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Level Design Workshop: Blockmesh and Lighting Tips — Transcript

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0:02[Music]
0:04hello everyone alright let's get started
0:10thanks for coming quick reminders please
0:13silence your cell phones and no video
0:15recording this hour-long talk is split
0:17into two halves by me and Robert yang so
0:20we have separate evaluation forms if you
0:22didn't get beeped on the way in if you
0:24stayed from the last talk if you can go
0:26get beeped that'd be great
0:28you'll get the evaluation form please
0:31fill him out because your feedback is
0:32important to us my name is David shaver
0:35and I'm a game designer at Naughty Dog
0:36before that I was at respawn
0:38entertainment show games in Zynga I've
0:41been in industry for almost 11 years and
0:43worked on lots of different games the
0:44most recent you can see here I started
0:48out as a game programmer and switched to
0:50a game and level design years ago this
0:52very workshop helped me realize my love
0:54of design and helped with that
0:56transition now this talk is about how to
1:00guide players naturally with your level
1:01layout and how to minimize the reliance
1:03on HUD markers and forced camera moves
1:05and all that stuff it's the talk that I
1:07wish someone would have given me an ears
1:08ago because it really would have saved a
1:10lot of time speaking of saving time this
1:12talk is jam-packed
1:14so this overviews quick part one guiding
1:16players with block mesh layouts with me
1:18and part two Robert will be talking
1:20about level lighting let's go
1:21first up let's get all on the same page
1:24what the heck is block mesh well at
1:28Naughty Dog we call levels built with
1:30simple geometry and textures block mesh
1:32unfortunately our industry hasn't
1:34arrived at a single term at this yet
1:35it's actually they also call it gray box
1:37and white box and all kinds of things
1:39mostly I prefer block mesh because it
1:41includes color and lighting which are
1:43very important when playtesting layouts
1:45since they help guide players also
1:47handing off colored block meshes to your
1:50artists make it a lot easier to
1:51communicate the kinds of textures and
1:53colors you had in mind
1:54green floor it's probably grass brown
1:57it's probably dirt now let's look at a
2:00common level design process at a game
2:02studio first you need to establish the
2:04context and constraints of your level
2:06this includes things like the
2:08environment type the time of day
2:09location in the story available
2:11character abilities and
2:12Titus all that stuff you should decide
2:15on the gameplay and narrative beats -
2:17once you have your requirements and
2:19beats dive right into building rough
2:21version of the entire level so that you
2:23can get a sense of pacing and scale be
2:26sure to stub in those gameplay and
2:27narrative beats to get something
2:29playable quickly and then watch other
2:31people play it there's no need for a
2:32formal play test or anything you just
2:34grab anybody because the feedback that
2:36you get from them is gonna change a
2:38block mesh repeat this iteration loop
2:40until you basically run out of time and
2:42once you run out of time your layouts
2:45locked and you hand it off to the rest
2:46of the team to make it look amazing but
2:48your job isn't done yet your task at
2:50this stage is to ensure that your design
2:52goals mesh with their artistic goals
2:54so keep playtesting and work with your
2:56artist to ensure that it still plays
2:57great with the real art now it's worth
3:00noting that every studio has a different
3:01process but this core iteration loop is
3:03universal so now let's get to the block
3:06mesh tips now our game director Kurt
3:09told me that tips wasn't a strong enough
3:10word for how important these are so I'm
3:12gonna rename them now to guidance
3:14principles so first up we have
3:17affordance one of the most powerful ways
3:21to guide players is by using affordances
3:22which are properties of an object that
3:24define its possible uses and make clear
3:27how it should be used a classic example
3:29is a door handle just by looking at a
3:32push bar or a pull handle you into it
3:34whether or not to push or pull the door
3:35as you approach ladders afford climbing
3:39edges also afford climbing ramps afford
3:43jumping off or smashing through a vent
3:45and Wolfenstein 2 affordances depend on
3:48your game rules because that's what
3:49they're communicating to the player so
3:52for our game designers affordance is a
3:54great way to communicate to the player
3:55what they can never interact with or
3:57where they can go players will learn
3:59what is interactive and it will attract
4:01them towards these affordances
4:03consistent color and shape establish a
4:05trust contract with players who used
4:07these to learn your game rules you
4:10should ensure that all of your
4:11affordances work consistently throughout
4:13the game or it breaks that trust
4:14contract which will cause player
4:16frustration you should also include
4:19affordances in your block mesh phase
4:21it'll help guide players where you want
4:23them to go let's see what it looks like
4:26so in this block mesh it's not clear
4:29where the player should go next sure the
4:31ladder affords climbing up the little
4:32tower but then what jump to the cliff
4:34dive in the water what if we had some
4:36affordances it becomes clear where to go
4:39the boards on the roof afford jumping to
4:41the cliff while the edge grabs on the
4:44cliffs afford climbing of course this
4:46example of is tailor-made for uncharted
4:48but the game same concepts will apply to
4:50your traversal mechanics it may seem
4:53silly to add them so early but trust me
4:55it makes a world of difference in how
4:57your play tests go and it doesn't take
4:59that much effort and one more thing
5:01ensure you these affordances are use
5:04consistent shape and color follow the
5:06game metrics and you empower your team
5:07with this information they could even be
5:10prefab objects that the whole team can
5:12use next tip denying affordance while
5:17affordances are important is showing the
5:19player what they can interact with
5:21showing them what they cannot interact
5:22with is also important this is denying
5:25affordance and it prevents player
5:26frustration and guides them now you
5:29can't just disable a ladder or place a
5:31invisible wall I mean you can but you
5:34shouldn't because it's frustrating to
5:36players so what you need to
5:38contextualize why you can't use the
5:40affordance by adding clearly visible
5:42things that say can't use this or don't
5:44go there also make sure the reason for
5:48denied affordance is clear in your block
5:49mesh at Naughty Dog we record a plate
5:53when a play tester tries to jump and
5:54grab something that they can't grab we
5:57call these bad jumps and overlay them as
5:59red spheres in the game so that we can
6:01identify problem areas often we'll find
6:03something that looks Klima bulb it isn't
6:05supposed to be so we'll cover it with
6:07foliage or something and after the next
6:09play test those bad jumps will be gone
6:11like sanding down a piece of wood this
6:13process makes the levels play smoother
6:16here's an example of using spiky shapes
6:19and breaking up the horizontal edge to
6:21deny climbing affordance even though the
6:24window is within climbing range
6:26you still can't grab it because it's
6:27visually blocked notice how this isn't
6:30contextualized to the environment with
6:32bricks and rebar this is important for
