Hi!

It's been a while since I got you up to date on Dark Lessons here on Steam. Last month, I described how I had spent February learning 3D modelling so that I could improve the look of the game. After another month, I'm finally done overhauling the area that you'll explore in the demo, so I thought I'd share some before-and-after screenshots with you. Note that the lighting will be appropriately darker in the actual game, but all images are in-engine.

In many areas, I added detail while maintaining the overall layout of the room. I modified or added models and balanced the color palette, but another big improvement is the use of materials with normal maps for floor, walls and ceiling to create the illusion of depth and texture. If you look at the tiles and wallpaper in the image below, you'll see what a huge difference they make.

Another example of similar changes is the teacher's study. Here, however, you can see that some surfaces, like the cork board and leather chair, might still benefit from more realistic materials.

In the case of the master bathroom, I completely changed the room's layout. To be fair, though, there's now another bathroom that features the tub from the old one ...

The angle of the image below makes me wonder whether I should make a fixed-camera style horror game one day. 😉 I've already got code for working mirrors in the prototype, by the way, but I still need to make them less performance-intensive and also ... add a model for the player character, so you don't stare into empty air when looking into the mirror.

Finally, I added those rooms that were still missing in my prototype, such as the pantry below. If you look closely, you might notice a slight double vision (aberration) effect, as is used in Phasmophobia.

How do you like the changes? Feel free to let me know what you're thinking!

While the rooms for the demo are mostly finished, there's still a lot of work ahead. I'm currently (re-)implementing and improving gameplay mechanics from the prototype, but I also need to continue work on puzzles and want to update the character design from the ready-made assets I've been using so far ... and then there's all the busy work of adding customizable settings. I get dizzy just thinking about it! 😵‍💫

Meanwhile, if you haven't done so yet, wishlisting Dark Lessons is the best way you can support me! And if you've already wishlisted: Thank you so much for your support!