Rune Skovbo JohansenJun 27

New blog post with photos from an inspiring trip in Japan

https://blog.runevision.com/2025/06/photos-from-inspiring-trip-in-japan.html

I like to make games that take place at least partially in beautiful nature, give a sense of mystery and wonder that invites exploration, and that have environments that incorporate strong verticality. And in all of these respects, Japan delivers in spades.

Show threadRune Skovbo JohansenJun 28
As I write in the post, a mystical stairway up through a cedar forest gave me a weirdly strong sense of three-dimensional depth. I got a question about that from @jkaniarz which made me reflect more on the reasons. 🧵
Show threadRune Skovbo Johansen
First of all, I think feeling small among huge shapes evoke a strong feeling of depth in general, but it may be diminished in familiar situations, such as being on a street with tall conventionally shaped buildings.
Jun 28 at 7:16amWeb
Show threadRune Skovbo JohansenJun 28
Second, distances feel greater when they're not horizontal. 100 meters down the (flat) street is nothing, but 100 meters up or down a steep incline feels huge.
Show threadRune Skovbo JohansenJun 28
Third, in most environments, you see mostly things close by (ground or wall) or mostly far away (horizon or sky) when looking in a given direction. But in forests, and inside huge buildings with many columns, you see near and far simultaneously, emphasizing depth.
Show threadRune Skovbo JohansenJun 28
Fourth, the cedar trees had huge tall trunks, which made it possible to see both high up in the air and far up the mountain side, without the view being obscured much by the tree canopies.
Show threadRune Skovbo JohansenJun 28
Fifth (and most speculatively), the sunlight being filtered through the trees produced little attention-grabbing highlights everywhere at various depths, which further enhanced the perception of depth.
Show threadRune Skovbo JohansenJun 28
So I think it's this powerful combination of multiple factors that reinforced each other: Huge uncommon shapes, verticality, seeing things both near and far simultaneously, partially unobstructed far views, and the lighting.