6:34games grounded in reality
6:37for games not so grounded you can get
6:39away with a lot and that's okay just
6:41find the right tone in context for your
6:43world to make it feel natural and still
6:45deny affordance now let's see some black
6:47mesh let's say that we want the player
6:49to go through the window on the right
6:51which is busted open the left window is
6:54covered with a bush and the and the
6:56front porch window and door are blocked
6:58with boards most players will glance at
7:02this house and go right for that window
7:03and a play test the intended way forward
7:05is open while the rest of the entrance
7:07affordances are denied next tip shaped
7:12language
7:13establishing a consistent shaped
7:15language communicates affordance and
7:17guides players climbing edges and
7:20uncharted are always horizontal and flat
7:22as a player you learn this visual
7:25language of Ford's plot climbing and you
7:28can spot it easily also people tend to
7:31have emotional associations with certain
7:33types of primitive shapes which is even
7:36common across cultures we can use this
7:39to our advantage
7:40to guide players toward or away from
7:42certain shapes round shapes tend to be
7:45viewed as non-threatening there's
7:46nothing to stab you with rectangular
7:49shapes are viewed as stable and
7:50trustworthy like a shelter and diagonal
7:54shapes are viewed as aggressive and
7:55dangerous like a spear now let's take a
7:59look at a screenshot from uncharted The
8:00Lost Legacy and highlight the shapes as
8:04you can see the spiky shapes feel a
8:06little bit uncomfortable possibly
8:07causing you to want to avoid those areas
8:09the round areas aren't a threat and they
8:12actually provides stealth and the square
8:14shapes our combat cover or buildings
8:16nice and stable
8:17all of this subtly guides the player to
8:19the buildings now let's see what it
8:21looks like in black mesh let's say we
8:24want the players to go to the right and
8:25they're being chased
8:26so exploration will wreak pacing the
8:30path sort of leads there but some
8:31players may veer to the left so how can
8:33we gently nudge them to the right first
8:36let's add some spiky trees and some
8:38other pine trees that angle toward the
8:39goal then we'll add some round bushes
8:43finally we'll add a small building and
8:45I'm not gonna lie at this point I kind
8:47of feel like this
8:49but with a lot less hair um alright
8:53let's highlight their shapes we just
8:54added the spiky shapes say danger and
8:57they discourage going there this the
8:59square building implies hey stability is
9:01this way the round stepping stones on
9:03the ground act as breadcrumbs to that
9:05stability and the round bushes kind of
9:07act as bumpers into frame the place base
9:09of course none of this prevents the
9:12player from going wherever they want it
9:14just gently guides them where they
9:15should go next tip color language when
9:20you're trying to establish a consistent
9:21visual language in your affordances
9:23shape is only half of it you also need a
9:26consistent color as well adding color
9:29provides valuable context for an
9:32otherwise barren block mesh it also adds
9:34depth if you're making a 3d game
9:37coloring also speeds up collaboration
9:39with your team because at a glance they
9:41can get it without explanation is the
9:44ground supposed to be dirt lava water
9:46now Naughty Dog is notorious for using
9:49contrasting colors to draw the eye to
9:51where you should go
9:52here we have a break a low sign and rail
9:54and it subtly lists the player know
9:56where to put the plank most people won't
9:59question why only one rail is yellow
10:01they'll just remember that they
10:02intuitively knew where to go here we
10:06have white climb above edges and here
10:08are some more edges but wait these are
10:10green I thought you said to be
10:12consistent well it's not a single color
10:14that's important it's using consistent
10:16color and shapes in the context of the
10:19environment try to blend them into the
10:21environment so it looks natural but
10:23still stands out let's see how color can
10:26aid your block mesh here we have a gray
10:29box it's not really clear where the
10:31player should go or where they even can
10:33go affordances are gray and they're hard
10:35to see also what kind of environment is
10:38this a desert an icy planet
10:41first let's add color to the affordances
10:43so that you can see them in the path
10:45forward sort of but we're still missing
10:47the context what is this place
10:49you know everything blends together boom
10:52we add color to the top of the blocks
10:55and suddenly you're in a grassy
10:56mountainous area with water down below
10:58as you can see adding color to your
11:00block mesh helps contextualize the
11:02to the players and a teammates and to
11:05further ground this on earth let's add
11:07some props okay
11:09now color is important but it shouldn't
11:12be the only thing that you rely on
11:13because some players are colorblind you
11:15should combine color with other
11:16techniques like unique shapes using
11:18content and using contrasting color
11:20values rather than hues bonus points if
11:23you can get colorblind play testers or
11:24teammates to help identify problems and
11:26make your game more accessible next tip
11:29landmarks there she is
11:35that's our building there's the tower
11:38alright there's the bridge that's our
11:41way out of here ever wonder why game
11:44characters spend so much time pointing
11:45at things in the distance
11:47well that's because their landmarks and
11:49they're great way to orient players in
11:50your world a landmark is basically just
11:53a big object that can be seen from far
11:55away and from different vantage points
11:56if used correctly players will see this
11:58object over and over as they get closer
12:00to it to let them know they're headed in
12:01the right direction
12:03landmarks also act as a goal for the
12:05player to work toward they're also
12:07called wienies if you want to know more
12:09about that just google Disney and
12:11weenies don't worry it's safe for work
12:13probably depends if your safe search is
12:17off alright check this out Zelda the
12:19breath of the wild really goes nuts with
12:21the landmarks and just this one shot
12:23there are several visible all in a row
12:24and they're not overlapping one another
12:26they also have unique silhouettes so you
12:28don't confuse them which is also a great
12:30tip try to have unique silhouettes for
12:32things in your game so the players can
12:34distinguish them at a glance all right
12:37block mesh time let's add a landmark to
12:39this block mesh man it's pretty basic
12:43but you can have a huge it can have a
12:45huge impact on drawing the player toward
12:47a certain direction if I'm working with
12:49a landmark I like to edit first and then
12:51build the level backwards from there
12:52that way I can always see it in the
12:54distance and shape the level accordingly
12:56next tip openings attract caves doors
13:00etc they all seem to attract people
13:02toward them these openings often lead to
13:05a refuge space which psychologically
13:07feels safe openings also have an air of
13:10mystery about them and people want to
13:12see what's inside this attraction
13:14happens in the real world with hobbies
13:15like spelunking
13:16and urban exploration here in titanfall
13:20to a ramp affords jumping to a nicely
13:22lit opening that begs to be explored
13:25this underwater opening lets you know
13:27that there's something beyond it if you
13:28swim for it it even works in block
