✦ Matthias Ewald DE

Games · Official TV quiz show game / technical art

Wer weiß denn sowas? – Das Spiel

The official game of the ARD quiz show, for one to four players alongside Kai Pflaume, Bernhard Hoëcker and Elton.

2018 release
Unity Toon shaders Lighting GPU instancing
Steam page
The TV studio during a betting round: host at the lectern, two teams, a large audience and the stage reflected in the glossy floor Question round with three answers on screen, red and green stage lighting for the two teams Four toon-shaded characters standing in a brick backstage area, choosing between Team Bernhard and Team Elton Character creator in front of a make-up mirror, with hat, hat colour, earring and necklace options Settings menu set in a TV control room with monitors showing the studio and a test card
Role
Technical Artist
Studio
Lost the Game Studios
Publisher
bitComposer Interactive
Release
18 Oct 2018 · PC (Steam)

Overview

Wer weiß denn sowas? is one of Germany’s most successful TV quiz formats. The game brings the show home with 30 complete episodes, more than 390 questions and the hosts’ original voices.

What I did

My part was everything about the look that sits between art and code:

  • Toon shaders for the game’s stylized look and characters
  • Character creator with a customized asset workflow for easy import and automation
  • Lighting of the TV studio setting, with an event-driven coroutine system for spot animations close to the original
  • A realtime mirror effect for the studio floor using render targets, at realtime performance
  • GPU-instanced crowd animations, so a large animated crowd renders efficiently without a separate draw call for each randomized character
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