I’m working on a new tree. I created the model using poorly made textures from random images as ‘preview textures’ to see if I got the model shape right (it’s much easier to work with a texture than just white square planes). After I finished the model I started making an original hand-painted texture, and so far I have a sketch with just vague shapes and colours, no shading and no detailing at all.
I decided to use it and see in the game on the model, and it actually looks quite realistic, which I didn’t expect at all considering how little detailed the painting is at the moment.
So the conclusion is that textures themselves don’t need to be photo-realistic to give a realistic effect in the game. I’m of course not going to leave it like that and I’ll finish the texture properly as I want it to look nice when zoomed in too, but it’s interesting to know. I think it’s a result of these factors:
I decided to use it and see in the game on the model, and it actually looks quite realistic, which I didn’t expect at all considering how little detailed the painting is at the moment.
So the conclusion is that textures themselves don’t need to be photo-realistic to give a realistic effect in the game. I’m of course not going to leave it like that and I’ll finish the texture properly as I want it to look nice when zoomed in too, but it’s interesting to know. I think it’s a result of these factors:
- I filled the leaves with multiple colours instead of just one.
- The texture isn’t ‘dense’, i.e. there is lots of space between leaves instead of a lot of them on top of each other.
- I’m sure dynamic shadows in the game have something to say.