13:31worlds as soon as I saw this I went
13:33right for it
13:35doors and archways also draw you inside
13:37even though an archway may not have a
13:38roof above it when adding openings to
13:43block mesh it's important to have a
13:44different different colors for interior
13:46and exterior walls here we have a cool
13:48white exterior and a warm yellow
13:50interior this helps players read depth
13:52in your block mesh if they're the same
13:54color it's hard to tell that it's even
13:56an opening also communicate this design
13:59intent to your artist to ensure that
14:01they know that this is an entrance and
14:02that it needs to stand out next tip
14:05gates and valves terrible jokes all
14:10right no not those gates and valves the
14:12kind of wake of way more money we want
14:14the level design kind gates stop
14:16progress until some sort of conditions
14:18are met you've killed all the enemies
14:19you've moved the debris out of the way
14:21etc valves are the opposite
14:24they let players move forward and then
14:25they slam the door shut behind them so
14:27they can't get back track in this
14:29scenario we want the player to enter the
14:31combat space and be trapped until
14:33combats over we have a valve into the
14:35space and then a gate at the other end
14:37blocking them so they can't leave once
14:40they enter the gates and valves reduce
14:41the possibility space of the world to
14:43just the combat zone also there's less
14:46mentally to keep track of so players can
14:48focus on a task at hand it may look like
14:51this is only useful in linear games but
14:54open-world games can use it too with
14:55scenarios like arena battles the Halo
14:57series did a great job of having big
14:59open levels that gated in valve players
15:01when needed
15:03now gates are pretty straightforward
15:04there's something in your way and you
15:06need to clear it so I'll focus on
15:08Valve's which can be a little more
15:09nuanced in this Valve example you drop
15:12down and you can't get back up
15:28a fairly famous valve is in Super
15:31Metroid we're an entire chunk of level
15:34acts like a valve at some point the
15:36player falls down this really long shaft
15:37and there's no way back up they're stuck
15:40and the vast possibility space of the
15:42game is reduced to a tiny portion as
15:44seen on the map in this space they find
15:46two critical items the high jump boots
15:48and ice beam and they can they learn to
15:50freeze enemies and then jump off of them
15:52so that they can use it to escape the
15:54shaft the shaft that was once a valve
15:56has now become a gate that needs to be
15:58overcome given the entire world to
16:01explore they may have never discovered
16:02this ability next tip leading lines
16:06leading lines are a composition
16:08technique where lines in the environment
16:10draw the eye to a specific place in the
16:12scene in this photo the logs dry the eye
16:15up and into the frame to finally rest on
16:17the house in games these are often
16:19things like roads and pipes and cables
16:21and all sorts of stuff here in titanfall
16:242 we wanted the player to focus on this
16:25door and not miss the reveal of a new
16:27enemy pipes and floor grates form
16:29leading lines to the door and when you
16:32get close a stalker rips the door open
16:34for a grand reveal here in the black
16:37mesh is a hallway with a t-junction at
16:39the end let's say you wanted the player
16:41to go to the right again right now it's
16:44a coin toss they may turn left see it
16:46seal off door and turn around or they
16:48may smoothly go to the right and enter
16:50the next area by adding some leading
16:53lines though we can draw their attention
16:54to the right and increase the chances
16:56they'll go there pipes on the walls and
16:58rug guide the player down the hallway
17:01but the pipes on the left stop while the
17:04pipes on the right go over long around
17:05the corner drawing the eye
17:07the caution cones break up the red line
17:09of the rug going left and to go over the
17:12top
17:13we had a yell a big bright yellow cable
17:15that hugs the right side and goes along
17:17around the corner just some simple
17:19shapes but it can have a huge impact on
17:21smooth navigation in your play tests
17:23next tip pinching pinching basically
17:27means your layout funnels the player to
17:28a specific spot you accomplish this by
17:31blocking off areas and angling shapes to
17:33naturally flow to that spot it's a it's
17:36good for redirecting players to a
17:37specific area and it's also a great way
17:39to set up a cool reveal like
17:42view of a landmark without forcing the
17:43camera to look at it if you pinch them
17:45to a specific spot the camera will be
17:47naturally pointed at the thing you want
17:49them to see wrong side okay yeah of
17:54course all of this is completely depends
17:56on your mobility mechanics it's much
17:58easier to do this in a game where
17:59players are stuck on the ground than in
18:01something like titanfall where they're
18:02flying all over the place let's look at
18:04an example here the buses and cars are
18:07angled to a specific spot which you can
18:10see highlighted here walking down the
18:12street the shapes naturally bring you to
18:14the end and they pin of the pinch which
18:17faces the way forward let's see it in
18:20action in this video the pinch lines up
18:22a perfect shot of the hospital in the
18:24distance which is your goal and the
18:26tunnel that takes you there
18:40next tip framing a composition
18:43another technique borrowed by from
18:45photography by framing your subject be
18:48it a landmark a big enemy or cave
18:49opening you draw attention to it if
18:51you'd like to learn more just Google
18:53some photography composition techniques
18:55you'll find lots of stuff
18:57this one's really useful when combined
18:59with pinching to set up an important
19:01reveal in the level after you pinch the
19:03player to a specific spot perfect
19:05perfectly frame the object for maximum
19:07effect let's see it in action
19:16as you saw the players naturally pointed
19:20at the dam and due to good framing it
19:22was the dominant thing on screen also a
19:24side tip people's eyes are drawn to
19:26detail and the dam is very detailed all
19:29of this with just some layout and no
19:31force camera moves alright next tip
19:34breadcrumbs all yes breadcrumbs lead the
19:39player a little piece at a time to the
19:41goal they can be almost anything chunks
19:43of stuff on the ground pick up items
19:45enemies lit areas etc it's usually
19:49better to add breadcrumbs to your block
19:51mesh after the early play tests because
19:53they can hide fundamental layout
19:54guidance problems but if you still need
19:57them after a few revisions don't feel
19:58bad about adding them in this example
20:01the bits on the fence and roof create a
20:03visual stepping stones to the ledge in
20:06destiny to these panels guide the player
20:09into the tunnel now if your game has
20:12pickups there a classic way to
20:14breadcrumb players around the level like
20:16how many times have you played a mario
20:17game and the coins led you to a new area
20:20pickups are also great for letting
20:22players know they're on the right path
20:23in a cluttered or maze-like environment
20:25this one's placed next to an area that
20:27you can duck under which some players
20:29forget they can even do so it's subtly
20:31hints yep you're going the right way
20:33so to go back to this house let's say
20:36only half the players during our last
20:37play test went into the house and the
