GDC 2025 Session Viewer
Glitter, Fur and Shadows: Character Rendering Technology of 'Sky: Children of the Light'
Oliver Castaneda (Senior Software Engineer, thatgamecompany)
Location: Room 3001, West Hall
Date: Thursday, March 20
Time: 5:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Pass Type: All Access Pass, Core Pass - Get your pass now!
Track: Programming
Format: Lecture
Vault Recording: TBD
Audience Level: Intermediate
Graphics Engineer Oliver Castaneda highlights various programming techniques used for avatar and outfit rendering in Sky: Children of the Light. The cozy online game from thatgamecompany, the studio behind Flower and Journey, has been a hit with players around the world in part due to its collectible outfits and accessories. By showcasing examples of specific cosmetics from the game, such as sparkling butterfly wings, feathered capes, and ukuleles, Oliver explains the engineering solutions that the team has found most beneficial for rendering image based lighting, self-shadowing, transparency, and procedural fur and glitter within the limitations imposed by mobile hardware. This session includes a number of technical animations intended to help attendees visualize the central concepts along with code snippets and footage from the game.
Takeaway
Attendees will discover the essential engineering concepts behind character lighting and rendering in Sky: Children of the Light and explore specific techniques used for shadows, transparency, glitter and procedural fur. Technical animations will help visual learners of all skill levels gain insight into a variety of graphics programming gems.
Intended Audience
This talk is aimed primarily at technical artists and graphics programmers working in the game industry, but is suitable for anyone interested in character rendering in modern mobile games. Coding examples are limited to C++ and GLSL, so some knowledge of those languages may be beneficial, but is not required.