Sackboy:

a Big Adventure

Lighting for a PlayStation 5 launch title, Sackboy: a Big Adventure, a platformer game spanning across six distinct worlds.

Personally lit over 40 levels, roughly half the game's total content, and integrated lighting into World Selection and Title Screens blueprints.

Handled colour grading, volumetric fog and specific VFX and materials adjustments for cohesive final output.

The game won two BAFTA awards, ‘Best British Game’ and ‘Best Family Game’ and was praised for its technical presentation.

‘Light, color, and sound combine to create an infectious concoction... Sackboy: A Big Adventure is a living artwork.’ — Gaming Nexus

‘Carefully crafted lighting and materials work... steals the show,’ — Digital Foundry

Aimed for Pixar-quality definition and vibrancy during this miniboss fight.

Leveraged well-motivated lighting to highlight material variety and achieve realism.

Relied on restrained, patchy lighting and a colder colour temperature for the twisted versions of Craftworld in later acts.

Used volumetric fog consistently to maintain depth during side-scrolling segments.

Achieved an underwater feel by prioritising local light sources at grazing angles.

Relied entirely on in-game gameplay lighting for the arena introduction sequences.

Prioritised platform clarity, using dark pseudo-volumetric fog for extreme depth (terrible pun intended).

Used dappled lighting to communicate the secret nature of the area.

Used colour contrast to make the Naomi hologram stand out, treating her as an accent light source.

Kept the gameplay area lighting simple so the player can focus on collecting bells.

Created a quiet, low-key introduction to contrast with the explosive chase level ahead.

Leveraged carefully controlled baked lighting to achieve soft surface qualities and guide the player.

My personal favourite level (mostly for the David Bowie song and dancing fishes!); all dynamic lights are synced to the music.

Used the specular variety of materials to highlight platforms and keep the image visually dynamic.

Lit several Vex fights; here, the focus was on strong colour contrast so the player never loses their jumping path.