Making Graphics Like it's 1993

3 hours ago

Catlantean 3D is a side-project FPS aiming for a 2027 Steam release, built with early 90s techniques but modern tools.
The game uses a VGA-like 256-color palette (Mode-X 320x240) to achieve a retro aesthetic, requiring deliberate color choices for assets.
A custom lighting system is implemented via a precomputed colormap, using perceptual color distance (Oklab) and hue-shifting for realistic shading.
Assets are created using a mix of 3D rendering in Blender with Python scripts for automation and hand-drawn elements for detail and soul.
Procedural generation scripts produce textures, gibbing animations, and particle effects to save time and ensure consistency.
A custom map editor built with wxPython replaces Tiled, integrating game-specific features like light painting and direct level launching.
The development emphasizes transparency and community engagement, with plans to open-source the code while selling the game data.

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