In this video, Mike Snowden discusses the intricacies of VFX in Star Citizen, highlighting effects like smoke, dust, and impact visuals. He talks about the growth of the VFX team, improvements in developer tools, and the essential role of VFX in creating an immersive gaming experience.
In this video about the VFX (visual effects) in Star Citizen, Mike Snowdon shares some insights. He mentions that the release of “The Rundown” might be delayed due to his friend Jim’s retirement celebration. Moving on to the topic, Mike explains that VFX includes effects like smoke, dust, fog, muzzle flashes, and impact effects, and how light interacts with objects in the game. He believes that Star Citizen is one of the more visually stunning games available.
Mike has been part of the VFX team for nine years and talks about the growth of the team and the improvements in developer tools over time. They now have their own quality check team because VFX feeds into practically all other teams. A demonstration is given on how fire is triggered and how the Salvage beams and particles at impact are implemented. VFX work is typically done near the end of the pipeline and is essential for creating a fully immersive experience for players, although they may not always directly notice the work put into it.
Mike also mentions some tools that aim to provide higher quality effects while maintaining a lower system cost. Lightning effects and a new version of fire are shown as examples. Finally, Mike appreciates the viewers’ time and concludes by wishing them safe flying and saying he’ll see them in the verse (referring to the game’s universe).