Overgrowth takes place in the savage world of Lugaru where rabbits, wolves and other animals are forced to use paws, claws and medieval weaponry to engage each other in battle. Combining 3rd person adventure platforming with intricate melee combat, Overgrowth achieves a unique feel. Overgrowth also benefits from Wolfire's brand new Phoenix Engine which has been built from the ground up to allow the use of cutting edge graphics, animation, and physics. Add to these exciting features Overgrowth’s realistic artificial intelligence and streamlined control system and the result is an astoundingly immersive experience.

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What is Overgrowth?  [HD Video]

What is Overgrowth? [HD Video]

Nov 02, 2009 By jeffr 33 comments

People that follow Wolfire regularly already know what Overgrowth is. However, many people who stumble across our videos end up confused by what they...

Open development vs. spoiling the story

Open development vs. spoiling the story

Oct 29, 2009 By jeffr 12 comments

We've explained the virtues of open development in depth, but it's not obvious how this development strategy should apply to the Overgrowth story. I've...

Animation mixing UI [HD Video]

Animation mixing UI [HD Video]

Oct 26, 2009 By jeffr 15 comments

A couple of days ago, David asked me to add a new feature to the animation editor UI - animation mixing. Here's a video of how the UI works!

Initial rigging and animation tech demo [HD Video]

Initial rigging and animation tech demo [HD Video]

Oct 23, 2009 By jeffr 40 comments

It's been a little while since we've done a tech demo, and I've heard some clamoring on IRC and elsewhere for an explanation of how our new features work...

Soft normal maps for fur

Soft normal maps for fur

Oct 20, 2009 By jeffr 30 comments

The rim lighting shader went a long way towards making the fur look soft when lit from behind, but it still looked hard when lit from the side. This problem...

Transparent shadows using stippling

Transparent shadows using stippling

Oct 19, 2009 By jeffr 13 comments

Most modern games use a form of depth-map shadow mapping, because it's efficient on modern graphics cards, and simple to implement. However, it doesn't...

Overgrowth Icons

Overgrowth Icons

Oct 15, 2009 By jeffr 18 comments

When we made the first Overgrowth alpha a long time ago, we needed an icon. Aubrey quickly whipped up a stylized Overgrowth "O". This was, of course...

Character normal maps

Character normal maps

Oct 12, 2009 By jeffr 21 comments

We've discussed a lot of the subtle techniques we're using to make the Overgrowth characters look realistic, but we still haven't explained the most important...

Overgrowth auto-updater UI

Overgrowth auto-updater UI

Oct 09, 2009 By jeffr 8 comments

Each week we release a new Overgrowth alpha. Since there is no incremental update system in place, those ~500 megabyte zip files really add up. We use...

How Saving Mechanics Affect Fun

How Saving Mechanics Affect Fun

Oct 07, 2009 By jeffr 31 comments

Game saving feels like a fairly benign topic at first. However, if you stop to reflect on the issue, the mechanics of progress saving have a dramatic...

Ambient occlusion for characters

Ambient occlusion for characters

Oct 05, 2009 By jeffr 22 comments

We've already discussed ambient occlusion for terrain and for objects, but we haven't yet discussed how it applies to characters. Ambient occlusion (AO...

Character rim lighting

Character rim lighting

Oct 01, 2009 By jeffr 28 comments

When I loaded Aubrey's new rabbit model, it was clear that we needed a new rendering method in order to do it justice. Our basic object shader works best...

Normal map vs. mesh

Normal map vs. mesh

Sep 29, 2009 By jeffr 37 comments

Whenever we post a new model for Overgrowth, a comment we often get is "there's no way that can go in the game -- there are way too many polygons!" That...

Resolution Independent UI

Resolution Independent UI

Sep 23, 2009 By jeffr 22 comments

Most UI is designed in terms of pixels, with the assumption that a pixel is a constant unit of measurement. This is troubling because, depending on the...

