Lost Twins 2 News

Hey gamers! Welcome back to our devlog series! Today, we're diving into the creation of a stylized metal texture for a pipe. Creating shaders for game assets involves a meticulous balance between artistic vision and technical constraints.

We aimed to develop a stylized metal texture for a pipe that not only looked visually appealing but also performed well within the Unity engine. Our primary goal was to create a stylized metal texture for a pipe. This involved ensuring that the texture's appearance remained consistent across both Blender and Unity, while also optimizing it for performance within the game.

We faced two primary challenges during this process. First, it was crucial to preserve the visual consistency of the metal texture when transferring it from Blender to Unity. The texture needed to maintain its stylized look across both platforms. Second, we needed an efficient and flexible workflow between Blender and Unity that allowed for adjustments and fine-tuning without excessive back-and-forth. These challenges required us to carefully consider both the artistic and technical aspects of the shader development.

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To achieve a more flexible and unique shader, we decided to create the shader entirely within Blender. This approach allowed for greater control over the initial design and texturing process. After creating the shader, we baked the texture to see how it would appear once imported into Unity.

Initially, everything seemed fine until we decided to make the asset unlit to optimize game performance. This change presented a significant challenge: maintaining the texture's visual fidelity without relying on Unity's real-time lighting.

To address this, we baked the shader in Blender, incorporating both direct and indirect lighting into the texture. This method ensured that the texture retained its detailed lighting information. By doing so, we could then convert the texture into an unlit asset using Unity’s Amplify Shader Editor.

The final result was successful. The unlit asset maintained the desired stylized look of the metal texture while optimizing game performance. This approach not only preserved the visual integrity of the texture but also ensured a smoother workflow between Blender and Unity.

By experimenting with different workflows and leveraging the strengths of both Blender and Unity, we were able to overcome technical challenges and achieve our artistic goals. The lessons learned from this experience will undoubtedly inform and improve our future shader development projects.

Stay tuned for more updates and behind-the-scenes insights into our game development process. Until next time, happy gaming!

Best regards,
Playdew Team

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1752540/Lost_Twins_II/

Welcome to another devlog! Today we'll be detailing the creative and technical journey of developing a stylized glass pipe for our project. This task came with its own set of unique challenges, pushing the boundaries of typical transparent glass materials and aiming for a more animated, cell-shaded look.

Creating a glass pipe presented several challenges. The first major challenge was to move away from a typical transparent glass material and achieve a stylized and cell-shaded effect. This required more creative shading techniques to create strong shapes and highlights from the light hitting the surface.

To achieve the stylized look, we developed a custom surface unlit shader using the Amplify Shader Editor. This tool allowed us to create the desired effects more efficiently than Unity’s default glass material parameters, significantly improving performance. A key technique, suggested by Xetirano, involved using a dot product and a vector math node for comparison. This approach helped create the shiny glass effect and the strong shapes I aimed for. Another crucial component was the Fresnel effect. By combining it with the imported texture from Blender and adjusting its strength with a float, we were able to add depth and realism to the surface. Fine-tuning the Fresnel strength and texture coordinates allowed for precise control of the effect.



Another challenge was designing a single segment of the pipe that would be repeated throughout the pipeline. Ensuring this repetition did not look monotonous required careful attention to detail and design. The texture work involved baking the effects with transparency and making additional adjustments in Unity. We further enhanced the texture in Photoshop, adding more gradient strokes to achieve the stylized look. These combined efforts resulted in a unique and visually appealing glass pipe that met the project's artistic goals.

Stay tuned for more updates and insights from our development process!

Best regards,
Playdew team

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1752540/Lost_Twins_II/

Hey guys! We've got a question for you! 🎮

Would you like to see a co-op mode in our game? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!



Best regards,
Playdew Team

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1752540/Lost_Twins_II/

Hello, everyone! We are excited to bring you the latest updates on our game development journey. This time, we're diving deep into the creation of dynamic water effects that will elevate your gaming experience.

