The 2D Sprites Behind Silk & Sorrow's 3D Look.
by Vicente C.
Published |
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Silk & Sorrow's trees and trash piles seem to have height, but they are made from sprites. Florian Heynen of Snowberry Games made the effect by stacking, moving and lighting those layers in Godot.
The trees and trash piles in Silk & Sorrow look 3D when the camera moves past them. Florian Heynen of Snowberry Games built them from sprites in a 2D Godot scene.
Take one of the trash piles. It is made from a stack of sprite layers. Adding or removing layers changes its height, and each layer can have different artwork.
A script shifts each layer based on the camera's position. Every layer has its own configurable parallax setting, so some move a little more than others. As the camera passes, those small differences make the pile look like it has depth.
Lighting helps too. Separate light layers control which sprites receive light, while modulation makes the upper layers darker. The shading helps the stack look like one object.

Florian uses the same approach for trees and other scenery that needs height.
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