Knight Light
Night has fallen on this sleepy town, and it’s up to the local hero, Knight Light, to fend off these spirits and keep the lamps lit.
I came onto this project after a large portion of its development had already finished. The art director, Kay Conlow, and I had a conversation at this time about the current state of the game. While the aesthetic felt cohesive, it was mentioned that the current style fell short of the mark. After being shown reference of the intended final look for the game, I understood that the game was meant to be viewed almost through the eyes of a child, with vivid colors and dream-like lighting.
With just 4 months left before the game’s deadline a total revamp of the game had seemed unlikely. But small changes can make a big difference, so I set out to make the biggest change possible to help the team orient itself in a new direction. I realized that the skybox could hold a lot of that vision up on its own, so that was the first thing I did. I wanted to emulate the feeling of making up constellations as a kid, so the new skybox twinkled and shifted and was given a more hand-drawn feel. The effect was almost immediate. With a lighter sky the eye is drawn upwards, and the game took on the softer quality that it had struggled to land on beforehand. The game completely shifted, and through the new direction we were able to land on a unique game that has a surreal quality.