Welcome to another summer Dev Diary! As the Swedes are lazily shuffling in the door after vacations, we’ll be discussing the map visuals. My name is Petter Lundh. I’m the Art Director for Crusader Kings III for the last two years, previously 2D Lead (my work might be most familiar in the form of the Iberia, Tours, and Persia loading screens)[/p][p][/p][p]For All Under Heaven, we're undertaking our most ambitious expansion yet: extending the map to encompass all of Asia. This represents a big undertaking that goes beyond just extending the geography.[/p][p][/p][p]While the map has seen new assets trickle in since release, the overall look remains unchanged. During those five years we’ve filled a big bucket of visual ideas we’re eager to implement though, and this expansion proved the perfect opportunity to give the entire map a facelift.[/p][p][/p][p]This is mainly an artistic reimagining and a modernizing of our workflow. It doesn’t involve fancy new engine tech—we’re using the same features that have been available to the modding community already. This means you’ll be able to put your own spin on these changes, provided you’re up for tinkering with shader code (or coerce ChatGPT to do it for you).[/p][p][/p][p]We also plan to add additional documentation that will make it easier for new modders to get started, though this may come later. Moreover, we're adding optional settings for some of the larger changes that impact performance.[/p][p][/p]
Terrain Workflow
[p]In the olden days (CK3 release), we painted heightmaps and terrain masks by hand. This took our team months to complete, and any increase in detail would exponentially increase the workload. This process leaves little room for iteration and course correction underway.[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36033026/2b529100128f948675fc00ada5cddaa129574fe8.png"][/img][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36033026/3d70b2740fb099566549a8331e0ede0f4d348685.png"][/img][/p][p][/p][p]The old mountains were created mostly from a tiling normal map. This technique results in visual noise in dense mountain regions—something especially apparent when extending the Himalayas eastward. We would rather have a more realistic appearance that mimics real erosion patterns. Mountains should feel more like real mountains.[/p][p][/p][p]We adopted the terrain generation software Gaea to solve this problem. It’s a tool that creates realistic heightmaps and material masks through simulating real erosion patterns. We can generate complex terrain far more efficiently than with manual painting, and we no longer have to start from scratch when iterating on the general look.[/p][p][/p][p]The scale of terrain features remains largely the same. There’s a few reasons for this:[/p]- [p]We used the old heightmap as a base since the shape of the map also has gameplay implications.[/p][/*]
- [p]We find that the stylized scale of mountains look best when zoomed in, even though a more realistic scale can feel better zoomed out. If we adopted a real world scaling, most mountains would appear as noise when zoomed in (at the level where you can actually inspect the terrain).[/p][/*]
Surface Polish
[p]The improvements go beyond the heightmap and terrain textures. We have taken a careful look at the lighting and shaders for all map elements. Subtle tweaks are added to most elements to improve readability and make them aesthetically blend together in a nicer way.[/p][p][/p]- [p]Map text now has a subtle texture and softer appearance - it should feel less digital and easier on the eyes.[/p][/*]
- [p]The Political Map has a higher res texture with less apparent tiling.[/p][/*]
- [p]The water now has more varied detail and color in different parts of the world. There are improved wave patterns along the shore, and overall the scale and wave texture has been balanced for a more realistic feel.[/p][/*]
- [p]Effects blend more naturally between zoom levels, removing some long-standing pop-in and glitches that were noticeable in the transition between paper map, political and terrain map modes. Speaking of zoom, you can now zoom in closer than before![/p][/*]
Lighting
