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TIGSource ForumsDeveloperDesignLight as Mechanics
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DXimenes
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« on: August 14, 2015, 06:38:19 PM »

I'm currently in a brainstormy mood for a project that uses light as a mechanics-wise important thing.

So far, I've come across a lot of games that do it, in my opinion, wrong (Dark Souls 2 for example Sad as much as I love this game and hate to admit this), and just a handful that use it in a nice way (Don't Starve for example).

The game that clicked for me that light could be a nice thing to work with in game mechanics was Daniel Linssen's Roguelight.

I know each of these games treat light as a resource, and each in it's own way.
What I am brainstorming, though, is for possibilities of using light in a game that isn't based on permadeath or roguelike mechanics. I want it to be both a resource (easily renewable, but not enough that you can stop worrying about it) and the centerpiece for the whole game mechanic.

Do you have any more references I could study?
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Artylo
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« Reply #1 on: August 15, 2015, 12:33:48 AM »

Light can be used in symbolic sense. In most cases, light symbolizes life, warmth, home, hope or in a darker mood - death. So in my opinion light can be used to setup that sort of atmosphere if you want your game and mechanics to revolve around it.
Light is commonly used as a form of "safety". For example, Minecraft, Don't Starve and basically any game with a day and night cycle, use light to prevent monsters from spawning, giving the player the role of a holy paladin with the quest to spread light everywhere and stop the evil scourge of the night. <<Insert The Prodigy's The Day is My Enemy Album here>>
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Joh
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« Reply #2 on: August 15, 2015, 06:00:43 PM »

I once made a game (small jam prototype) with light as "mana,mp" source.
it was a "magic shooter" only shooting costed energy (different shots/spells cost more)
it had a day night cycle so during day, you essentially have infinite energy regen (although not enough to wreck total havoc) and at night you had no regen at all so you had to be careful. (I wanted to create a reserve system, to build up emergency energy source during day, but that did not happen.)
In the cave, it was constant darkness except few light sources that gave regen (faster then normal in sun) but those source were also sun based so at night inside cave still had no light source.

Doupt this has anything to do with what you were talking about, haven't had the chance to play your exemples.
it is however "Light as mechanics" so hope that helps!
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DXimenes
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« Reply #3 on: August 15, 2015, 07:55:55 PM »

Don't worry @Joh, that's kind of what I have in mind.
@Artylo I want to use light in a symbolic sense, sure, but also as a "resource". I totally forgot Minecraft! Thanks!

Roguelike does something very interesting. Light doesn't keep you safe per se, but it gives you the ability to see what's coming for you so you can defend. Resources are very limited on purpose, though, and the game is 99% about managing them.

I'm currently at the following "paradigm": Little character with a lamp. The "oil" depletes very very slowly, at a point that you don't have to worry about it for a long time before it runs out. But many of the actions you take - attacking, lighting other things - spend oil, and make your lamp go out quicker.
Enemies are divided by "tiers" and so is your lamp. In the beginning, you have a light source that can light only a "modest" flame. You can use it to attack, but not much eles.
Later you get different lamps - with "lighting methods"; a regular lamp would have a radial light, while a "thieve's lantern" would have a focused/stronger beam that could fend of "low tier monsters". You could then chose to make your flame stronger to fend off monsters, but that would consume oil faster.
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« Reply #4 on: August 17, 2015, 05:45:43 AM »

The game that always comes to mind when thinking about light-based gameplay is Closure, wherein anything that is lit up has collision and anything that doesn't does not.

