Guided by the Light

ABOUT THE GAME

Guided by the Light is a game where the player is locked in a unknown place and is killed when they wander too much in the shadow. The only way to survive is by staying within the light. The player lost a part of its hearing and sight capabilities for every seconds they spend out of the light. When the player die, they are sent back in the beginning of the level.

Guided by the Light was made in 24h on Unreal Engine 4 during a Game Jam Ludum dare 47 with the theme "stuck in a loop".

It was made in duo with Samuel Do Nascimento Gonçalves :

https://maytar.itch.io/guided-by-the-light

CONTEXT & INTENTIONS

Due to our limited time, i decided to go on one simple level. We had simple mechanics as Move, Crouch, Push, Use the light.

I tried as well as possible to make feel the player uncomfortable and nervous in the darkness and worked on oppressive contrast of the lights. The light had to be the guide, but also the life thread of the player.

Here is an overall presentation of the map from a top view.

To reach the end you have to gather the lighter. If you don't, you will never have enough light.

I can now present the map in a more precise way.

Start position

Exit and End

Crates

Fix light

Flashing light

Hole (need to crouch)

Lighter (item)

Hidden spot light

1st ZONE

The First zone is here to present the basic mechanics and dynamics to the player.

Start Zone:

The player starts in the red light and has a direct view on a flash light, a fix light and crates that block the way.

The flash light is inactive from time to time in order to add a virtual timer for the player to realize the action. The first one is not too punitive and let a big margin to the player.

The fix light is a safe space where the player has the time to analyze their environment and, in this case, to practice the push mechanics on the crates.

Once the way is freed, the player has a view on the final objective. So each time the player will go back to the start zone, they will see the end.

After the Start Zone, another flash light catches the eye of the player and show them the lighter.

Now the first "challenge": Hidden Spotlight.

The player have to push the crate that hide the spot light and then open the way. It's signified by a thin border of light.

(see the picture on the right).

2nd ZONE

The second zone is here to assert that the player knows the elements and various dynamics. The crates are there to accompany the eye of the player to the area 1 and 2.

Area 1: A simple remake of the previous obstacles with a hidden spot that lead to the Area 2.

Area 2: It's a sequence of flash light. If the player goes without thinking, they will never reach the next area. That is made to be a bit challenging for the player.

Area 3: A situation with a little enigma/puzzle. The hole in the wall is not visible at the start and is revealed when they reveal the spot light. It leads to the next zone of the level.

Area 4: It's an area that allows to see the end for the player. It's useful once the player acquires the lighter to finish the game.

3rd ZONE

The third area let no space to hesitation and show the lighter that the player have to carry to reach the end of the game.

In the Area 1, the player is at the edge of the previous spot light (a safe zone), allowing him to observe their envirnment.

2 differents way: Area 2, that is a dead end, and Area 3, the most obvious one with a visible objective (the lighter).

Once the player reach the Area 3, they see the end again through the different glasses, reminding them the final objective.

Then after catching it, the player have to come back in the previous zone, then follow the green light until the end.

TESTS & MODIFICATIONS

After some tests, certain problems came to lights:

Some crates were missleading because they all had the same texture and the player wants to interact with it;

The 3rd Zone Area 2, gave no interest to the player and misslead about the intentions and the role of the lights;

The 2nd Zone Area 4, was too attractive in the first passage by the fact it was a flash light, missleading the player on where to go;

Taking all of this in account, I bring the following modifications:

Changed the placement of some crates, and the textures of the ones that are not necessary to complete the level;

Supressed all the 3rd Zone Area 2;

Changed the light in a fix light in the 2nd Zone Area 4;

Also, changed the texture of the glasses that was misunderstanded by some players that thought it was possible to go through with the lighter.