This week we did some changes to some of the art assets based on feedback from our external testing, so changed the concepts for the moveable mirror and stationary mirror. The changes to their designs will help them to make them easier to read and allow the player to see over the moveable mirror.
Distance based tessellation
This week I tried to create a material in unreal engine 4 with adjustable tessellation height based on the position of the object and the camera. I based this of a tutorial video on YouTube that you can find here: http://youtu.be/D6zyUI33FqA
Tessellation subdivides the geometry of an object to add more geometry. Then it displaces that geometry to create a height difference. Example a cobblestone material without tessellation looks like a flat surface if you get really close to it, but if that same material have tessellation you could see the height difference in the stones.
When it came to the implementing tessellation into already existing materials for the game, we encountered a problem. The tessellation worked correctly in the material preview. The problem appeared when we applied the material to a flat object in a scene. The object became distorted in a random manner, the results can be seen in the picture bellow.
But when we applied the material to a round object it works as it should. I only got a basic understanding of how tessellation works, this is something I will have look further into next week.
idera13 