The Northlight Engine Pushed Alan Wake 2 to New Heights

The Northlight Engine in Alan Wake 2 is actually a huge step up from previous games in the series and we have details here!
Alan Wake 2 Fbi Outfit Character In Rain
Image: Remedy Entertainment

Remedy Entertainment’s latest game, Alan Wake 2, showcases the capabilities of the Northlight engine. The engine has been significantly upgraded since its last outing in Control, and it is now capable of rendering some truly stunning visuals.

A blog post from Remedy Entertainment spoke on the many new features of the Northlight engine used in the game. I’ve read it and there are some interesting features in my opinion.

One of the most impressive features of the Northlight engine is its ability to add a lot of foliage to the world without sacrificing performance. This pipeline allows the game to push more geometry into the world without sacrificing performance. This is evident in the game’s lush forests and detailed environments. There is a lot of memory used by environments without you knowing it.

The engine also features a new character-style rig on the foliage system. This system allows for the animation of foliage using bone shaders, which can create more realistic and lifelike movements. This is especially noticeable in the game’s dense forests, where the leaves and branches sway in the wind.

The engine also introduced a Voxel-Based Character Controller. This allows for smooth navigation in cramped, complex, and dynamic environments. It divides the environment into a grid of voxels, which are small 3D cubes. The character’s movement is then calculated based on the position of these voxels. It makes character movement more natural and fluid, and it also helps to prevent the character from getting stuck in objects.

Alan Wake 2‘s Northlight engine also supports HDR, node-based VFX system, and ray-tracing, which means that the game looks great on HDR displays. The game’s fog, transparent geometry, and effects are all rendered seamlessly and are able to create dynamic effects with ease. This system is responsible for the game’s rain, wetness, water simulation, and character wounds.

It’s an incredible feat for any company but it is especially good for a mostly narrative-focused game like Alan Wake 2. Hopefully, more companies will use this example for other narrative games because graphics and the environment play an important role.

Jorge A. Aguilar

Jorge A. Aguilar

Jorge A. Aguilar, also known as Aggy, is the current Assigning Editor.

He started his career as an esports, influencer, and streaming writer for Sportskeeda. He then moved to GFinity Esports to cover streaming, games, guides, and news before moving to the Social team where he ended his time as the Lead of Social Content.

He also worked a writer and editor for both Pro Game Guides and Dot Esports, and as a writer for PC Invasion, Attack of the Fanboy, and Android Police. Aggy is the former Managing Editor and Operations Overseer of N4G Unlocked and a former Gaming editor for WePC.

Throughout his time in the industry, he's trained over 100 writers, written thousands of articles on multiple sites, written more reviews than he cares to count, and edited tens of thousands of articles. He has also written some games published by Tales, some books, and a comic sold to Telus International.

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