Lone Water - Mood and Lighting news

Hello guys and thank you for passing by :)

When I planned this game some of the things I wanted to try, was combine a peaceful/mournful environment with a bit of horror and dread.

After I finished the level design I started to work in the lighting, setting the right mood to the scene was vital.

1 - The geometry
Not too much fancy in this area, here the player will learn how to navigate and control the game.

2 - Applying the textures
Here the same geometry textured with some models.

3 - Adding the Ambient light

4 - Adding the directional light
I needed a good color to match the skybox and the overall tone of the scene. Note that you can see the directional light in the wall at the end of the hall.

5 - Adding Environment Probe
The hall was a bit too dark compared to the outdoor area, I added a Environment Probe to make the light more realistic, soft the shadows and the make the light bounces in the environment.

6 - Light source
I added a spotlight with volumetric lighting with some dust particles

7 - SSR Shader
This will make some of the surfaces "shiny" more. Try to not overuse this effect everywhere, only shiny surfaces should shiny.

Conclusion

It's a simple scene but as you can see is really important choose the right lighting to match the mood and the tone that will you want the players feel.

There is some light horror elements in the game, so in the next article I'll show a bit of the scarier scenes.

See you soon!