20:39other half got lost let's add some rocks
20:42and boards as breadcrumbs leading to the
20:44window
20:45notice how the boards are angled toward
20:46the window creating leading lines you
20:49can also sprinkle these breadcrumbs at
20:51open-world areas to lead players to
20:53interesting things like the panels in
20:54the Destiny example next tip textures
20:58you can use textures to subtly or
21:00sometimes obviously point the way to a
21:02goal
21:03these can be just about anything arrows
21:05scrapes on the wall signs etc here and
21:09Uncharted The Lost Legacy script
21:11textures on the wall communicate
21:12affordance that you can shimmy here this
21:14example leads to a secret area and a
21:16collectible so it's a good example that
21:18you don't need to do this for just the
21:20main path here in uncharted 4 these tire
21:25tracks on the rock communicate
21:26affordance that you can drive here now
21:28when I played this game I didn't
21:30the tire tracks and I got lost I didn't
21:32work on this game what I worked on the
21:35next one
21:37once I noticed the tire tracks though
21:39the rest of it driving went totally
21:40smoothly signs literally point the way
21:43to the hospital which is also your goal
21:45these textures are often some of the
21:47last things added when making a level so
21:50it doesn't seems like it's not really
21:51going to help your block mesh phase but
21:53guess what you don't need to wait for an
21:54artist to Adam you can cheat and you can
21:57build them out of blocks mesh for your
21:59play tests here I've added an arrow and
22:02a sign to point the way and these
22:04scratch marks lead into the alley
22:06indicating something heavy was dragged
22:08back there and the best part these are
22:11all just block mesh labeling rooms and
22:14areas could be super helpful for both
22:16linear and open games if you're building
22:18a school for example having labels like
22:21gym and cafeteria provide valuable
22:23context and signposts as your players
22:25explore I totally hit next all right
22:30here I've pulled away from pulled this
22:33away from the wall a bit so you can see
22:34that it's just a bunch of blocks this
22:35stuff only takes a couple minutes to do
22:37and it works wonders for your play tests
22:39and also to communicate with your artist
22:41where you think signage might go and I'm
22:43not going to lie this one is so easy and
22:44simple it obvious it kind of blew my
22:47mind when I learned it all right next
22:49hip movement movement grabs the eye and
22:53the players attention this could be
22:55anything that fits your game big
22:56scripted moments bird sparks buddies
22:59enemies and even just something flapping
23:02in the breeze also make good use of the
23:05direction of the movement the players I
23:07will follow the movement and it can draw
23:09an invisible line right to where you
23:10want them to go in this example I'm
23:13about to show the birds draw your
23:15attention to the left where there's this
23:17open trailer door and the trailer door
23:19is also banging in the wind both of
23:21these things kind of subtly let you know
23:22like hey maybe you should check out
23:24what's inside
23:37and the dead body totally helps to of
23:42course adding movement in the block mesh
23:43phase is highly dependent on your game
23:45and engine if you can know try to
23:47include them in your play tests maybe
23:49not in the first ones but definitely
23:50before you lock it down and you don't
23:52have to get fancy you can have basic
23:54cubes just looping through the sky as a
23:56placeholder for birds now adding
23:58movement is also super useful as a
24:00bandage late in development when the
24:02level is basically done but players are
24:04still getting lost since the level
24:06itself is done you can script in some
24:08movement to help but don't rely on it
24:10though like try to solve the player
24:12guidance problems in the black mesh
24:13phase last tip light and God raise a ka
24:17light rays or Sun beams light and God
24:20rays are useful for guiding players to a
24:22goal people are naturally drawn to light
24:24sources and godrays point a line right
24:26at the goal this is important even in
24:29the blocked mesh phase the Naughty Dog
24:31lighting artists begin very early in
24:33this example the two lit areas are
24:37breadcrumbed goals first the one with
24:39the bad guy in the middle and then the
24:41one at the top right here we have some
24:43God rays coming out of a window they
24:45take up more screen space so you're more
24:47likely to notice them and they draw the
24:48leading line straight to the window
24:50which is also the exit also notice that
24:52swordfish it is totally drawing an arrow
24:54right at the window so that's not
24:56lighting but you know textures better so
24:58since my talk is about player guidance
24:59these light tips focus on that robert's
25:02upcoming talk is about lighting a level
25:04so let's start wrapping it up but first
25:06a bonus tip ah the squint test so simple
25:10and majestic but what is it well it's
25:14basically an easy way to see what stands
25:16out in your level step one squint your
25:18eyes and look at your game step two
25:20things will be blurry but what stands
25:23out from that blur a litter of right
25:25yellow truck the things that are
25:27standing out are the things that players
25:28are going to notice first so step three
25:30adjust your block mesh in your lighting
25:32so that the things that are popping out
25:34are the things that you want them to see
25:36and here's a fun quote Mattias gave me
25:39my professor you
25:41to say that squinting can replace four
25:43years of art school thanks for the okay
25:45let's see it in action before we wrap up
25:47here's a shot from titanfall to squint
25:50your eyes and take note of what stands
25:51out go ahead I'll give you a [ __ ] minute
25:54I'm squinting very good I'm just going
25:57to you got it okay good you probably
26:00noticed the yellow walls and the
26:01waterfall and the orange cave opening
26:03the yellow walls are wall running paths
26:06that draw leading lines straight to the
26:07cave and the waterfall uses movement and
26:10sound to grab your attention and it also
26:12helps frame the cave openings attract
26:14and the cave is lit a totally different
26:16color from everything else in the scene
26:18okay it's time to wrap it up but wait
26:21there's more I want to tell you about
26:24hashtag block tober last October Michael
26:26Barkley at Naughty Dog tweeted this but
26:28in his awesome Scottish accent that I am
26:30NOT going to attempt what's up level
26:32designers level block outs are art
26:35hashtag block Tober should be a thing
26:37the response was overwhelming everyone
26:40from triple-a devs hobbyists
26:42participated now I bring this up because
26:44it's important to demystify game
26:46development and encourage people to make
26:47things so many people didn't realize
26:50that the self-deprecating crap that they
26:51were making looked exactly like their
26:53favorite games early in development and
26:55they were super inspired to keep going
26:57October's happening again this year and
26:59my created this Twitter account to
27:01collect everything people make so follow
27:03it and get started now on your block
27:04meshes for blocked over if you like this
27:08talk check out these other links and
27:10books if you make multiplayer maps be
27:12sure to check out Elizabeth talk from
27:14last year there's no need to write these
27:15down I'll put all this up on my website
27:17after GDC it has some bonus tips at the
27:19end hopefully you found this talk useful
