Remedy's Use Of Substance 3D In Environment Art Of Alan Wake 2

Received with widespread acclaim from critics and the gaming community alike, Alan Wake 2 is a third-person survival horror game and a sequel to the cult classic Alan Wake, continuing the story of a best-selling novelist, Alan Wake, who has been trapped in an alternate dimension for 13 years, as he attempts to escape by writing a horror story involving an FBI Special Agent named Saga Anderson.

The Alan Wake series is often praised for its visuals, sound, narrative, pacing, and atmosphere. As Benjamin Lindquist, a seasoned professional with 10 years of experience at Remedy Entertainment, explained, Art Director Janne Pulkkinen had a strong vision for what he wanted to see on screen, influencing many different aspects of the art. The themes of the Pacific Northwest were quite different from the ones of the Dark Place, and as such, a lot of the materials used in one setting weren't usable in the other.

The materials were designed with a focus on realism, leveraging a significant amount of scan data. Materials weren't necessarily art-directed in the same capacity as lighting, VFX, and color-grading, for example. Despite their realism, material adjustments can still significantly influence the final look.

The Environment Art team collaborated with Epic with full access to the Megascan's content and leveraged that a lot in building their material library. According to Benjamin Lindquist, assets from Quixel Bridge were exported straight into Substance 3D Designer, where they were modified and tweaked to make sure they were cohesive and within acceptable PBR ranges.

These materials were then used in Remedy's in-engine layered material system, where they could be combined based on height data and painted masks. Tileable materials that weren't based on scans were mostly procedurally created in Substance 3D Designer, while unique texturing was done in Substance 3D Painter.

Remedy's in-house render engine, Northlight, allows for live-editing content. This enables developers to iterate on materials in Substance 3D Designer very quickly, as any changes can be automatically exported, which in turn are almost instantaneously visible in the engine.

Benjamin Lindquist also disclosed that, to streamline material creation, he developed a PBR checker in Substance 3D Designer. This PBR checker was replicated 1 to 1 in Remedy's engine, so the artists were able to verify the materials both in Substance 3D Painter, 3D Designer, and the engine.

Read the interview here, and for a full overview of Remedy Entertainment's environment art pipeline, check out their GDC 2024 presentation:

Also, join our 80 Level Talent platform and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Reddit, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.