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Synty Studios spent some time in space

September 2, 2021 in Games | 4 min. read
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This month’s Publisher Sale is all about Synty. Celebrate with 50% off stylized art packs, and find out what’s next for this renowned Asset Store publisher.

Synty goes deep

Popular Asset Store publisher, Synty Studios, known for their vast library of low-poly assets, is adding new fantasy kingdoms and upcoming sci-fi worlds to their repertoire. We took some time to chat with their innovative team about this exciting expansion.

Let’s start off by looking at the Dungeon Realms Pack. Following the well-known Dungeons Pack, this collection focuses on Dwarven characters and architecture, to help you forge your own fantastic adventure. And because this is Synty we’re talking about, they naturally threw in a fiery, hellish zone and sprawling desert – complete with matching sets of characters.

“When we design our packs, we often start in Unity very early on,” reveals Mike Clephane, Director of Synty Studios. “The first iteration of the Dungeon Realms Pack was built using Unity’s existing assets, [which got] our demo scene started fast. This kind of rapid prototyping is a great way to use art, and one of the values that Asset Store art brings to developers. Synty’s internal production is no exception.”

Once the initial size and scope of the demo is determined, Synty then swaps out placeholder content for the final game art. Of course, this process can take weeks, or even months. But as Clephane tells us, “The flexibility Unity gives us to run our projects organically [allows us] to make changes and try out ideas quickly, without too many technical limitations.”

Image showcasing Dungeon Realms assets
Image showcasing Dungeon Realms assets

Sky’s the limit for Synty

The Synty team is currently hard at work on their next massive pack, Sci-fi Worlds, which will complement their existing Sci-fi Space and Sci-fi City collections. It will include plenty of unique and futuristic environments, based on the surface of planets, with at least three distinct factions that have their own carefully curated designs and themes.

Image showcasing Sci-Fi Worlds assets

These three factions include sets of buildings and environments:

The Corp: The Corp consists of characters from a well-funded organization with big military outposts on many different worlds. It even includes a demo on a military outpost base next to a large, cavernous mine of ancient origin. 

The Scav: This scavenger race derives from certain designs and characters originally incorporated in the Space Pack, but further fleshes out their home world. It centers on a ‘Syntanium’ refinery, surrounded by a massive ship junkyard for you to probe.

The Explorer: Much like a scientific research outpost, this community contains pod-like, modular buildings. Be on the lookout for some ancient artifacts on this desolate moon world, filled with exploratory bases.

This massive pack features multiple vehicles, weapons, and characters of all shapes and sizes, so be sure to stay tuned.

Image showcasing Sci-Fi Worlds assets

Behind the scenes with Synty

While Sci-fi Worlds is already underway, it will definitely take some more time to produce. “We have lots of things to cover and want to really flesh out each planet demo scene that is included,” explains Clephane. “We find it's always the smaller details that really bring a scene to life. [These] smaller details help with scale and give a better illusion of the scene’s size, in general.”

Concept art for Sci-Fi Worlds

In fact, this is the first time that Synty Studios has collaborated with a concept artist: “We needed to bring some really interesting new designs to our Sci-fi series, and so far, we have many awesome designs [that] we’re turning into cool models.”

Image showcasing Sci-Fi Worlds assets

More specifically, the team grey-boxes basic versions of the final models from their concept art, which they bring into Unity for demo scenes. As the artists complete their ‘Hero’ build in Unity Teams, they place new models on top of the grey-box models, to seamlessly update the demo scene and substitute the placeholders.

Clephane goes on to say, “This is a new workflow for us, as we usually just build as we go. But with a pack of this scale, and with so many demo scenes to build, we really need the environment artists to start making parts from the get-go, and to test them in a production-ready environment.”

Image showcasing Sci-Fi Worlds assets

From fantasy realms and outer space to pirate ships and more, Synty goes there. Their beloved packs provide huge libraries of optimized content, perfect for prototyping and shipping high-quality games and experiences.

Operating like an art department, Synty Studios leverages the Asset Store to do more creative work, faster, while having fun along the way.

The limited-time Synty Studios Publisher Sale will help populate your next project. Save 50% on all Synty assets until September 11, and download three asset packs for free. For even more content, check out additional concept art from the upcoming Sci-fi Plants Pack.

September 2, 2021 in Games | 4 min. read

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