Mathew Pembleton
VFX Artist for games
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UOP Gamejam 2020: No Shroom For Error Assets

I spend the last week working on a gamejam with 3 other people as the team "Eldritch Screaming" working on a game called "No Shroom For Error"! We won the award for best looking game and were tied for best game overall as determined by industry veteran judges! I am really proud of my team and what we were able to accomplish this week. Here are the assets that I worked on as the teams Technical Artist.
You can download and play No Shroom For Error on our itch.io page!
https://eldritchscreaming.itch.io/no-shroom-for-error

The first asset made was a shader for all the mushrooms. Alongside basic things like giving sliders for adjusting the roughness and metallic values and such, I gave them all a subsurface scattering effect!

The first asset made was a shader for all the mushrooms. Alongside basic things like giving sliders for adjusting the roughness and metallic values and such, I gave them all a subsurface scattering effect!

This allows the mushrooms to give off their own glow in reaction to other lights and gives natural organisms a softer more lively look. Here is what it looks like when they are only lit by their own spores!

This allows the mushrooms to give off their own glow in reaction to other lights and gives natural organisms a softer more lively look. Here is what it looks like when they are only lit by their own spores!

Here is an instance of the mushroom shader. Allowing my teams artists to implement each mushroom without touching the node graphs.

Here is an instance of the mushroom shader. Allowing my teams artists to implement each mushroom without touching the node graphs.

Here is some simple augmentation of the normal map since they were not "popping out" enough. Essentially this amplifies the normal's red colours.

Here is some simple augmentation of the normal map since they were not "popping out" enough. Essentially this amplifies the normal's red colours.

The first part of this effect was the subsurface scattering input itself. This had a blended diffuse linearly interpolated with the original diffuse via the mushroom's height map.

The first part of this effect was the subsurface scattering input itself. This had a blended diffuse linearly interpolated with the original diffuse via the mushroom's height map.

Here is the result of the normal augmentation and the first part of the SSS effect.

Here is the result of the normal augmentation and the first part of the SSS effect.

The next part of the effect was the diffuse output, which uses a Fresnel to blend the mushroom;s original diffuse with another blended version.

The next part of the effect was the diffuse output, which uses a Fresnel to blend the mushroom;s original diffuse with another blended version.

Comparison: the mushroom without the shader edits I made (left), and after I made the shader edits (right)

Comparison: the mushroom without the shader edits I made (left), and after I made the shader edits (right)

Subsurface Scattering has also been applied to all the foliage and trees too to make the game pretty!

Subsurface Scattering has also been applied to all the foliage and trees too to make the game pretty!

A vertex painting shader was also made for this project. The diffuse images were taken from textures.com. They then were turned into materials in substance designer with generated height, normal, roughness, and metallic maps.

A vertex painting shader was also made for this project. The diffuse images were taken from textures.com. They then were turned into materials in substance designer with generated height, normal, roughness, and metallic maps.

Vertex blend application to the ground mesh (left), results (right). Makes use of each material's height map to determine how much they are blended.

Vertex blend application to the ground mesh (left), results (right). Makes use of each material's height map to determine how much they are blended.

Another asset was a shader for the grass. Alongside some more subsurface effects, the grass is also animated by a sine wave that warps the top half of the planes that they are rendered on.

Another asset was a shader for the grass. Alongside some more subsurface effects, the grass is also animated by a sine wave that warps the top half of the planes that they are rendered on.

Spores particle effect for each mushroom. The material for the particles is a simple radial gradient subtracted by a cloudy noise. The colours change over time by a sine wave and each have slightly different hues.

Spores particle effect for each mushroom. The material for the particles is a simple radial gradient subtracted by a cloudy noise. The colours change over time by a sine wave and each have slightly different hues.

Blowing leaves particle effect. It uses the same textures from leaves on the trees. This was spread throughout the environment.

Blowing leaves particle effect. It uses the same textures from leaves on the trees. This was spread throughout the environment.

I also worked on setting up the base lighting and colours for each level. The colours of the meshes were made from material instances and I made use of UE4s fog and directional lights to change the overall colour of the scene and add godrays.

I also worked on setting up the base lighting and colours for each level. The colours of the meshes were made from material instances and I made use of UE4s fog and directional lights to change the overall colour of the scene and add godrays.

Here is a different lighting setup of 2nd level, set in a summertime scenario. The previous image was going for a more autumn inspired aesthetic.

Here is a different lighting setup of 2nd level, set in a summertime scenario. The previous image was going for a more autumn inspired aesthetic.

Award for Best Looking Game.

Award for Best Looking Game.

Award for Best Overall Game by Industry Judges choice. Really proud of my team! Check their portfolios out at: https://www.artstation.com/elliscarter https://www.artstation.com/boyan https://www.instagram.com/syriph/

Award for Best Overall Game by Industry Judges choice. Really proud of my team! Check their portfolios out at:
https://www.artstation.com/elliscarter
https://www.artstation.com/boyan
https://www.instagram.com/syriph/

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