Knight Light

Before and after of the lighting done on Knight Light. The intention was to push colors and ensure that the lighting guided the player into the next location.
Kay Conlow, the art director for the game, emphasized that the game didn’t have the level of surreal that had been targeted in the original plan for the game. We discussed pushing this through surreal lighting of bright colors to create a more whimsical final product.
The witchball lamp is the focal point of each arena, and as such, lights illuminating the pavement were a major focus to lead the eye back to the main area.
Clear hierarchy of color was necessary in such a rich environment to ensure that the whole scene didn’t feel too visually noisy, and as such orange was prioritized on major game mechanics or storytelling elements.
Windows and what they reflected was one of our major narrative elements. Many windows had to be left dark to give the illusion that the town was asleep, but illuminated windows were used to draw the eye in specific directions.
The observatory has very unique architecture that we wanted to ensure had a spotlight, and as such I worked closely with Rose Rahmel, the environment artist who created it, to ensure that the textures came in as intended. I supplied the shader for the top of the roof in Unreal, and gave it a spotlight to highlight the roundness of the roof.
This area tied all of the team’s new color work together.

Stardust in Retrograde

This game’s final arena was a pool of lava that was drastically different from the frozen tundra that makes up the rest of the game. My task was to blend the two in a way that felt organic, and was accomplished by working alongside set designer Emmy Berg to make the area feel tied into the others.
It was important this area feel warm—a stark contrast to the other places the player has been in the game. The steam radiating into the sky and the sheer temperature of the lava helped to make the heat here feel overpowering.
The first area in this game was meant to feel warmer in comparison to that of the main section of the game. The player is stranded in a tundra, but this initial landing wasn’t intended to make the player despair.
This was the hub the player returns to time and again throughout the game. It is meant to feel celestial and otherworldly, a beacon for the player to return to. The stars along the top were added to keep the familiar warm glow found throughout the game.
Lanterns help light the way of the player.