Action Square studio has revealed Project GGG, an extraction shooter that uses Unreal Engine 5 to deliver a unique visual experience. The project stands out for its top-down camera, an atypical choice for the genre, which combined with PBR lighting in space environments promises a high level of detail and realism. This technical approach seeks to differentiate the title in a saturated market, betting on a perspective that maximizes the player's tactical visibility.
Workflow between 3ds Max and Unreal Engine 5 🚀
Asset creation for Project GGG begins in 3ds Max, where elements of the space setting are modeled and textured. Optimization is key, as the top-down camera exposes large map areas on screen, requiring efficient geometry to maintain performance. Subsequently, the models are imported into Unreal Engine 5, where PBR lighting is applied. UE5's Lumen system allows dynamic light bounces on the metallic surfaces of ships and stations, generating accurate reflections without the need for pre-baking. This workflow reduces iteration time but demands rigorous LOD control to avoid frame drops in multiplayer combat.
Performance challenges in top-down extraction shooters ⚙️
The extraction shooter genre imposes particular demands: extensive maps with multiple escape routes and loot zones. In Project GGG, the aerial view complicates render distance management, as the player can see very distant elements. To solve this, the team uses UE5's World Partition system, which loads and unloads map sectors asynchronously. PBR lighting in space environments, with dark backgrounds and point light sources, also requires careful shadow balancing so that enemies do not remain invisible. Action Square will need to polish these details to ensure a competitive and stable experience across all hardware configurations.
As a developer, which technical aspects of Unreal Engine 5, such as Nanite or Lumen, do you consider most critical for achieving the balance between performance and high visual fidelity in Project GGG's open maps?
(PS: 90% of development time is polishing, the other 90% is fixing bugs)