Tilt-Shift in Endless Machines – Why We Love It (But Also Letting You Adjust It)

We’ve been getting a lot of comments about the tilt-shift effect in Endless Machines

—some love it, some think it’s a bit much.

It’s a big part of the game’s look and feel, giving it that miniature, ant colony-style perspective. We love how it makes the world feel vast while making the hero robot seem small, reinforcing the sense of it being lost—one robot among about a million others, trying to find its place in a world it doesn’t fully understand.

That said, we totally get that not everyone shares our love for the tilt-shift effect—motion sickness has been mentioned—so we’re making it adjustable in the settings. You’ll be able to dial it up or down to fit your preference. We’re continuously experimenting with the camera settings and making adjustments to ensure clarity, especially in combat situations, while keeping the effect that gives the game its unique look.

Right now, all the characters in the game are more or less the same size, except for some of the tiniest worker robots. Our main focus is on getting the systems in place and fleshing out the hero robots’ personalities. But something we're really looking forward to in the future is introducing bigger robots—much bigger. Some so massive that all you'll ever see are their legs! We're very excited to see how that plays with the tilt-shift effect.

How We Achieve the Tilt-Shift Effect in UE5

For those curious about the tech side:

• We use a very small field of view (FOV) to compress the perspective.

• The focus distance follows the hero robot, keeping the character in sharp focus while the foreground and background blur out.

• A low aperture value (high blur) adds to the miniature effect.

• The blur intensity adapts based on movement and aim distance.

• Basically, it’s a combination of FOV, dynamic focus, and some heavy blur settings!

Here's what the same scenes look like with tilt-shift on and with the effect set to zero:

We’re happy to have you here

... following along as this game takes shape. Also, if you feel like saying hi or asking anything about the game, you’re very welcome to join our Discord. We’re always happy to chat and answer your questions (to the best of our ability), though sometimes it might take us a little while to get back to you. We’re a small team, but we promise we’ll get there.

Talk soon, Cindy & Jonas

Disclaimer: Please remember that Endless Machines is still in development. As the game evolves, things that may seem like an integral part of the story right now could change or turn out not to work as we intended. As a result, they might not make it into the final version. This is a natural part of the process. Thank you for your support!