I’ve got an idea for a game, but in order to pull it off I’d need “fake” mirrors. Simply put, I’d need a mirror that shows a reflection of the room with slight differences (e.g. there may be extra or missing objects within the reflection).
The way I’m thinking of going about this is to create a mirrored version of the room in question (complete with a copy of the player’s character that moves in unison); this could either be situated right next to the real room (in which case the mirror would just be a glass-like pane that allows the player to see through), or it could be situated in a completely different location (in which case I’d need to set up a camera in the fake room that moves with the player and project it onto the mirror somehow). The only thing is, I’m not sure if the shadow’s .etc. are going to mess with the illusion or not.
Am I going overkill, or is the method I’m thinking of the best way to do it? If so, how would I go about projecting the image of the fake room in such a way that the mirror looks convincing?
I think making a second room in another place is the way to go for this.
Use camera to texture and rotate the camera in the angle you need from the character.
This definitely sounds like a situation where a duplicated room would be best. If it wasn’t subtle or key to the gameplay, there would be a few other options, but the reflections wouldn’t have the quality you need.
My initial idea included this as a possible method; the only thing is I’d be restricted with the placement of the mirrors (I couldn’t, for example, have a mirror on a pillar in the middle of a room, as it would involve impossible spaces when it comes to the “fake” rooms), which is why I suggested maybe having the fake rooms in a remote location and using some sort of camera to project them onto the mirror.
Anyway, in order to simplify things for the time being, I’ve restricted my level design to one that can fit the fake rooms next to the real rooms as you’ve described. My test room is set up as a blueprint, containing all of the necessary lights and props, and I’ve set it up so that the origin is placed at the mirror’s location. In my level, I’ve made 2 copies of this room blueprint; one is the real room, and the other is the fake room, which has the scale set to -1 in the appropriate axis (which mirrors everything). It works like a charm; all I have to do now is create a blueprint for the player’s character and their mirror image.
Now there’s a new potential problem that I may have overlooked; particle systems. In short, I’ll need to ensure that any particle systems within my room are mirrored correctly in the fake room in order to look convincing; is there any way of ensuring that one particle system matches another?
