One thing that I feel doesn’t get the recognition it deserves is lighting, and up until recently I didn’t give it that either. Lighting can really effect the mood and tone of a setting, changing something from looking friendly and approachable to menacing and repulsive. Again up until recently I didn’t really give it much thought (well, that’s not entirely true… I knew it was important I just didn’t bother to learn much about it).

So I set out to make a lighting system in the game to help vary the level overtime. And boy does it add a lot to the game. Having dynamic lighting (where the light changes in real time) makes the levels feel more alive. For example, instead of having a three minute level look the same throughout the entire level maybe have the lights get progressively darker as the level goes on; or when a nuke goes off change the lighting to accommodate for that. It helps vary your scene and it isn’t that hard to accomplish (I’m saying this in regards to Unity). Grab a directional light and start messing with the values.

I approached lighting with modularity in mind. I wanted to make sure that I could accommodate any situation that we need as well as transition between two lighting conditions easily. This system has been extremely helpful in making the some of the set piece moments that occur in the game really pop. Though I will be the first to say that I have a long way to go before the lighting is on point, but it really is a proof of concept at this point.

So if you are finding your work looking bland, whether that be 3D or 2D, try messing with the lighting of the scene. If you have already set up your lighting try changing it every once in a while to see what else your scene can invoke. Try it out and let me know what your results are! So far it has been a positive one for me.

Remember to check out Stephen and Lane on Monday and Friday, respectively.