GDC Austin: Wolfire’s PR Tips

GDC Austin: Wolfire’s PR Tips

Sep 21, 2009 By jeffr 18 comments

As you might know, we were recently invited to give a talk at GDC Austin about our PR strategy, which is essentially to be as open and transparent as...

Character Stats vs. Player Skill

Character Stats vs. Player Skill

Sep 16, 2009 By jeffr 22 comments

The goal of almost all game designers is to make games that are fun. A common method for giving the player a "fun experience" is to let him start out...

Dog club sculpting timelapse  (HD Video)

Dog club sculpting timelapse (HD Video)

Sep 14, 2009 By jeffr 20 comments

Here is the next part in my 3D model tutorial series (part 1, part 2, part 3). This part covers sculpting the high-detail model that will later have its...

A WebKit primer part 2 - CSS transitions

A WebKit primer part 2 - CSS transitions

Sep 12, 2009 By jeffr 1 comment

This is the second part of my WebKit primer series, where I introduce various aspects of WebKit and CSS3 and how we are using them in Overgrowth.

Trees in the breeze (HD video)

Trees in the breeze (HD video)

Sep 09, 2009 By jeffr 32 comments

On a rare excursion into the outdoors, I noticed that real plants seldom remain perfectly still. Even on a calm day, some tiny disturbance in the air...

A WebKit primer - part 1

A WebKit primer - part 1

Sep 07, 2009 By jeffr 9 comments

WebKit is an amazing rendering engine, and what I'd like to accomplish in this article is give you a run down of various awesome features the WebKit rendering...

The value of game design docs

The value of game design docs

Sep 02, 2009 By jeffr 16 comments

In the comments for my last post (about how game ideas are not very valuable), some readers pointed out that not all ideas are low in value -- design...

The value of game ideas

The value of game ideas

Aug 31, 2009 By jeffr 31 comments

When I talk to aspiring game designers, I often notice some strange behavior. They're evasive about their ideas, almost coy, as if they've stumbled across...

Inspector UI Redux

Inspector UI Redux

Aug 27, 2009 By jeffr 10 comments

I recently made some changes to the inspector UI system in Overgrowth to make it more powerful and look cooler. To recap, the inspector is essentially...

Libertarian paternalism and tool design

Libertarian paternalism and tool design

Aug 25, 2009 By jeffr 10 comments

As a game developer, I often find myself thinking about everything in the terminology of games and programming. Sometimes, to change things up, I like...

Leaf translucency

Leaf translucency

Aug 20, 2009 By jeffr 26 comments

In real life, leaves are surprisingly translucent. Here's a cool effect that we added to make our plants have much more realistic lighting. Screenshots...

New multiplayer server browser

New multiplayer server browser

Aug 18, 2009 By jeffr 19 comments

I just finished the multiplayer server browser for Overgrowth. This is a completely integrated server browser to let you find multiplayer servers to play...

Armor Types in Overgrowth

Armor Types in Overgrowth

Aug 10, 2009 By jeffr 26 comments

There are a few different styles of armor in Overgrowth, made from different materials. These materials affect how the armor works. For example, in the...

Overgrowth Soundtrack: Combat 2

Overgrowth Soundtrack: Combat 2

Aug 05, 2009 By Silverfisk 11 comments

John unveils another song from the Overgrowth soundtrack, check it!

What kind of tropy / achievement system is the best?

What kind of tropy / achievement system is the best?

Aug 03, 2009 By jeffr 18 comments

Some ruminations about the possible trophy system in our upcoming game Overgrowth. I want to start some discussion before committing to a specific system...

Rubber Ninjas meets Overgrowth

Rubber Ninjas meets Overgrowth

Jul 29, 2009 By jeffr 11 comments

Matteo from Ragdoll Software just released his awesome new game Rubber Ninjas. He made an Overgrowth themed mod! Video inside.