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Gilbert Sanders, Principal Artist at Guerrilla Games, gave this GDC 2018 Visual Arts session on vegetation in Horizon Zero Dawn. It explains how the studio shifted from Killzone toward natural beauty while shipping a dense open-world RPG on console.
The talk covers simulation, shading, mesh authoring, render passes, and optimizations for trees, grass, and ground cover, including node-based vegetation shaders, grass LOD tiers, wind in vertex programs, and shadow casters kept separate from visual meshes.
Intermediate technical artists and graphics programmers benefit most; the ideas apply to custom engines and procedural placement rather than one commercial API.
Session video and slides are on GDC Vault and may require subscription; GDC YouTube also hosts the recording.
It remains a frequently recommended GDC reference for AAA open-world foliage and environment-art pipelines.
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