Lighting

Overview

Lighting plays a crucial role in game design, serving not only as a tool for visual representation but also as a key mechanism that can completely transform the player’s experience. In the early days of game development, the technical implementation of lighting was limited. However, as technology advanced, lighting has become increasingly important not only for visual aesthetics but also for interaction, storytelling, immersion, and guiding player behavior.

OVERDARE Studio provides a variety of lighting solutions to deliver a complete gaming experience. Lighting services are broadly divided into local lighting and global lighting, each with its own characteristics and uses to meet diverse game design needs.

Local Lighting (Point Light and Spotlight)

Local lighting operates within specific areas, applying light effects only where necessary. This makes it an effective tool for emphasizing certain elements in gameplay and level design or directing the player’s attention.

• Point Light: Emits light in all directions from a single point. It is ideal for illuminating small areas, such as highlighting an item or lighting up a small room.

• Spotlight: A light that radiates in a specific direction, providing focused lighting on narrow areas or important parts. Its conical light effect is commonly used for stage lighting or boss enemy introduction scenes.

Lighting Properties

Local lighting is limited to specific locations and is used to express the atmosphere of particular places or objects. It plays a vital role in creating special sensory effects during gameplay and is often used to guide players to focus on specific areas.

1.1. Point Light

A point light emits light in all directions from a single point, acting as an omnidirectional light source.

Property	Description
Range	The range the light covers
Brightness	The intensity of the light
Color	The color of the light
Shadows	Whether the light creates shadow effects

1.2. Spotlight

A spotlight emits light in a specific direction, forming a cone-shaped illumination area for a more precise control over lighting.

Property	Description
Angle	The spread angle of the light
Face	The direction the light is cast towards
Angle	The range the light covers
Brightness	The intensity of the light
Color	The color of the light
Shadows	Whether the light creates shadow effects

Placing lights in OVERDARE Studio

Local lighting is used to highlight specific areas in the game or customize lighting effects. To implement this, lighting instances must be placed as children of specific objects (e.g., Part). Follow the steps below to place and adjust lighting.

1. Preparing for Light Placement

   To place lighting, first create a Part in the Workspace. A Part is a basic object that can have lighting instances like SpotLight or PointLight as its children.

2. Adding Lighting Instances

   Add a SpotLight or PointLight as a child of the created Part. This allows you to set the light’s position, direction, and range relative to the Part.

   

   
3. Adjusting Light Position and Direction

   Move or rotate the placed Part to easily adjust the light’s position and angle. Moving the Part changes the light’s center position, and using the Orientation property allows for more precise angle adjustments.

   

   
4. Setting Light Properties

   The lighting instance added as a child of the Part can be customized through various attributes:

   • Direction: Can be set in 6 directions (up, down, left, right, front, back) relative to the Part.

   • Color, Range, and Brightness: Modify the instance’s properties to set the light’s color, range, and brightness in detail.

5. Verifying Light Placement

   Move the Part and lighting instance together to ensure proper alignment within the level design. This helps developers achieve the best lighting effects for their environment.

Global Lighting (Lighting Service)

Global lighting affects the entire map, playing a crucial role in defining the game’s overall mood and style.

• A dark global lighting creates a sense of tension, encouraging players to explore cautiously.

• Conversely, bright global lighting fosters a festive and vibrant atmosphere, making the world feel open and inviting. OVERDARE provides powerful global lighting solutions, including brightness adjustments, time-of-day settings (day and night), and color control.

Lighting Properties

Lighting Services provide functionality to control global lighting. Global lighting is applied evenly across the entire game, adjusting the overall atmosphere of the game map and significantly impacting the game environment.

Property	Description
ClockTime	Adjusts the day/night effect by setting the time. The direction and brightness of the global lighting change according to the time.
Ambient	The color of the global lighting. It consistently illuminates all areas of the world with a uniform light color.
Brightness	The brightness of the global lighting applied across the entire world.

Using Lighting Service

Unlike local lighting, Lighting Service does not require separate placement adjustments. You can adjust the time of day, global lighting brightness, and ambient light color through the Properties window.

To use Lighting Service, you must first configure the Level Browser (level editor) to display Lighting Service. Below is a step-by-step guide to enabling Lighting Service.

