RAVENOUS - Lighting

Ravenous is a 3D psychological horror game in first person view, in which the player takes on the role of Louis, a child who must escape the evil house of a strange monster.

Here you can see the entrance and corridor lighting. I wanted to mix orange for the warmth of childhood and cold to contrast with the horror of the surroundings.

The nursery uses pink and cold white to create an atmosphere that's both childlike and mysterious.

Louis' bedroom deals with the theme of loss and guilt, as does the parents' bedroom, which is why I kept the color theme. But as the parents' bedroom arrives much later, I desaturated the orange so that the atmosphere is more desaturated and less lively. What's more, the parents' bedroom is more serious, as it's about suicide.

The living room is about the destruction of the family, and I wanted to talk about it in a solemn, funeral-like atmosphere.

For the game's finale, we wanted to give it a much more tragic and horrific feel to match the game's story.

I was also responsible for lighting the monster's appearances and the cinematics. To do this, I enhanced its visibility with rim light and fill light.

Lighting in a horror game is an essential part of the experience, which is why the game has benefited from extensive research and development.

First of all, I looked at a wide range of film and video game references to find the lighting and colours that best suited the emotions we wanted to communicate and the game's environment. But the references presented here serve as a starting base for my work.

I'd like to talk a little about technique, as lighting is an essential element to optimise in a video game.

I'm pleased to present my work for the ravenous game. I've learned a lot along the way (light bake, IES texture, subsurface scattering and various other things and techniques). I will do a more detailed post after the game's release (early summer 2024).