Light Train

PRODUCTION TIME

6 months

YEARS OF RELEASE

2024

SOFTWARE

Unreal

LIFETIME

15 - 30 min

GENDER

Cooperative

PLATFORM

TARGET

Gamers accustomed to controller-based games

OVERVIEW

LightTrain is a cooperative side-scrolling arcade game where players take control of two flames to maintain a train and fend off relentless waves of attacking monsters.
Push as far as possible by managing resources and fighting threats to spread light across a dark world.
The game has to be played by 2 players.

CONTRIBUTION

This game was made by a team of 6 people.

My role was Game Designer, and UX/UI Designer.

Camera

The camera is in slice view and is relatively fixed with a little random screenshake appears every 10 to 20 sec to give the sensation of a moving train. A black vignette border is always here.
However, the placement of the camera and the value of the vignette border varies according to certain events in the game.

Like :

The apparition of the main enemy (fighting game state)

In this state, the camera pulls back and moves to the left, focusing the action on the boss fight.

Low life

In this state, the value of the vignette border increase

Camera in Low life game state

Camera in basic game state

Camera in fighting game state

Character

The characters that players can embody are a duo of two small flames. Their movements are highly reactive, with the intention of playing fast, energetic creatures.

Controler

All the interactions in Light Train have been designed to be totally achievable with a controller.

As a local cooperative game, we chose this controller to make controlling our characters as easy as possible..

Design

Core Loop

As an arcade game, the core loop is based on the rewards of survival and outscoring others. The game's ludic tension is driven mainly by the appearance of enemies (Swarm and Wall/Boss).

SPECS

In order to best manage the production of key mechanics and features, we have produced several design documents in the form of “SPECs”.

For example, here you have a SPEC for the enemy wall, which plays a significant role in our gameplay.

And also a SPEC for the UI elements in game.

SPECS - UI.pdf

SPECS - Rework Enemy Wall (Boss).pdf

UX Design

UI intra-diegetic

Like our reference “FAR: Lone Sail”, we decided to concentrate our UI inside our playable space and theme it accordingly, making it intra-diegetic.

Sign & Feedback

Many signs and feedbacks have been used in the game to convey as much information as possible.

As a multiplayer experience, we wanted to ensure that important informations (that which is essential to the game) was understood, as opposed to that which adds a strategic dimension but which, if not understood during the first game, will not frustrate players.

To achieve this, we played with the size of the elements. The most imposing elements inside the train are the most important for players, such as :

- The boiler tank (the main reservoir used to power the train's other engines).

- The heart / life of the train

Eliminating enemies is a pillar of our gameplay! That's why we've focus signs&feedback on it.

Firstly, to aid aiming by adding a laser preview that shows where the laser will be when the player pulls the trigger, without consuming any resources!

Then, as soon as the player touches a swarm enemy with the laser, it will start to inflate (gas explosion effect) and turn yellow, making it stand out from the background and other enemies.