Here is a mock up video of a puzzle utilising the future 'shadow' mechanic, whereby in certain special locations and circumstances, shadows adopt a physicalised nature.
Shadow Puzzle from Toby Everett on Vimeo.
In this video the player is represented by the green stick figure and the puzzle mechanic, in this case, is demonstrated using an elaborate two stage 'zelda esque' block pushing puzzle.
A modified version of this puzzle, along with other puzzles based around physicalised shadows may be implemented in the future.
Let us know what you think :)
sweeeet!
nice
so i was thinking that blending colors and reflecting light would get boring but now i see the full possibilities with light
Yeah we have lots of interesting puzzles and we don't want to give too much away but we hoped, just as you said, that this would demonstrate that there are many possibilities with the idea and we hope to be able to implement a wide variety of interesting puzzles.
in truth the prototype shows very little of the true design potential of Lux. The negative light mechanic, for example, shown briefly in the demo has many other unique uses as a stand alone mechanic and integrated with others.
This vid shows a further mechanic, not in the prototype, and one possible use for it, but there are a plethora of other potential mechanics and uses in the 'design ether', some crazy, others plausible ;)
Great puzzle ideas, I wonder if the developers would be interested in adding combat, different light to hurt different enemies. Looking forward to your next releases!
It has been considered :)
I like the idea but there's one problem I see. In this mockup you use a 3rd person camera but in the current demo you use the 1st person camera. now in 3rd person you can get a good idea of how your interaction with the pieces on the ground influence the shadow of the tooth wheel. the problem is that in the 1st person camera you lack this overview since you need to push the object around ( which requires you looking at the object or where you want it to push ) while though keeping track of what the shadow does on the far away wall.
In fact this 1st person camera got in the way already in the demo. I would suggest evaluating once in a calm hour the possibility of dropping the 1st person camera and insisting on a 3rd person one ( not a chase camera but one similar to what you have here ). It would help a lot to avoid people getting confused by the rather limited 1st person camera system.
The camera placement in the mock up video is purely to show the puzzle mechanics, it wouldn't necessarily be the angle in game. However for certain sections, such as the block pushing section, there may well be a different camera angle to aid the player.
In what way do you think 1st person perspective inhibited the play experience in the current demo?
The main problem is with the light reflection system. If you try to reflect the light from a light source into a given direction the result is not what you expect. There is a certain disconnection between the place you stand and where the light reflects to. It makes it very hard to guess where the light ends up and thus where you have to stand to solve the puzzle.
In this scenario here this would mean that it is difficult to guess where the shadow falls onto a wall. I based my observations on comparing the game flow of the demo with the one from the mockup. I have the feeling of more control and overview in the mockup than in the demo.
grats on making front page again you guys! :)
and i LOVE the shadow puzzle! :)
Great idea! Really like the concept. More types of puzzles will be mores welcome.
whoa. This game blows my mind, and in a good way.
WOW, if you incorporate that into the game, that would be fantastic!
Getting that to work in game would be quite a feat indeed, I hope you do succeed cause that would be amazing!
Yeah, the little men from Darwinia are in the mod? NO? lol... I really like the idea of using a shadow as a physical object. It shows you guys are really thinking outside of the cog on this game...
cool!
Wow, that actually looks really cool and incredibly creative.
Although I'm pretty sure it's been done before by some Point-and-click adventure, nobody's done it in realtime gameplay (Hah!)
Uhm... yeah, you are teh awesomest and stuff.
Keep posting.
you, my good man(woman?) are a genius!
Wow, this has honestly made me interested in this game. Before I thought it was just going to be colour-oriented, but it's good to see you're using all aspects of light in this game.
Looking forward to it :)
it is a horrible thing top think that a game with such potential would die.