Rundisc has achieved a visual milestone with Chants of Sennaar, a game that translates the aesthetic of European comics into a 3D engine. Far from realism, the title opts for a clear line style reminiscent of Moebius. For indie developers, analyzing its pipeline reveals how to combine tools like Blender, Substance Designer, and Photoshop to create a cohesive and expressive world without needing an AAA team. 🎨
Architectural modeling and cel-shading shaders 🏛️
The foundation of the art begins in Blender, where the game's monumental architecture was modeled. The structures, with pure geometric shapes and marked symmetries, are optimized for real-time rendering. The key step occurs in Substance Designer, where cel-shading shaders were designed. These materials not only mimic the black outlines of comics but apply flat shading with smooth transitions, avoiding realistic gradients. In Unity, the team integrated these shaders so that model edges render with a constant thickness, emulating ink lines. This flow allows simple geometry to look detailed without increasing polygon count, a vital trick for indie projects with tight budgets.
Lessons for the indie developer 💡
The hieroglyphic interface, designed in Photoshop, demonstrates that the UI must be coherent with the game's art. Rundisc treated each icon as another illustration, using the same color palettes and line thicknesses. The lesson is clear: a unified pipeline, where each tool plays a specific role (Blender for structure, Substance for textures, Photoshop for UI), reduces technical friction. For an indie, replicating this approach involves mastering few tools but exploiting them to the fullest, prioritizing visual coherence over technical complexity.
In a pipeline seeking to emulate Moebius' fluidity, how did Rundisc solve the technical challenge of maintaining the thickness and uniformity of the linear stroke in character silhouettes within Unity, without resorting to post-processing that would break the comic's 2D aesthetic?
(PS: game jams are like weddings: everyone is happy, no one sleeps, and you end up crying)