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#Post#: 10--------------------------------------------------
The beauty of reflections
DIR By: Pam
Date: May 20, 2021, 6:27 am
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When I think about reflections in old games adventure games
aren't really the first thing that come to my mind. Normally
it'd be games where they're more prominent - the mirrors in Duke
3D, the cool reflection based puzzle in Another World, the hall
of mirrors in the very bizarre Weird Dreams. Nevertheless, there
are some interesting examples of them in adventures that are
well worth checking out, from the subtle floor reflections seen
in the Space Quest 5 shot above, to more interesting, dynamic
examples.
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Some of these examples are very subtle indeed. This scene from
Sam & Max Hit the Road has the faintest of reflections on the
ground, giving the impression of shiny linoleum. The counter
also has a slight reflection on it - these are really just the
faintest details, designed to give the impression of the glossy
materials these surfaces are made of.
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It's a little stronger in this scene from the game. The stronger
reflections on the floor of the virtual reality device give the
sense of a strong light source from above nicely. Notice how the
curtains are perfectly reflected, but when the floor is
reflecting the plain green wall the artist has added streaks, to
help sell the idea of a shiny surface. This mimics specularity
on a slightly uneven surface, giving the appearance of a
reflective area despite no actual details for the surface to
reflect.
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This scene from Beneath a Steel Sky also has subtle reflections,
but slightly stronger. The reflective floor is dirtier and
grainier, this time, and while it feels futuristic, it also
feels dirtier and less polished than the Space Quest 5 and Sam &
Max examples because it. If you look carefully you can also see
the suggestion of the seams between tiles interrupting the
reflections slightly - particularly below the device closest to
the left against the back wall.
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This scene from Gateway shows the opposite - perfectly
uninterrupted reflections, giving a clean, corporate and
futuristic feel. Notice how the light source blooms the
reflections out slightly, putting whiter circles in where the
light hits the floor directly. Also notice how the reflections
being confined to a single part of the scene gives a really
clear indication of the change in materials in flooring. One
oddity is the potted plant, and how its reflection goes straight
down rather than following the inverted shape of the plant. This
is fairly common, and simplifies drawing a reflection, even if
it's not very realistic.
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One last set of floor reflections is this from Dune - notice how
under the two guards we can see the faintest suggestion of their
reflections. This only really works because they're omnipresent
parts of the scene - Leto doesn't have a reflection, because
he's not always in this scene. If the guard reflections were
stronger, the fact that Leto doesn't have a reflection might
seem odd, but because they're so subtle, it doesn't really stand
out too much. In modern games where memory and size constraints
are much less of a consideration we merely give everybody a
reflection.
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Another great use for reflections is to suggest the presence of
water - in this scene from Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist
we see the reflection of the surrounding landscape, as well as
the reflection of a blue sky in the water, which is easily read
as being a large area of water.
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For a much smaller, shallower area of water, such as the puddles
in this track in Broken Sword, a much milder reflection is
appropriate. The barest suggestion of the texture of the door,
coupled with the slight shift to a bluer hue gives the
impression of a reflection, but because the water is so shallow,
enough light still hits the ground beneath the water to let the
ground still remain quite visible, and so a transparent
reflection is appropriate here.
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Reflecting a blue sky isn't always appropriate for water. This
scene from Lost Secret of the Rainforest shows a much greener
reflection - which suits the greener atmosphere we can see in
the distance. Here a blue reflection would feel more out of
place. The artist also added some nice distortion to the water
here, to help give the idea of the uneven surface of water, as
well as drawing in the reflection for the boat. Notice how the
character in the boat isn't reflected.
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This scene from Dune shows an underground reservoir of water,
and appropriately, no sky reflection is shown at all. The water
is also perfectly still - there's just the mildest of
distortions here and there, but otherwise it's a mirror
reflection of the distant stone features. This shows how artists
take into account the surrounding environment to inform the
colour and movement of a reflective surface.
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The opposite is visible in this shot from Space Quest 5. We
recognize the water for what it is, because we're used to seeing
water reflecting a blue sky like this, but considering the
actual "sky" it exists under is the colourless black of space,
the blue colour of the water here doesn't make any sense. It
doesn't really ruin the scene, it just feels a bit less
realistic than it perhaps should.
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One reflection I particularly love is this shot from Future
Wars. Here we see the side of a large building and a window
cleaner at work - the massive, glass surface cleverly used to
give a panoramic reflection of the scene behind us, interrupted
only by the window washer's gear, the open window and the frames
of the windows. One of my favourite things about this scene,
other than the wonderful panorama it gives, is how you can see
other reflections in the sides of some of the buildings in the
reflection, a testament to Eric Chahi's imagination, attention
to detail, and skill with the barest minimum of colours. It's a
wonderful and extremely memorable way to start a game.
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Another great example of seeing a bigger scene via a reflection
is visible in this cutscene from Full Throttle, where we see Ben
riding up to a rival gang member as reflected in the lens of his
goggles. This is a very stylish and cool way to show this scene,
and actually requires less animation than showing Ben from a
long shot, riding up to the other rider. A really fun way to
show two different angles at the same time.
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A similar idea is used in this moment from The Secret of Monkey
Island, where Meathook opens the door of the "murderous winged
devil" enclosure. Here we see the apprehension on Guybrush's
face, and the gradual reveal of what is clearly just a parrot in
his eyes, followed by his perplexed look as he realizes what the
fabled beast actually is. This is one of my favourite jokes from
the game - a wonderful way to deliver a punchline.
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An even more complex shot, this later shot from Full Throttle
shows the scene directly from Maureen's eyes, as she notices one
of Ripburger's henchmen enter her doorway and point a gun at
her, who she then deals with by lowering the ramp he's standing
on. I love how this conveys the idea of how Maureen notices him
at the same time as showing exactly what he's doing, and then
showing how he deals with him. It's a great combination of ideas
into a single shot, and tells multiple angles of the story at
once. I also love the warped and distorted reflection in the
surface of the toaster, which gives a great impression of being
close to an object, where subtle imperfections in a surface will
be more visible.
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One final great use of reflections to tell a story is the mirror
in Dune - Paul's journey involves seeing him change as he grows
into his role as leader of the Fremen. This is beautifully
illustrated by looking at yourself in the mirror - at first
Paul's eyes are plain, indicative of his offworld heritage. As
his exposure to the spice melange changes him, we see his eyes
turn gradually blue when we return to the mirror to save our
game.
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Here we see his eyes coloured deep blue, showing his adaption to
the new world, and we also see his companion Chani next to him -
I really like this idea of showing the two of them together in
the mirror, showing Paul isn't just doing this for himself
anymore. A wonderful way to show a character's progression.
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One final shot - just to show an exception. It's very common in
games with mirrors to simply avoid showing reflections when it's
not practical to do so. The mirrors in this shot from Discworld
don't reflect a thing, no matter where Rincewind walks, and are
just shown to have a glossy surface. This is fine, and perfectly
readable as a mirror - it's really not essential to show
reflections in order to give the idea of a mirror, it's just a
nice touch.
I love seeing how artists have played around with reflections in
these scenes. There's plenty of opportunities that playing
around with reflections can provide, from simply making a
surface look shiny and polished, to giving a whole new way to
show a situation. They're a great tool, a fun effect to play
with, and a nice way to spice up a scene - and though they may
require a little extra code trickery in some cases to get
working, well worth the extra effort.
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