First Look: Dynamic Lighting in Legacy of the Copper Skies

First Look: Dynamic Lighting in Legacy of the Copper Skies

As Tir approaches the Mother Statue he is cast in a strange light. Three glowing orbs orbit the statue’s outstretched hand each representing a different world within Legacy of the Copper Skies. Blue for Grimstad the home of fellow adventurer Isen. Green for his world of Ebura. Yellow for a world that the studio’s marketing department won’t let him talk about yet. He continues his approach as the light is dynamic cast about by technology beyond his ken yet suitably impressive for a 2D adventure game from an indie studio.

One of the main development goals for Horrible Unicorn Game Studios’ first game was to take a genre of game that we all had a great fondness for (the 2D adventure game) and bring modern development techniques and design aesthetics to it. While a large part of that is focused on the story and how developed our characters will be fleshed there will be also technical chances for us to show off how far games have come since Link was told that it was dangerous to go alone.

Bringing dynamic lighting helps make the worlds of Grimstad, Ebura and [redacted] feel more alive. The fantasy worlds of Legacy of the Copper Skies may not be real places but the depth of the world is enhanced by artistic aspects like lighting that reacts to in-game situations. This also helps to further enhance the already stellar beauty of Lead Artist Joe Pendon’s pixel art vision.