Insomnia:
The Ark
Lighting
Sole lighting artist for the entire game, which consists of approximately 50 levels set in a giant retro-futuristic spaceship.
- Full lighting pipeline from the ground up
- Particle effects and blueprints
- Cutscenes and motion graphics
- Materials design and supervision
- Complex postprocessing effects
In addition to my lighting duties, I also led the team of level artists. This involved creating extra assets and providing the final touches to all levels.
The game received an Unreal Dev Grant and won two DevGAMM awards including ‘Excellence in visual arts’
Service tunnels. Focused on using lighting and material contrast to distinguish the decaying parts from the still-functional, heavily guarded access points of the administration district.
Water treatment plant. Using soft lighting to establish a visual sense of order amidst the chaos of the Station.
Cultists' base. Temple of the House of the Lost Way, defined by their signature cyan lighting palette.
The 'mindspace'. One of several 'dream' segments depicting an idealised, abstract version of the home world. Notably, this is the only environment featuring natural sunlight.
Vulture's nest area. A typical Near Range environment leaning on the classic blue-orange complementary lighting scheme.
The outskirts. Sparse lighting with red accents is used to emphasize the inherent danger of these areas.
The renegades meeting. Narrative sequences were resolved in a metaphorical, semi-abstract style.
Lighting guides the player. A warm spot suggests the hacking opportunity, while deep shadows separate the stealth option from the potential combat encounter.
The hideout. Despite the theatrical framing the lighting is designed to appear incidental, grounding the scene to match the rugged nature of the environment.
The Limbo. Intro cinematic environment designed with gameplay-ready navigation; featuring the pod opening sequence with dynamic light animation.
The Ark. The illusion of massive scale was achieved by scattering fake spotlights across the Station's surface, supplemented by optimized actual lights.