Dragon Age: The Veilguard has shaken up the world of Thedas with its new look, and while the art style gets mixed reviews, everyone thinks the hair looks amazing.
EA and BioWare seem to agree, and they’ve shared how they made such awesome hair animations in a recent blog post. The post explains that each hairstyle in the game—there are over 100—has 50,000 separate strands of hair, thanks to the Frostbite engine.
The Frostbite team has been busy with hair tech for quite a while, and it really shines in Veilguard. It’s not just about how many hairstyles there are or the number of strands—length is key, too. Veilguard has waist-length hair options that sway with movement, wind, magic, and other forces. But creating these styles was tricky.
“With hair attachments that move seamlessly and the decoupling of simulation and render tessellation, this is the first EA game to offer such detailed, physics-driven long hairstyles,” the blog post explains. “The Frostbite team increased maximum hair length from 63 points to 255, and implemented a new system for complex hair structures like braids.”
Frostbite also upgraded its lighting to nail Veilguard’s hair physics, but BioWare had hurdles to jump, especially with characters sporting horns.
“While Strand Hair is present in other EA games, the BioWare team had to push the limits even further for Dragon Age: The Veilguard,” the post continues. “For example, implementing Strand Hair technology for characters who have waist-length hair with horns on their head presented some unique challenges.”
We really love it when games focus on these small but important details.
Players are thrilled with the hair, spending tons of time crafting their perfect Rook in the character creator. In a world where “long hair” usually means “shoulder-length,” The Veilguard is leading the way in making realistic, complex hairstyles in games. This is exciting news, especially for Mass Effect fans who will likely see similar hair in the next game.
For more info on BioWare’s latest fantasy RPG, check out GameSpot’s Dragon Age: The Veilguard review-in-progress.