Our goal is to make the water in our game not just a visual element but a living, interactive part of the environment. Characters will swim, alter water flows, and encounter various underwater challenges as they progress through the levels.

Water Effect Development:

To make our water look real and captivating, we used Amplify Shader in Unity. This allowed us to create more realistic effects by using a specular surface shader.

One of the main challenges were enabling programmers to control water flow and movement through adjustable parameters. To tackle this, we used a Step node to convert a range of linear values into constant values, essentially creating a mask that filters out unnecessary parts of the water by converting shades of gray to black and white.

We further refined this by combining object rotation coordinates with a rotator node to control the angle in object space. The remainder of the shader involved fundamental math operations, incorporating a noise texture to give a realistic watery feel and animating it to simulate fluidity.

Adding to this effect, we introduced movement by multiplying the Step node with another noise map and feeding the result into the vertex offset. This technique brought the water to life, achieving the desired fluid and dynamic appearance.

From there, the possibilities expanded, allowing us to add elements such as bubbles, jellyfish, and more, enhancing the overall visual experience.

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We are committed to refining these water effects and seamlessly integrating them into our upcoming levels. Thank you for following our development journey. Your feedback and support are invaluable to us as we continue to innovate and push the boundaries of what's possible in our game. Keep an eye out for more exciting updates, and until next time, happy gaming!

Best regards,
Playdew Team

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1752540/Lost_Twins_II/

Greetings! Today, we’re thrilled to unveil another delightful area of our game: the Toyzone HUB. This whimsical realm serves as the third zone in our game, where players will embark on a journey filled with playful surprises and nostalgic charm. The Toyzone HUB is designed to immerse players in a world of childhood wonder, emphasizing exploration, creativity, and fun. Let’s explore how this theme is intricately woven into the fabric of Toyzone, particularly through its dynamic states of chaos and order.

Concept and Design:

The Toyzone HUB stands out with its vibrant, playful ambiance. Each zone in our game features a distinct HUB, meticulously crafted to reflect the environment and story arc of its respective area. The Toyzone exemplifies this with a rich array of visual and narrative elements that invite players to explore and revel in its whimsical charm.

The Toyzone exists in two primary states: chaos and order. This dynamic transformation not only affects the visual aesthetic but also drives the narrative forward, creating a deeper connection between the player and the game world.

Destroyed State:

The Toyzone is a riot of colors and disarray, with toys scattered everywhere, overturned blocks, and tangled strings of lights. Plush toys peek out from unexpected places, creating a sense of lively disorder. The clattering of blocks, the squeaks of rubber toys, and the cheerful giggles of unseen children. This creates an atmosphere of joyful chaos.In this state, players encounter clues about the Toyzone’s playful anarchy.



Restored State:

The Toyzone transforms into a neatly organized wonderland, with toys arranged perfectly, building blocks forming impressive structures, and twinkling lights illuminating the paths. Everything is in its place, creating a sense of harmonious play. The puzzles and toys from the chaos state become sources of new challenges and stories, revealing deeper lore and aiding in the Toyzone’s enchantment.



Level Selection:

Navigating the Toyzone HUB is an experience designed to enhance the theme of playful exploration. Players unlock levels by interacting with elements in the HUB that change depending on the Toyzone's state.

The transition between the chaos and order states is a central narrative device, embodying the theme of playful exploration and discovery. As players complete levels and achieve certain milestones, their actions directly influence the state of the Toyzone, reinforcing the sense of progress and creativity.
By intertwining the HUB’s dual states of chaos and order with the narrative, we aim to create an immersive experience that resonates with the theme of whimsical wonder and discovery.

We hope you’re as enchanted as we are by the playful surprises and nostalgic charm of the Toyzone. Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to develop and refine this delightful aspect of our game. Prepare to step into a world of whimsy and wonder, where every moment is a playful adventure.

Regards,
Playdew Team

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1752540/Lost_Twins_II/