In most games, light does one very important job: it stops you from walking into things. Which is noble, useful, and, in general, quite enough.
In Brightfall, however, we made the slightly less reasonable decision to ask more of it.
Hello again, everyone!
Today’s Field Notes Friday is about the different ways light changes the world of Brightfall - not just visually, but physically.
Some of these you might know from our previous devlogs:
Light allows you to (literally) change the world around you
When you carry a strong enough light source into the Darkness, the world itself begins to recover under its glow. Twisted trees loosen, unnatural growths retreat, and the land briefly remembers what it looked like before the Darkness touched it.
This happens dynamically, in real time, as you move, but it comes at a cost: maintaining that light consumes energy.
You can use that interaction directly in systems like the menhir ritual, which is an important part of game progression. But there are many more places where this idea appears.
A small thing that brings me personally a lot of joy is what happens when you approach an extinguished campfire. Under your light, it comes back to life with a warm glow. It is a tiny detail, but it makes the world feel just a little bit more magical.
Light keeps you from losing yourself
The Darkness does not only affect the island.
It affects you.
Once you step into it, Dark Madness begins to build up and slowly pushes your character toward becoming a Shyde. That’s where light steps in - and your companions can save you from a grim fate.
These were some of the first mechanics we implemented in the game. And then, naturally, we started asking: what else could light do?
The answer, it turns out, is: quite a lot.
Light powers up your base
The base is deeply tied to the light system as well. The crystal at its centre provides the energy that keeps the whole base running and, in the process, allows you to venture deeper into the unknown.
Depending on the current charge level, the base can potentially:
grant buffs
continuously illuminate enemies that enter it
scale the strength of that illumination depending on how well powered it currently is
So, to sum up, it can do more for you than provide emotional comfort and somewhere to stand while making plans you will regret ten minutes later.
Light influences resources you can find
Resources in Brightfall do not all behave the same way.
Some may only appear in darkness. Others can change into darker, corrupted versions when left outside the glow. That means you are not always encouraged to banish the dark completely. Sometimes the dark itself becomes useful.
Examples we are working with include:
ordinary resources transforming into dark variants when gathered without a source of light
dark versions of basic resources, including food
dark versions of weapons
That creates an interesting tension: light protects you, but darkness may offer resources you cannot get otherwise.
Light gives you an advantage over your enemies
When used as a focused cone or directional source, it can do much more than reveal what is trying to kill you. How about shifting the fight in your favour?
Depending on the situation, light can:
weaken enemies
stun them
interrupt or block their abilities
So in combat, it’s kind of like a new tactical tool.
There are also some directions we are exploring for the future. For example:
Some enemies in the Darkness may be invisible, and only the right kind of light would reveal them properly.
Others may be intangible, which means physical attacks would pass straight through them - until they are illuminated, forced into a physical form, and made vulnerable.
This would give light an even bigger role in enemy design and encounter variety.
How are you doing?
Here is a fitting send-off for this week’s Field Notes:
As always, thank you for reading.
May is almost over, which feels suspicious, because I am fairly sure it was December yesterday.
Meanwhile, work on Brightfall continues. It is an exciting and intense time for us right now, with more systems slowly starting to connect in ways that feel very satisfying to test - and, hopefully, will be satisfying to play too.
Warm regards from Toruń, and have a lovely weekend!
~Dark Point Games team