Shaders and VFX: A Deep Dive into the Water
It’s time to talk about how we’re making a splash with our new water visuals!
While some have been diving into Easter eggs, we’ve been swimming in feedback at the FlatPonies barn! We recently opened the floodgates for limited community playtesting, and the response has been a total wave of positivity. But the waterworks don’t stop there – the atmosphere is getting a lot deeper this month as we transform how our water behaves and looks.
Scratch taking a dip in one of the many bodies of water in Rhythm Ruins.
A Technical Splash: Realism Meets Rhythm
Our Technical Artist, Ameer Khalid, has been working under the surface to fine-tune how water behaves. The biggest change? Versatility. As Ameer explains:
“The main difference would be that the waves of the water now operate more realistically and versatile… two big bodies of water no longer have identical waves since their settings are now per body.”
This ensures that whether Scratch is by a pond or a river, the environment feels grounded and alive.
“Since the waves now behave like what they are supposed to be, this helps the player feel more immersed into the world of Scratch the Cat.”
Before vs. after the update – in Rhythm Ruins.
The Three Pillars of the “Big Blue” Update
Ameer highlighted three major shifts that are changing the game:
- Dynamic Waves: We are using oceanographic data to simulate real-world movement. “Waves give a unique form to look at, like whether it moves like a calm pond, directionally like a busy river, or chaotically like ocean water,” says Ameer.
- A Fresh Foam System: Our new foam matches our vibrant art style and is now much more visible. Ameer notes: “It’s no longer view depth-based, which means it can be seen from a top-down perspective.”
- Environmental Color-Sync: We’ve tuned the palettes so the water feels like a natural part of the world rather than standing out.
According to Ameer, this is just the beginning: “The Scratch the Cat world has many different environments… what you have currently seen is only just the surface.”
Before vs. after the update – in the tutorial.
Wanna dip your toes into the Game?
We’ve officially kicked off our closed demo, and the energy has been incredible! Now that we’ve surfaced from the water, we’re heads-down using that player data to polish the movement and rhythm as we head toward a major public milestone later this year.
Huge thanks to our testers for helping us make Scratch’s world the best it can be! We still have a few spots left for those who want to help us hunt bugs and “feel-test” the latest levels.
How to join: Head over to our Discord to find the survey. If you prefer using email instead of Discord, then feel free to send us an email instead. We are looking for fresh perspectives, so catch the wave, before this opportunity drifts away.
Thanks for listening – and remember:
Stay groovy. Stay scratchy.
Curious to meet more of our herd? Want to know more about the horsepower behind our pixels? Alright, no more horsin’ around!