23
Source Skin Rendering (lemmy.world)
submitted 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) by 64bithero@lemmy.world to c/games@lemmy.world
3 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The years go by and I still find myself booting up Left 4 Dead 2 now and again. When I do I catch myself saying over and over again: wow these character models still look damn good.

Is it just me or is there something to the Source engines skin modeling ? It still to me looks convincing. Especially in comparison to other games actual in gameplay characters ?

Edit: and the lighting water effects also still pretty fantastic..

top 3 comments
sorted by: hot top new old
[-] wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

Not sure about skin rendering in L4D, but way back when Half Life 2 was new, one of the ways it pushed things forward was with the facial rigs and animations.

At least as far as I remember from gaming news at the time.

I remember reading that it was a big leap in terms of matching real facial muscles to the 3D rig face "muscles", and in using those little dot things to capture actual facial movement of some of the line reads. I think Valve's discovery and/or usage of the fact that real eye iris angles are offset by about 2 degrees was also something that was noted as a big move forward past the uncanny valley.

[-] MufinMcFlufin@lemmy.world 4 points 4 weeks ago

The 2 degree offset for Iris angles is something I'd never thought about. I wonder if that's because each eye independently looking at an object in 3D space will need to be pointed slightly toward each other. If so I wonder if that 2 degree offset is just kinda an average they used so they wouldn't need to calculate that angle once per eye.

[-] orochi02@feddit.org 1 points 4 weeks ago

Wasnt there a (graphics) modernization update? I might be wrong and got it mixed up tho

this post was submitted on 01 Sep 2026
23 points (100.0% liked)

Games

50966 readers
1760 users here now

Welcome to the largest gaming community on Lemmy! Discussion for all kinds of games. Video games, tabletop games, card games etc.

Rules

1. Submissions have to be related to games

Video games, tabletop, or otherwise. Posts not related to games will be deleted.

This community is focused on games, of all kinds. Any news item or discussion should be related to gaming in some way.

2. No bigotry or harassment, be civil

No bigotry, hardline stance. Try not to get too heated when entering into a discussion or debate.

We are here to talk and discuss about one of our passions, not fight or be exposed to hate. Posts or responses that are hateful will be deleted to keep the atmosphere good. If repeatedly violated, not only will the comment be deleted but a ban will be handed out as well. We judge each case individually.

3. No excessive self-promotion

Try to keep it to 10% self-promotion / 90% other stuff in your post history.

This is to prevent people from posting for the sole purpose of promoting their own website or social media account.

4. Stay on-topic; no memes, funny videos, giveaways, reposts, or low-effort posts

This community is mostly for discussion and news. Remember to search for the thing you're submitting before posting to see if it's already been posted.

We want to keep the quality of posts high. Therefore, memes, funny videos, low-effort posts and reposts are not allowed. We prohibit giveaways because we cannot be sure that the person holding the giveaway will actually do what they promise.

5. Mark Spoilers and NSFW

Make sure to mark your stuff or it may be removed.

No one wants to be spoiled. Therefore, always mark spoilers. Similarly mark NSFW, in case anyone is browsing in a public space or at work.

6. No linking to piracy

Don't share it here, there are other places to find it. Discussion of piracy is fine.

We don't want us moderators or the admins of lemmy.world to get in trouble for linking to piracy. Therefore, any link to piracy will be removed. Discussion of it is of course allowed.

Authorized Regular Threads

Related communities

PM a mod to add your own

Video games

Generic

Help and suggestions

By platform

By type

By games

Language specific

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
Dremor@lemmy.world
JonsJava@lemmy.world
Dremor@jlai.lu
PerfectDark@lemmy.world