In 2023 I found leaked 3DS dev tools on archive.org, and began experimenting with them to gain a deeper perspective into one of my favorite consoles. This led me to a deeper understanding of hardware I love, and helped me learn software development practices which I’d go on to utilize in projects later in 2024.
Following my interest in compositional depth from my handheld shoebox diorama project, I was curious about using holographic displays and how a stereoscopic scene could enhance the sensation of depth. Unfortunately, holographic displays are extremely expensive and inaccessible to the general public outside of a gallery or trade show setting. The 3DS however is already in the hands of millions around the world and includes a parallax barrier lenticular stereoscopic screen and is undergoing a cultural resurgence following the shutdown of its manufacturer’s network services, making it an ideal canvas for experimental, accessible 3D expression.
This led me to create RITUAL, a 3DS diorama:
RITUAL is available to download for free as a .cia file. You will need to know what to do with this type of file in order to view the diorama. I cannot provide support.
This was a very restrictive rendering environment, and many modern niceties such as shaders and real-time lighting effects were unavailable. I created effects such as the god rays coming from the stained glass windows using careful placement of billboard sprites and hand-painted texture lighting. Ultimately, there are only 3 3D assets in the scene. Can you spot them?
Since I had an extra screen to work with, I also experimented with animating camera paths for the first time. All around it was a really fun and unique learning experience!
After completing RITUAL, I wanted to test how my process would work with baked instead of hand-painted lighting and 3D skeletal animation. I also wanted to see how many 3D assets and higher-res textures I could include in a scene before the 3DS completely ran out of VRAM. With these concepts in mind I created MAINTENANCE:
This was a very slow, iterative trial-and-error process involving lots of memory-related hardware crashes, but I’m ultimately pleased with how this piece turned out!
This scene is smaller in scope due to the higher render cost. I’m sure there’s plenty of room to optimize, but now that I’ve established a rough “upper bound” for myself in terms of how much data I can include in a scene, the real work for any future 3DS compositions will be finding and maintaining the balance between RITUAL-style billboard sprites and MAINTENANCE-style 3D models.
MAINTENANCE also functions as a StreetPass nametag! This is a fun way to passively connect with other 3DS enthusiasts at conventions, airports, and other gatherings.