27:22and I'll see your block meshes in block
27:23Tober thank you
27:25[Applause]
27:32okay hi this is the second half of the
27:34talk of invisible intuition
27:37I'm Robert yang I'm a professor at the
27:41NYU Game Center if you want to know more
27:43what we're about come visit us on the
27:45expo floor starting Wednesday and David
27:48just talked a lot about black mesh and
27:50gray boxing I'm not great boxing sorry
27:52black mat just block meshing and
27:54geometry and in this talk I want to
27:57focus kind of more on the lighting side
27:59of things because David just said now
28:01you dog they actually start lighting
28:03really early so this is also kind of a
28:06dimensional level design that I think a
28:08lot of people are scared of and want to
28:10avoid doing and you shouldn't be scared
28:11about it so a little bit about me I'm
28:17mostly known from my gay culture
28:19videogames kind of get around a pause
28:22for gay sex
28:27okay don't stop stop it's not about that
28:30perverts this talk is kind of more about
28:36maybe how I like my gay videogames maybe
28:39a little bit and it's it's okay if
28:42you're not cool enough to put gay sex in
28:44your game but you know even if you're a
28:46straight person you can put lighting in
28:49your game baby so in this talk we're
28:54gonna it's kind of aimed more for
28:56beginners and kind of intermediate level
28:59designers although even if you're like
29:00an experienced level designer maybe you
29:02don't think about lighting as much as
29:03you could so maybe it'll still be
29:05helpful for you we'll start with a kind
29:08of more general discussion of lighting
29:10and then kind of get more and more
29:12specific as the talk progresses until we
29:15end with how to light a level with like
29:17a more specific suggested workflow that
29:20you can do in unity or unreal or
29:21whatever you use so first let's start
29:25with a brief history of light a very
29:31brief and simple history of light might
29:33start with the Sun right the Sun is
29:35really great let's give it up no for the
29:37Sun although it's going to rain a lot
29:40I'm told
29:41so you won't see much Sun in the next
29:43few days there's also you know fire
29:45controlled burning and gas lamps
29:48incandescent light bulbs with filament
29:50and run current through the filament
29:51there's also a stronger focus these days
29:54on energy efficient light sources like
29:56fluorescent lighting or LED lighting is
29:58also coming more common and it's I think
30:01it's very tempting to think of this as a
30:04story about technology and progress and
30:08like older light sources becoming
30:10obsolete or something but that's not
30:14exactly true and I don't think that's
30:15exactly accurate like the the light bulb
30:17do not make the Sun obsolete right like
30:21you still like going outside and playing
30:22in the Sun or whatever you do in the Sun
30:24I wouldn't know I'm a game developer but
30:28the LED did not make the fire obsolete
30:32right you'll go to a restaurant and
30:35maybe tonight and have a nice candlelit
30:38dinner or something and the flickering
30:41candle it's really nice when that's
30:43actual fire not a one of those weird LED
30:46flickering things right so as a society
30:52I think we still use fire as a light
30:54source
30:55not necessarily as like a task light
30:57source where you like write letters by
30:59candlelight or something but you know
31:01it's still in our birthday candles or
31:03campfires fire hasn't disappeared but
31:06our culture around fire has changed fire
31:10used to be common and now it's kind of
31:11more like a special occasion kind of
31:13thing but it's still here in
31:15civilization so each of these light
31:18sources means something different and
31:20makes a space feel different and I urge
31:23you to pay attention to the different
31:25moods and atmospheres these different
31:26light sources of VOC and today
31:31contemporary lighting design has been
31:33kind of heavily standardized and
31:36industrialized if you're a lighting
31:39designer and you're shopping for light
31:41fixtures or womyn airs as they're called
31:43in Europe it's very common to on the
31:46left right there that's like a picture
31:48of like a lighting catalog and the
31:51lighting catalog gives you all these
31:52different stats so you can kind of
31:53predict
31:54what the light will do and there's also
31:56usually often like a chart in that lower
31:59left I've blown up the chart on the
32:01right there and that's a light
32:04distribution curve chart and that kind
32:05of shows you how much light that light
32:07source or light fixture is gonna throw
32:09at every given angle so notice this
32:12light bulb with that light distribution
32:14chart on the right it's kind of shaped
32:17like a heart a little bit and has like a
32:19crease at the top well that makes sense
32:21right because the light socket is on top
32:24it's not going to throw a light through
32:26the light socket that doesn't make sense
32:27so it's mainly throwing light downwards
32:29into the right so now you know how to
32:31read a light distribution chart it's
32:33pretty easy so this is how real-life
32:38lighting design quantifies and
32:40standardizes the physics of light but in
32:43videogames light is often much messier
32:46than this so now I want to talk a little
32:49bit about what is game lighting and what
32:52do we mean by that light is a complex
32:57phenomenon that's hopefully elegant with
33:00like a unified theorem and all that and
33:04all these phenomena like reflections
33:07occlusion translucent shadows all those
33:11happen in real life like for free so to
33:14speak but in video games lighting is
33:18like a bunch of crap in a box
33:20we don't it's just a bunch of random
33:22systems that we like hack and tune
33:24together and we throw that crap in the
33:26videogame and then pray it will look
33:27okay in the end so it's not a beautiful
33:31elegant system it's just a bunch of
33:33random stuff and to give you an idea of
33:36all that random stuff right in any given
33:39game engine there's different cascading
33:41shadow Maps there's refraction shaders
33:43there's caustics there's fog there's
33:45glow sprites each your screen space
33:47ambient occlusion bloom all these
33:49different things are all kind of
33:52representing one system but in a video
33:55game it's like 20 different systems
33:57right and we kind of just turn them on
33:59and turn them off on like a case-by-case
34:01basis right so when you play a video you
34:03may be when you go in this room that's
34:05when they turn on
34:07some screen space reflection and then
34:09when you go in this other room that they
34:11turn off screen space reflection to like
34:12save on framerate and optimizing stuff
34:14and again from a business perspective
34:18that means zero cents right the idea
34:20that you can turn off shadows in like
34:23real life makes no sense because that
34:26would just like you should go see a
34:28doctor if that happens right that's not
34:30good
34:31so again video games we rely on a lot of
34:34this like piecemeal approach of all this
34:36random stuff together so in this talk
34:40I'm not going to be talking about a lot
34:42of those effects I'm gonna be focusing
34:43on what I view as the fundamentals of
34:45lighting in level design which are
34:48basically these four basic light types
34:50directional light spotlight ambient
34:52light and point light so let's say
34:57you're mocking up a level in unity or
35:00something and you don't have any lights
35:02going on it's just a dark level no
35:05lights there yet and I just have a bunch
