Developing the lighting technology for The Last of Us

Engine programmer at Naughty Dog-Michał Iwanicki

Since The Last of Us takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, there’s almost no electricity, therefore theres no artificial light sources. Because of this the majority of the lighting in the game comes from the sun and the sky, so most of the environments are lit just by bounce lighting. “There was a very strong art direction: we wanted to show the beauty of this lighting, its softness, how it interacts with different surfaces, the soft shadows it creates.”

concept art for The Last of Us.

Although, all the lighting is very soft, there is still a very clear view of all the surface details.

Character interactions with lighting

Its very important that a character casts a believable shadow onto the nearby surfaces and objects so that it looks like its an actual part of the environment, not something added later on. (although usually it is)