Enshrouded, the survival RPG by Keen Games, stands out for a technically risky premise: a world built entirely with voxels. This analysis focuses on its proprietary engine, the Holistic Engine, and how its voxel-based architecture redefines environmental interactivity. Beyond aesthetics, we examine the implications for level design and artistic workflow, comparing its advantages and challenges against generalist engines like Unreal Engine.
Voxels and tools: the backbone of design 🔧
The Holistic Engine prioritizes total terrain manipulation. Every portion of land, rock, or structure is a set of voxels that the player can dynamically alter, allowing excavations, constructions, and modifications without transitions. This grants unprecedented freedom, but imposes major optimization and data management challenges. For artists, Keen Games uses internal voxel sculpting tools, specifically designed for sculpting this type of environments. Integration with Substance Painter then facilitates texturing more traditional assets, creating a hybrid pipeline that combines voxel flexibility with standard visual quality.
The balance between innovation and productivity ⚖️
Opting for a proprietary engine like the Holistic Engine is a double-edged bet. On one hand, it offers absolute control to optimize a core feature core: terrain destruction and modification. On the other, it implies developing from scratch tools, lighting systems, and pipelines that Unity or Unreal offer ready-made. The result in Enshrouded is a notable technical coherence, where gameplay and graphics are intrinsically linked. Its success demonstrates that, for studios with a very clear technical vision, a custom solution can be the key to a unique identity, even assuming a greater initial development burden.
How does Enshrouded's Holistic Engine manage the rendering and dynamic interaction of a fully voxelized world without compromising performance at long draw distances?
(P.S.: game jams are like weddings: everyone happy, no one sleeps, and you end up crying)