[p]Lastly, we have reworked the terrain lighting. Terrain and map objects now have separately adjustable parameters that let us tweak their values individually, allowing us an easier time making them both look great. The map is generally brighter and important interactable objects should pop more.[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36033026/49f7e5bd9e46dc72b34d706e77356805e8c454a3.png"][/img][/p][p][/p][p]We've added cloud shadows that creep across the landscape. To top it all off, we're adding a Terrain Map Mode that lets you view the entire world in this enhanced visual style.[/p][p][/p][p]We hope you’ll like it![/p][p][/p][p](If you don’t, you can disable cloud shadows and some of the other shader-based changes in the game settings)[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36033026/b5cbb454885eb58d8ec87cc0bb50c26161fadfec.png"][/img][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36033026/ca539965936e5dc78c8e9bc4d4344c756a2ef9fc.png"][/img][/p][p]\[Iceland before-and-after][/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36033026/c4bbe22af374857687eedb7d0c8558326fe0ea25.png"][/img][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36033026/f1c0dac7fbe41dafa97a50b530edcae6b6c7c592.png"][/img][/p][p]\[Spain before-and-after][/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36033026/66fc9160188c8c56b4c72f7d083f7a38f3a3f05e.png"][/img][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36033026/65c280b44c0a90b0d3ddfcc8445cff1bb1837c1f.png"][/img][/p][p]\[Arabia before-and-after][/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36033026/19a9247e19ce18ea4d203dc9e7679c0efbf7342f.png"][/img][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36033026/bf8790df2c95b2e841f36219ccdea0b69ff7d1c5.png"][/img][/p][p]\[Britannia before-and-after][/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36033026/3d5277ef5e547a6656bda3f8f5403fdee7fac36e.png"][/img][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36033026/7bf5f7abad765286d6b1309432954033c17c5978.png"][/img][/p][p]\[India before-and-after][/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36033026/4a5a5e4fc71872cd57dfee85ff31b734004f1afc.png"][/img][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36033026/1db3ef7619afd9dbff25b71d545f457a9deba1c8.png"][/img][/p][p]\[Italy before-and-after][/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36033026/3fd947a713ce0fd2ed86362f8f44d121d9bcc5f0.png"][/img][/p][p]\[Japan in All Under Heaven][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p]
Paper Map
[p]Hey, this is Lucas Ribeiro, 2D Art Lead. As some might’ve noticed from our previous dev diaries, we have a new illustrated paper map for All Under Heaven. This asian-folklore inspired map covers the entirety of the game world and will be used by default by most east asian cultures. Our original paper map has also been extended all the way to the east. Besides cultural triggers, players will also be able to pick which paper map style they’d rather use in the graphics tab of the settings menu.[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36033026/f997fc193e78f29ac1176a01ae9202e90a19dfca.png"][/img][/p][p][/p][p]Let’s have a look at some snapshots from the new illustrated map:[/p][p]Around Japan we can observe the Kappa, the Ushi-oni and the Baku (Or… is that the Bulgasari by the east coast of the Korean peninsula?).[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36033026/f46922259222bfb537beeaafdd0d81f9e94d5310.png"][/img][/p][p]Between Korea and China, Cholima streaks across the sky. Surrounding China we can observe the Fenghuang bird and the first of our cardinal direction beasts, the Azure Dragon of the East. More of these beasties are appropriately positioned in the map…[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36033026/eef8ac619032687cf17024a7fb05ecb8e583530a.png"][/img][/p][p]…Such as the Vermillion Bird of the South, under India…[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36033026/d96e44c9d695fa59c53678f4af90308eb0c7f7d8.png"][/img][/p][p]…the White Tiger of the West by the Iberian Peninsula …[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36033026/89c9ec0e7839e06b4119b9b76ba4ede1562427ad.png"][/img][/p][p]…and finally, the Black Turtle of the North by Scandinavia.…[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36033026/fef4cbdf368d115d1fe4330fb0badf9fc2212f0b.png"][/img][/p][p][/p][p]We have endeavored to represent the terrain features of the world in a style more reminiscent of Chinese paintings and Shan Shui, with bold paint strokes and intricate natural patterns. The leafy steep mountains should reflect this very clearly.[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36033026/44bd35a0777b41c9a98d11b914126a22497694ed.png"][/img][/p][p][/p][p]For the original map extension, we kept the style inspired in the Olaus Magnus Carta Marina. The familiar mountain, forest, desert, etc. patterns have been extended all the way to the East as well.[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/36033026/f0d45ab72d6176fd8ea855b7b2e32cc419832085.png"][/img][/p][p][/p][p][/p]