35:07of blocks there so first you might add
35:11some ambient light ambient light is a
35:14gardening like default amount of light
35:16you might add to a scene its refers to
35:19the whole scene its global and you do
35:22that to make sure those shadows in your
35:24levels aren't pitch-black because in
35:27real life very few things are just
35:29pitch-black like that unless you're in
35:31like a really dark cave or something
35:32there's always like a little bit of
35:34light bouncing around everywhere so
35:36ambient light is kind of meant to
35:38simulate that a little bit but notice
35:41when we add ambient light that doesn't
35:42really help us read the shapes there are
35:44anything it's still very flat right you
35:48still can't really see the shapes that
35:50well but you can just distinguish the
35:52silhouette so that's when you might add
35:55another light source so here's a
35:57directional light directional light is a
36:00global light source it illuminates the
36:02entire scene at once from one given
36:04direction and it usually doesn't matter
36:07where you position a directional light
36:09depending on what tool you're using and
36:10now with the directional light you can
36:12read the shapes much more clearly right
36:15because you add that directionality
36:16component to it now and notice how
36:18everything pops out
36:20in games we usually use directional
36:22light usually for like sunlight or maybe
36:24moonlight or something then we also have
36:28a spotlight the scene is set at night
36:30maybe you want to add some street lights
36:32for a street light you might want to use
36:34a spotlight a spotlight throws of light
36:36in a cone shape in a given direction and
36:38from a given position so here I'm using
36:41a spotlight as a down light to emphasize
36:44this walkable floor area instead of
36:46emphasizing something else and lastly I
36:51want to talk about the point light the
36:53point light throws light in every
36:54direction some toolsets might call this
36:57an omnidirectional light or you can call
36:59an omni light for short which makes it
37:01sound really cool any light but you
37:04imagine a point light as this like
37:06invisible ball of light that's just
37:08washing everything nearby with light so
37:12a point light I think is usually really
37:13good at drawing attention to a focal
37:16point because it ends up creating kind
37:17of this hotspot effect a little bit in
37:21contrast with a spotlight right it's not
37:24always clear where the spotlight is
37:26shining from especially if it's a
37:27spotlight like a floodlight shooting
37:30light across and in practice you should
37:34try to use all four lighting types at
37:35once because they all can work together
37:38really well
37:39ambient helps bring up the shadows
37:40directional light helps make those
37:42background buildings pop and helps guide
37:44the main mood of the scene then you also
37:47have a spotlight highlighting an area
37:48then you also have a point light
37:50highlighting the street light and again
37:52all this stuff works together helps
37:54create depth
37:55it helps push like a background in a
37:58foreground for your scene and that's
38:01good and with these light sources I
38:06would argue that they form like a
38:08complete domain of lighting tools so
38:12stretching the gamut from like a global
38:15light source that affects everything to
38:17a local light source that only affects
38:18nearby things or a light source that
38:20shines in one direction or all
38:22directions I feel like it's like a
38:24complete domain kind of so the con again
38:28that's why every 3d engine or toolset
38:30usually has these light sources
38:35so now we should talk a little bit about
38:38why we should use these light sources
38:40and I'm gonna talk about a lighting
38:44theory called three-point lighting which
38:47is a very common lighting form of
38:50lighting design theory that's a very
38:52common in film and photography so if you
38:54have a background in that so seem very
38:56familiar to you basic idea of
38:59three-point lighting is that you have
39:01three different light types and here's a
39:04diagram that hopefully explains some of
39:07it in that top left we have a combined
39:09like composite of three different light
39:12types but we can also break down what
39:14each light is doing into like a separate
39:16Channel so that's what those other three
39:18smaller pictures are doing and in the
39:21top right you have a key light the key
39:23light is kind of like your brightest
39:24light source and it kind of sets the
39:27dominant lighting angle and mood for
39:29your scene or picture image then in the
39:32bottom left we have a fill light a fill
39:35light helps brought brighten up the
39:37shadows kind of like the ambient light
39:38we were talking about before it helps
39:40fill in the darker parts usually you
39:43want this at a lower intensity than your
39:45key light then in lower right we have
39:49the rim light and it's also sometimes
39:52called a backlight or a hair light
39:54depending on what you're doing and it
39:56illuminates kind of your silhouette to
39:57help pop it out from the background very
39:59feeling otherwise the hair might end up
40:01or the top of the head might be blending
40:03in with the background so notice they do
40:05some specular and stuff on top right
40:08like that and a very common three-point
40:12kind of setup might end up looking a
40:14little bit like this you have a key
40:16light and fill light usually kind of
40:18opposing angles you usually don't want
40:20them following the same direction in
40:22position because then that kind of
40:24defeats the purpose so usually you want
40:26fill and key to be at least different
40:28angles or in positions and in film and
40:32photography there's also often the
40:34background light that optional light
40:36right there the background light helps
40:38brighten the background to help get rid
40:40of any awkward shadows that come from
40:42the key and fill remember in real life
40:44they can't just turn off shadows for the
40:46key and fill
40:47they actually have to have like another
40:48light to get rid of that shadow and if
40:54you basically watch any movie you can
40:56kind of breakdown any given film shot
40:58along these lines and try to see what
41:01all the different light sources are
41:02doing so these are some examples from a
41:05blog called lighting pixels you can see
41:07there's a key light a fill light and a
41:09rim light on that left the key light is
41:12kind of coming from that top left of
41:14that image so then it kind of feels like
41:17sunlight kind of and everything in that
41:20image is kind of evenly illuminated too
41:22so it seems very readable meanwhile on
41:25the right there key light is not coming
41:27from the top right the key lights coming
41:29from below which means it's probably not
41:31sunlight unless these people are like
41:33hanging upside down that's probably not
41:35sunlight right so to me that means it's
41:38more like an artificial light source
41:39maybe like a nice candle or something
41:41and when that candle is illuminating
41:44from bama's face I feel like that sets
41:46up a very different mood in the right
41:48image versus the left image right the
41:51right image feels kind of more intimate
41:53and maybe even like romantic I don't
41:56know what movie that's from maybe maybe
41:58they're breaking up or having a divorce
42:00I don't know some some [ __ ] is going
42:02down in that right image right but in
42:04the left image zero [ __ ] right it's very
42:07very nice and safe and it's really
