No Rest for the Wicked Uses Moon Studios' Own Engine
The studio Moon Studios, recognized for the acclaimed Ori saga, has opted for an independent technical route for its next project, No Rest for the Wicked. Instead of using commercial engines, the team builds the game on internal and proprietary technology, designed to realize their artistic vision without compromises. 🎮
A Digital Canvas with Custom Technology
This proprietary graphics engine functions as the studio's digital brush. Its main purpose is to implement a distinctive visual style that dominates every screen of the game. Additionally, it is specifically designed to handle the technical demands of an Action RPG viewed from an isometric perspective, prioritizing environmental detail and aesthetic coherence over more generic approaches.
Key Features of the Visual Approach:- Painterly Style: The graphics emulate an animated oil painting, with textures suggesting brushstrokes and a rich color palette.
- Detailed Isometric Perspective: Displays complex and atmospheric environments with a high level of visual information from a fixed angle.
- Fundamental Lighting: Light not only illuminates but defines the atmosphere, creating deep contrasts and highlighting volumes for total immersion.
Developing a proprietary engine means the team can optimize specifically for their artistic style, although it also involves taking on the full burden of debugging and maintaining the technology.
Advantages and Challenges of Internal Technology
By owning their graphics technology, Moon Studios exercises absolute control over how each element is processed and displayed. This allows them to optimize performance directly for the unique features of their game, such as lighting effects that simulate a painting or the density of objects in the scene. However, this freedom comes with a clear operational cost.
Aspects of Development with a Proprietary Engine:- Total Artistic Control: Allows adjusting every graphical parameter to serve the gloomy atmosphere and the unique visual identity of the world.
- Targeted Optimization: The team can fine-tune the engine to efficiently process scenarios with a large number of visual elements and key dynamic lighting.
- Full Responsibility: The studio must debug, maintain, and update the entire technological base without support from a third-party engine, assuming all the complexity of development.
The Result: A Coherent and Immersive World
The ultimate goal of this technical effort is to immerse the player in a coherent world. Every scene, from a shadowy tavern to an unsettling forest, maintains a strong unified visual identity through the painterly style and light handling. The technology acts as an invisible but essential medium for the player to perceive this world not as a set of graphics, but as a living and consistent artistic entity. 🖼️