ABout the Project
Enlightenment is a survival horror game in which you take the roll of a husband who made a deal with an unknown force in an attempt to save his dying wife. Trapped in a surreal world within a coma, the player must progress through a twisted version of the hospital and fight his way back to his wife while traveling through familiar places which tell the backstory of Enlightenment. All while your daughter leads the way and acts as your guiding light.
The game uses low poly assets as well as the PSX Shader Kit by Valerie Moza to recreate the look and feel of old Playstation 1 titles like Silent Hill.
Player must avoid the monsters hidden within the shadows and solve puzzles to reach their goal. Exploring the environment gives further inside to the games backstory and is vital to reaching the games true ending.
„Just a simple card game huh?“
My Contribution
For Enlightenment my role was to create the games story, design the gameplay and levels as well as coding said gameplay and systems. This includes all player interactions with the world as well as the AI of the enemy and the games puzzles.
In addition to that I also assumed the role of the visionkeeper assuring that the game achieves the desired PS1 artstyle.
Player
All player interactions use custom scripts and are written in a way that they can be reused and expanded for puzzles and other mechanics.
Enemy
The Enemy in Enlightenment uses predetermined paths which are chosen in a random order to provide a changing yet predictable challenge to the player with smooth transitions into and out of the chase state. Escape using hiding places such as closets or tables or break the line of sight of the enemy.
SAVING AND CHECKPOINTS
A custom save and load script ensures not only that data which is stored is secure but also keeps track of all relevant variables used by the game. Checkpoints are set after each puzzle and encounter with the enemy to ensure a smooth and fair gameplay experience.
Forrest
The Forrest Level in Enlightenment is the first level of the game. It introduces the player to the basic principals of the game such as the stealth mechanics and puzzles as well as the the collectables scattered around the world of Enlightenment. The Level uses a mix of distant point of interest and lighting to guide the player to the correct way and solution without requiring any additional information.
Hospital
The Hospital in Enlightenment has multiple purposes and acts as both a level as well as a hub to access different levels of the game. The main goal is to ascend within the building by using the elevator located on each floor of the building and avoiding the enemies present. The level features multiple puzzles which expects the player to examine the world around them and use hints hidden inside the rooms of the level to solve the puzzles at hand.
Not possible without our team
Enlightenment was a blast to work on and would not be possible without the amazing people I work with who provided their incredible insight and expertise to help the game become a reality
Special thanks to:
Lorenz Holzknecht – Management , 3D Artist and Texturing, Sound Design, Concept Art
Yasar Yazir – Level Design, Game Design
Anja Rindermann – Animation and Character Design
Felix Dill – 3D Artist and Texturing