A scene where this is important is the library, where each shelf needed to be lit to see the letters. I think the biggest challenge was making sure every scene made sense to the player, ensuring we lit the models correctly so that all areas could function in the gameplay space. This meant that when we making the final models we were confident on the gameplay and narrative flow. So before we made any models we had a simple prototype of all the puzzles and gameplay, which we then tested to death before committing to the final models and designs. We knew right at the beginning of the development stage that our biggest challenge would be ensuring that the gameplay was not compromised by creating a game in the visual style we wanted to do. Was there much compromise made in the art department to allow for the game's puzzle elements? Anything that you had to alter to fit the challenges faced by Lumi? You can create the most wonderful setting, only for it to be inappropriate for the kind of game you want to present. There's the need in any game to have gameplay, as silly as that sounds. For us, if you want to make a light look like it's on in a lighthouse, then we simply flick on a switch, rather than code a lighting engine for a game, which will never quite feel right. We deliberately left glue marks, scratches, and knocks to give the world life and vitality. When creating a virtual world on screen, you are constantly trying to "rough the edges" to make it more "real." We went about it the other way around, and I think this radiates from the screen in Lumino City. When faced with a blank computer screen, your starting point is a very pristine, perfect world-but we all know the real world isn't like that. I think you get an honesty about the world we created for (lead character) Lumi to inhabit in Lumino City. On holiday I am often taking pictures of buildings and thinking, "Who lives there, and why is that designed like that?"Įxplain the appeal of creating a virtual world, as experienced by the player, with very physical environments? It seems almost backwards in its approach to being progressive, at a time when CGI has infiltrated all manner of televisual projects. Architecture is a massive part of what Lumino City is about, and both myself and Luke are passionate about the way buildings and architecture can tell a narrative within a game environment. I think working closely with architect Catrina Stewart really influenced the design of the city, and she was an integral part of the game design process. Were there any key inspirations in the city/character design? Interestingly, we had never done stop-frame animation before until we did a couple of scenes using this technique in Lumino City, so that was all new to us. Myself and Luke, our co-director, have an animation background from before we formed State of Play seven years ago, so there are no surprises that there is a comparison. The game's design has much in common with animation, I guess mostly the stop-motion discipline in its backgrounds, its stages. If Lume was a starter for the visual style we knew we could deliver, Lumino City is a main course, dessert, cheese board, coffee, and wine all into one. We knew we were scaling up the game, which would mean a reduction in scale of the models, which in turn meant a need for new techniques with our model making. We started with a clean slate, production-wise, with Lumino City. We were so excited about the possibilities of the style we chose for Lume and we just wanted to embellish and learn from what had excited us about making it. Katherine Bidwell: To be honest, it never crossed our minds. Obviously a sequel to any game is likely to bear aesthetic similarities, but as striking as the look of Lumino City is-and it's bloody gorgeous-were you the slightest bit worried of being seen to "repeat" your visuals, rather than (re)invent in that area? VICE: The physically handcrafted style of Lumino City follows closely in the pattern of its predecessor, Lume. From Paper to Play-How They Made 'Lumino City'
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