42:14important to note that with three point
42:16lights lighting it's referring to three
42:19types of light sources you don't always
42:21need to place three lights in every
42:23scene so for example in that film shot
42:26on the left there's only two light
42:28sources there a key light and a rim
42:30there's no fill and the right side of
42:32his face is left in shadow and that's
42:35okay if that's what you want to do with
42:36your lighting and that's the mood you
42:38want to create same thing in that right
42:40image there's only one light source just
42:42one key to help kind of emphasize I
42:44think the extreme close-up in intimacy
42:46of that shot so again it's just about
42:51what you want to do with your lights and
42:53what you want your lights to say so
42:56here's another example I'd main unity
42:58say you want to like light this honky
43:00dude with three-point night theory the
43:03way I good him I had a key like kind of
43:05grazing him a little bit so I could like
43:07catch some muscle definition and I had
43:10the fill light kind of a little off
43:12angle from there because I still wanted
43:15to maintain the keep I wanted to soften
43:16how the shadows were hitting him if you
43:19see in the right that's a variant
43:22without the fill like and without the
43:24fill light I felt like his face was too
43:26much in shadow and I couldn't read what
43:28was going on and if you're like a
43:30beginner level design I would say you
43:33should most beginners forget to do the
43:35fill part and if you're starting out you
43:37should err on the side of more filled
43:39and less fill and and then let's say I
43:44have a rim light also kind of picking
43:45out the the right side of his face there
43:48and help separating that from the
43:50background so you can read his features
43:51better and as for implementation here
43:55I'm actually using three directional
43:57lights in unity but just with the layer
44:00mask set to just one layer just for that
44:03object so it ends up being not that
44:05expensive with you use the culling masks
44:08and unreal you can use a feature called
44:10light channels which kind of does the
44:12same thing and it's super useful for
44:13isolating light sources for objects but
44:16most beings end up doing just maybe one
44:20light source technically with the key
44:22light might be your main directional
44:23light but your fill might be ambient or
44:26sphere of harmonics probes and then your
44:29rim light might be Fresnel and
44:30reflection and stuff in your shader but
44:36I think there's one big problem with
44:38three point light theory for games
44:40especially in regards to level design
44:42and that is the fact that film and
44:45photography have a very tightly
44:47controlled camera perspective but in
44:50video games we often give camera control
44:52to the player so if you were looking at
44:56this hunky dude and then you walk around
44:58and admire the back of this hunky dude
45:00now the key light is in a key light
45:03anymore because the viewing angle has
45:05changed now my rim light is like a key
45:07light now my fill light isn't visible or
45:10something I don't even know what's going
45:11on in that image anymore
45:13so one big problem here is that we can't
45:17really know where the player is going to
45:19see this object which will affect how we
45:22compose our lighting this is why a lot
45:25of 3d games I think end up vomiting rim
45:28shaders and Fresnel effects everywhere
45:30because they can't predict where the
45:32player is going to be looking at this
45:33object so they just spam Fresnel and rim
45:36everywhere so that there oh there's
45:38always some rim action going on but you
45:41know that should be your last resort
45:43let's try to be more subtle than that
45:45and I would argue the way you can be
45:48more subtle is to think about how your
45:50level layout will facilitate the viewing
45:54angles for your subjects and you then
45:56you can light accordingly and use that
45:58as a framing device so your level layout
46:01is a lighting tool you can suggest a
46:04view or a frame a certain V composition
46:07just by having the player move through a
46:10hallway and that'll suggest an angle for
46:12them that's also why you need to do a
46:16little bit of block out in block meshing
46:18before you do some Lighting's
46:20so that you have an idea of where the
46:21players going to be going and lastly I
46:27want to end with this section how to
46:29light a level and I want to walk you
46:32through some steps that I would
46:34recommend you take with your own levels
46:36if you're starting out this example be
46:39an unreal but you can do it in any
46:41engine basically so first you do your
46:45block out or gray box or whatever you
46:47want to call it with just some basic
46:49real-time light if you're doing some
46:52light baking you don't want to do it at
46:53this stage because your levels
46:54constantly changing you don't want to
46:56waste your time spending an hour
46:58lighting a room and then you end up
47:00deleting that room or something then
47:01you've wasted your time so right here is
47:03when I'm recommend you just use some
47:05basic real-time light and not worry
47:07about the lighting so much for unreal I
47:09like switching it using stationary
47:12lights for this and I also like enabling
47:14a setting called for snow precomputed
47:17lighting which will help you not worry
47:19about light mapping and like that light
47:21map baking and stuff and that's in the
47:23world settings in the Unreal editor and
47:25in unity I like you
47:27seeing real-time lights and I disable
47:29the auto generate lighting checkbox so
47:32that you're not constantly sitting and
47:34waiting and stopping for the light Maps
47:36to bake although I hear the light Maps
47:40faster now or something I don't know
47:44step two now you want to set up your
47:47main mood your big mood in your scene
47:49and to do that you want to set up your
47:52global lights
47:53so remember ambient and directional
47:55those apply to your whole entire game
47:58world so now's me the time to set that
48:00up before you worry about smaller stuff
48:02and here you can see I have a bunch of
48:05sunlight flooding in from those middle
48:07windows right here and I want to set up
48:10the main mood of this level with like a
48:12big sunny Sun filled area and to do that
48:18I need to set up the indirect light
48:21bounces especially for a directional eye
48:23or sunlight if you want something to
48:25feel like sunlight you should be paying
48:26attention to your indirect light bounce
48:28settings and in unity that would be
48:31going to your light settings and in
48:32unreal that would involve going your
48:34world settings and adjust the light mass
48:36section of the world settings and also
48:38look at the sky lights actor and your
48:40unreal scene and if you're not working
48:44with global illumination or light map
48:45baking for whatever reason then the next
48:48best thing is to hand place like
48:49invisible faint point lights everywhere
48:52if you're like working on a game like
48:55like I heard there's a rumor that
48:57Fallout 4 did not have global
48:59illumination so they had to place faint
49:02point lights forever to like simulate
49:04and fake all the light sunlight bouncing
49:07everywhere so you can totally do that as
49:09well and unity I like switching those
49:13lights to not important so that they
49:15don't contribute to specular stuff and
49:16in unreal I like increasing the minimum
49:18roughness on those flights that they
49:20don't create hot spots in your
