Whether it’s its promise of a narrative-drive homicide thriller journey or its distinctive mix of 2D and 3D visuals, there’s loads about Kill the Shadow that catches the attention. Time manipulation mechanics, branching storytelling, what’s wanting like a wealthy setting- the upcoming journey title appears to have all the weather in place to make a legit splash. To be taught extra about what’ll make it tick, we not too long ago reached out to developer Shadowlight Sanctuary with just a few questions in regards to the recreation. You possibly can learn the complete interview under.
“We felt that including a 2D pixel character right into a 3D high-definition surroundings can be a good way to characterize “duality” and create a singular expertise. This concept grew to become our course, and we constructed upon it.”
The ambiance and vibes of Kill the Shadow appear to be amongst its stronger parts. Are you able to inform us what served as your inspirations for this title?
The sport originated from the 2022 International Recreation Jam, the place the theme was “duality.” Since we had beforehand labored on a small 3D tower protection recreation, we needed to proceed with 3D for this undertaking. However how might we replicate the theme? We considered a mode that’s often utilized in indie video games, and one which we had additionally explored—2D pixel artwork. We felt that including a 2D pixel character right into a 3D high-definition surroundings can be a good way to characterize “duality” and create a singular expertise. This concept grew to become our course, and we constructed upon it.
The aesthetic of the sport is straight away placing. Are you able to stroll us by means of how you’re mixing 2D and 3D graphical methods for this title?
Combining 2D and 3D was fairly a problem for us. From a programming perspective, 2D is basically a subset of 3D, so we determined to deal with your entire undertaking as a 3D recreation and use 2D methods for characters and sure objects. The difficult half was making certain correct interplay between the physics, lighting, and rendering of 2D and 3D objects. We invested loads of effort into fixing this. We used Unity’s URP (Common Render Pipeline), which gave us extra performance and the power to customise the consequences we needed. We additionally wrote a brand-new motion system for the characters so they might correctly work together with the physics of the 3D surroundings. Moreover, we developed a collection of shaders to make sure the characters might work together with 3D lighting, forged shadows, and carry out different rendering features.
How variable is the story? How a lot do issues change based mostly on the participant’s choice?
The sport is split into a number of story chapters, and participant selections have a big affect on the development and endings of every chapter. For instance, within the “Loss of life of Wangcai” chapter, whether or not the participant chooses to disclose the reality or secretly inform Captain Wang results in utterly completely different outcomes and experiences. Nonetheless, the affect on subsequent chapters is extra restricted, with solely minor modifications like extra or fewer dialogues. That is to keep away from the sport turning into an amazing branching nightmare that might make growth unmanageable or result in a bug-ridden expertise.
“We might like to launch the sport on consoles sooner or later, as it could permit us to succeed in a bigger viewers and immerse them on the earth we’ve created. Nonetheless, as a result of finances and growth progress constraints, this plan is on maintain for now.”
Are you able to clarify how the interpersonal relationship system within the recreation works? Does it have any bearing on the participant’s means to achieve circumstances?
The connection system is essential in our recreation, because it immediately impacts the branching of the narrative. For instance, Fang Guowei’s choice to commit suicide or not depends upon his relationship with the participant. Equally, Captain Wang’s willingness to share info or present sure objects depends upon his rapport with the participant. Relationship ranges change based mostly on the alternatives gamers make, so each choice issues. All endings stem from the alternatives made by the participant.
In moment-to-moment gameplay, how does the power to show again time work?
We created forward-moving animations for all objects that may be reversed. When time is rewound, the in-game time is stopped, inflicting different objects to stay nonetheless whereas the animations are performed in reverse.
How lengthy will a mean playthrough of the sport be?
We estimate that the common playthrough will take round 8 to 10 hours.
Do you assume there may be any probability of this recreation releasing on consoles sooner or later down the road?
We might like to launch the sport on consoles sooner or later, as it could permit us to succeed in a bigger viewers and immerse them on the earth we’ve created. Nonetheless, as a result of finances and growth progress constraints, this plan is on maintain for now. We hope to work on a console model quickly after the PC launch.