I recall the original Thief games having really good light/dark mechanics. Curiously good stealth gameplay for the day
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DXimenes
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« Reply #5 on: August 17, 2015, 09:25:41 AM »

Whoa, I had forgotten about Thief!
Never heard of Closure though *writes it down*

Thanks!
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sodap
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« Reply #6 on: August 18, 2015, 04:22:20 PM »

Kerbal Space Program uses light in the more physical sense as a gameplay mechanic, you need solar panels to capture it and generate electricity which is a resource, but the panels must be receiving light, if they are on the dark side of your vessel then they aren't generating. Not very related to what you want but still an example.
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« Reply #7 on: August 31, 2015, 02:14:25 AM »

Just a thought that popped into my head reading your description of the mechanics, what if you could put the lamp down, and when it is on the ground actions don't cost oil, but enemies can knock it over and spill a large amount. I'm thinking the kind of primitive lamp which is just a bowl of oil with a wick, so it splashes when you move around but not when it stays still.
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lithander
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« Reply #8 on: August 31, 2015, 03:01:04 AM »

A flash game I made a while ago had light & caryable lightsources as a core gameplay elements.
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« Reply #9 on: August 31, 2015, 08:46:43 AM »

I have not played it so I'm not sure, but I think the spells in Eternal Sonata have different effects depending on if the caster is standing in a lit or shaded section of the battle field.
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cynicalsandel
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« Reply #10 on: August 31, 2015, 07:22:28 PM »

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boktai:_The_Sun_Is_in_Your_Hand
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hmm
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« Reply #11 on: September 04, 2015, 07:12:36 AM »

Helsing's Fire is another game that makes use of light and shadow as a mechanic. Its a nice little puzzle game for iOS.

Shadowmatic was another one that uses light and shadow as a mechanic.

Its interesting that shadow is as important as light in these cases. Similarly for Thief or Splinter Cell, but for very different reasons. Helsing's Fire uses light and shadow in a puzzle heavy combat system, which is interesting.
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DXimenes
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« Reply #12 on: September 08, 2015, 06:07:00 PM »

Thanks for all the references!

That's a pretty nice little game you have there, @lithander Smiley A little slow maybe, but fun.

Shadowmatic looks gorgeous and a great game. I wasn't planning on going as far as making shadow placement puzzles, but it sure is something to have in mind in a shadow/light based game.
Helsing's Fire looks like a puzzle boiled down from Alan Wake's combat system. It's pretty nice too.
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starsrift
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« Reply #13 on: September 11, 2015, 03:00:54 AM »

A ton of stealth games use light for mechanics, but that's a little obvious. A lot of survival/ 'open world' fantasy type games, across all sorts of genres, use light as a time when 'good' is stronger and night when 'evil' is stronger. 

The Sunless Sea uses light as a mechanic in a more focused way along these lines..
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« Reply #14 on: October 16, 2015, 12:54:26 PM »

While this game uses HUE, I think similar principles could be applied to light and shadow. HUE the game

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jeremiah
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« Reply #15 on: October 27, 2015, 04:14:53 PM »

So it is a roguelike (maybe it'll inspire you regardless), but my game Golden Krone Hotel has light at the center of the mechanics:

  • You can kill vampire with beams sunlight. The game is set in a tower and you basically blast holes in the outer wall to let beams of sunlight in, the angle of which depends on the time of day.
  • Similarly, there are beams of moonlight and those turn certain enemies into werewolves.
  • All the per-tile lighting is dynamic and you can use it for stealth. Light sources include fixed torches that you can toggle on/off, enemies, and spells.

Also I made a little survival game that allowed you to use shadows to orient yourself.

Anyway, hope that helps. I like your lamp concept a lot.
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halk3n
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« Reply #16 on: October 28, 2015, 08:20:45 PM »

You might want to also consider WayForward Technologies' LIT as another example of this.
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oakthesnail
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« Reply #17 on: November 21, 2015, 09:37:34 PM »

You could use light to make certain enemies vulnerable or invulnerable. It'd be up to the player to prioritize when to be near light (or turn your flashlight on) and vice versa. Some enemies can only be seen/harmed in the light, and some only in the dark.
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Torchkas
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« Reply #18 on: December 13, 2015, 01:31:10 PM »

Amnesia the dark descent
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s0
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« Reply #19 on: December 13, 2015, 01:32:29 PM »

You could use light to make certain enemies vulnerable or invulnerable. It'd be up to the player to prioritize when to be near light (or turn your flashlight on) and vice versa. Some enemies can only be seen/harmed in the light, and some only in the dark.

alan wake did that and it was a pretty uninteresting mechanic. the flashlight was basically just another type of gun.
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