49:22reflections
49:26step three after you've kind of set up
49:29the main mood of your scene now you
49:30should start thinking about the gameplay
49:32and lighting for your critical path to
49:34review the critical path is kind of like
49:36the ideal things that your ideal player
49:39would kind of do in a certain order or
49:41whatever in your level and at this stage
49:44you should probably focus on navigation
49:47and wayfinding does the player know
49:49various interesting entrances and exits
49:52and would know where they are David
49:54talked about this a lot in his talk
49:56about how they care a lot about
49:57wayfinding lighting is another tool for
49:59you to do that and here I'm using it in
50:02like a really painfully obvious way
50:04where I'm using like bright orange
50:06lights on bright red doors feel free to
50:11be more subtle than that in your own
50:12work but for example for the purposes of
50:16this example it's like super obvious and
50:19when you're doing that I also urge you
50:21to think about kind of like the
50:23hierarchy of different things you're
50:26doing here here I would argue the left
50:28door is being lit to be more important
50:32than the door on the right the door on
50:33the left kind of has a wider spotlight
50:35and it's more intense and brighter and
50:37also kinda has its own room and shadows
50:39to the contrasts much stronger meanwhile
50:41that door on the right it's certainly an
50:43option and it certainly reads as like an
50:46entrance or exit to this room but it's
50:48also a bit more faint so now we're
50:50emphasizing this door on the left
50:52super-important this door on the right
50:54it's like okay you know it's an okay
50:56door but you you know that door know
50:58that yeah then once you're done doing
51:03main player wayfinding and also you're
51:05like testing throughout all this right
51:07you should be thinking about the in
51:10other interactions in your game so if
51:12you're setting up any NPCs or set-pieces
51:15or encounters you should be trying to
51:17light those encounters so that the
51:19player will actually notice what's going
51:20on so here these are like critical
51:23gameplay objects that you might want to
51:26light like enemies coming into the room
51:28or maybe the enemies are like guarding
51:30an objective or something so on the Left
51:33they're guarding this orb the orb is
51:35very important in this game I assure you
51:37and I have I set up a
51:40blue blue green kind of turquoise flight
51:43and it's kind of coming at this
51:45perpendicular angle to that orange arrow
51:47which is what I imagine is the players
51:49critical path in this case and when you
51:52have that blue light coming like a
51:54grazing perpendicular angle kind of that
51:56helps set that up as a rim light to help
51:59emphasize the shapes going on there
52:01instead of the surfaces kind of same
52:05thing going on in the example on the
52:06right you might see two small people two
52:09small silhouettes in the background and
52:11that's because I've kind of thrown a
52:14background light behind them so those
52:16silhouettes end up popping out and you
52:19notice them really easily so again if
52:21you're like lighting stuff where like
52:22soldiers are enemies like jump through
52:24windows or something you might want to
52:26have a light behind them to help frame
52:28them and help them pop out and when
52:34you're doing this you should be thinking
52:35about your texture pass texturing is
52:39pretty important I think that's why
52:42David talks about using color a lot you
52:43should be thinking about the basic
52:45values this is a page the I basically
52:48just took these from some unreal UDK
52:51documentation but here the albedo on the
52:54left is really dark and an albedo
52:56diffuse section on the right is much
52:58brighter and when that you have that
53:00dark albedo the light doesn't bounce as
53:02much because most game engines use the
53:04albedo texture to calculate calculate
53:06reflectance for indirect light so you
53:09can see that scene ends up feeling
53:10really really dark in a weird way but if
53:13you use a brighter albedo in that bottom
53:15right example now the scene is kind of
53:17evenly illuminated and it feels much
53:19more like sunlight and one really easy
53:21way to check this is if you open up your
53:22albedo or diffuse texture in Photoshop
53:24open up the levels histogram look at
53:27that most of your values should me be
53:28more in the upper mid-range and then
53:31usually want to leave the left and right
53:33the extreme values empty so that
53:35lighting can do its work so don't try to
53:38do extreme black or extreme white and oh
53:42my god running out of time okay I'll try
53:43to go fast so this is also where gliding
53:46is really really important I think where
53:50some stuff might be too dark and some
53:52stuff might look great
53:54and I think that has a very strong
53:56political valence to it this is an
53:59example from an article called black
54:01skin is still a radical concept in
54:02videogames and in this one the woman on
54:05the right from Skyrim I think I would
54:08argue is lit pretty well you can read
54:10all the different contours and surface
54:12plains of her face meanwhile the woman
54:14on the left is lit very poorly I think
54:16where I can't really read her face that
54:19well her chin and jaw are like totally
54:22lost and I'm not I'm not trying to like
54:26call out Skyrim or professed uh like III
54:30think I don't think there was like an
54:31evil racist at Bethesda going hahaha
54:34right I think this is just another an
54:36example of like institutional racism
54:39that happens in video games where maybe
54:41playtesters we're testing mostly with
54:43white characters so they never saw that
54:46black characters are really poorly in
54:48this game or need more specular
54:50contribution on their on the reflection
54:52or light probes or whatever is going on
54:54in Skyrim so it's important for us to
54:58take responsibility for art and in if in
55:01doubt just ask a collaborator so that
55:03you can kind of avoid situations like
55:04these and then the last step is you
55:10should maybe iterate on your level keep
55:12trying different lighting schemes and
55:14this is an example of a lava like sci-fi
55:17scene that's lit four different ways so
55:20keep experimenting with your lighting
55:21but at the same time no one to stop and
55:24move on with your life
55:25this is a trap that a lot of level
55:27designers fall into they keep tweaking
55:29lights a little bit brighter a little
55:30bit darker as if that'll make a huge
55:32difference it will not I guarantee you
55:34just make the lights as good as you can
55:37and then move on may come back to it
55:39later if you have more time you won't
55:41have more time but you know go back to
55:43it later just say that to yourself and
55:45move on and make the rest of your game
55:49so to review real quick lighting sets
55:52moon and evokes culture there's four
55:54different light types common to a lot of
55:563d game engines and tool sets
55:58three-point lighting argues that you
56:00should think about the task and function
56:02of each light and what it's doing for
56:03the image composition like globally do
56:06your big lights first and
56:08then do start doing spot checks for
56:10gameplay and critical paths and also no
56:13one to stop fiddling with your lights
56:15and move on and make your game and don't
56:18just keep fiddling with one light thanks
56:21for listening that was me
56:24apply [ __ ]
56:25[Applause]

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