodist University in the Master of
Interactive Technology program, with expected graduation in May 2015. Prior
to this, he earned his Bachelors of Fine Art in Drawing and Painting from
University of North Texas in 2013.
G. Heitzman has been creating art for video games since SEGA Enterprises
Arcade Division in Tokyo back in 1992. With contributions to games on
multiple platforms from the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation 1 days through to
today’s consoles and computers, Mr. Heitzman has been fortunate to see
firsthand the evolution of technology as it relates directly to game
development for the last two decades, and now is sharing that knowledge with
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new generations of game creators as part of the Art Faculty for The Guildhall
at Southern Methodist University.
E. Storz-Stringer, M. Ed. Southern Methodist University. estringer@smu.edu