1. Access the Level Browser Right-click on an empty space in the Level Browser to open the context menu.

   
2. Enable Show Service Select the Show Service option from the menu. This will reveal the list of hidden services.

   
3. Add Lighting Service From the service list, select “Lighting Service” and click the Insert button. This will add Lighting Service to the Level Browser, as shown below.

   

How to Use Lighting Service

Unlike local lighting, Lighting Service does not require separate rendering or object placement. Instead, you can adjust overall lighting properties through the Properties window. Key features include:

1. Time of Day Adjustment: Use the ClockTime property to switch between day and night or set a specific time of day.

2. Brightness and Color Editing The brightness (Brightness) and ambient color (Ambient) of the global lighting can be freely adjusted to define the atmosphere and theme of the game.

Adjusting Lighting Service via Scripting

Using scripts, you can create dramatic lighting effects. By modifying the game world’s ClockTime, you can transition between day and night or create an effect where time flows quickly.

local Lighting = game:GetService("Lighting")
local RunService = game:GetService("RunService")

local ClockTime = 0

local function OnHeartbeat(deltaTime)
    ClockTime = ClockTime + (deltaTime * 10)
    Lighting.ClockTime = ClockTime
end
RunService.Heartbeat:Connect(OnHeartbeat)

You can also create tension by changing the ambient light color to red during dangerous situations.

Lighting Applications

Maximizing Neon Material Effects

OVERDARE provides a default Neon material that makes Parts/MeshParts appear as if they are glowing. However, this effect is limited to the object’s surface and does not illuminate surrounding objects. To create a more dramatic effect, you can place a Point Light within a Neon-material Part and match the light color to the Neon color. This will create a more surreal and visually striking effect.

Highlighting Characters Place an invisible Part near the character and shine a Spotlight on them to make the character stand out brighter than other objects. This can be used to highlight a character’s abnormal state or create a blinking, glowing effect like Super Mario.

Creating a Cyberpunk and Retro Atmosphere with Neon Material Unlike lights, Neon Material does not affect other objects. To make neon objects influence the surfaces of other objects like real neon signs, you can add Point Lights. This creates a more realistic neon sign effect.

Usage Examples

1. Setting the Overall Atmosphere of the Game

Lighting plays an essential role in creating the game’s atmosphere. Factors like brightness, color, and intensity can significantly change how players perceive and feel about the game world. For example:

• Warm, soft lighting provides comfort and is often used in towns or safe areas.

• Dark and harsh lighting evokes tension and fear, contributing to an immersive experience in horror games.

• Vibrant colored lighting, such as neon, creates a lively, futuristic atmosphere, frequently used in cyberpunk-themed worlds.

Lighting can effectively convey the theme and mood of the game world, allowing players to immerse themselves more deeply in the experience, beyond just viewing the screen.

2. Guiding the Player’s Attention

Lighting is a powerful tool for guiding player focus toward specific objects or areas. Through this, game developers can naturally influence player decisions or highlight story-related objects.

• Point Light: Focused lighting at specific locations can draw attention to important items or objects, alerting players to their significance.

• Spotlight: By emphasizing characters or monsters, spotlights help players clearly identify the main point of interest at any given moment.

• Combination of Global and Local Lighting: In a generally dark map, bright local lighting can pull the player’s attention to a specific location.

This technique of guiding attention is essential for game design, and the proper use of lighting significantly improves the quality of level design.

3. Enhancing Immersion and Eliciting Emotional Responses

Lighting also directly influences the player’s emotional experience. Dark and unsettling lighting before difficult areas or boss battles can amplify tension. Conversely, after achieving a goal or receiving a reward, bright, soft lighting can evoke a sense of accomplishment.

• For example: In horror games, flickering lights or dark shadows are used to create anxiety and maintain a sense of unease throughout the experience.

• Bright and natural lighting in open fields symbolizes freedom of exploration, encouraging players to discover more places in adventure games.

By using lighting as an emotional and psychological tool, players become more immersed in the game world, and the storytelling impact is amplified.

4. Purposefully Creating Discomfort

Sometimes, developers use lighting to intentionally create a “sense of discomfort or strangeness” for the player. For instance, extremely dark environments, tilted light directions, or unnaturally glowing elements can make the player feel confused or challenged. This approach is particularly effective in horror, puzzle, or exploration genres.