Shift through time to explore a beautiful, vast, and mechanical world.
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$349
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Replay with sound
Shift through time to explore a beautiful, vast, and mechanical world.
About this project
Lightime is a low-poly, non-linear, puzzle platformer inspired by classic N64-era games, with unique time manipulation mechanics.
I’m imagining a dark and mechanical universe where the chaos of nature is replaced with a clockwork order. It’s a place where ancient leviathans of metal and light toil on massive contraptions, where LED forests grow out of nuts and bolts, and where time is out of sync. This is the Motherboard of the Universe, a decaying hub of interstellar control where the last organic being — you — must master both light and time.
I am focusing on making a large exploratory world, filled with secrets, dangers and puzzles. From space ship interiors, to floating worlds, to mechanical forests, Lightime will have a huge variety of worlds to explore and immerse yourself into.
Why should you play?
- Solve puzzles by rewinding time. (Test your ability to “think fourth dimensionally,” as Doc Brown would say.)
- Explore a large, immersive and retro-futuristic world. Few games tap into the low-poly aesthetics that I fell in love with as a child. Relive the first 3D era of video games in a bold new universe.
- A simple game to learn, but difficult to master.
The key element of Lightime is that the light of an object determines how they act over time. Lightime revolves around a simple concept, but produces truly amazing puzzles and situations.
This is Low Memorie, or Low for short. He is a Time Keeper intent on discovering a forgotten time-shifting power that can restore nature to the universe.
- Rewind Time - Low does not have guns, or swords, or crazy magic abilities to defend himself. Instead he relies on his mind to avoid danger by rewinding time. However, Low only has the ability to rewind up to 10 seconds.
- Color System - The color of different objects represents how they will react to time changes. White objects will rewind with the player. Orange objects can be rewound separately from the player. Red objects never rewind and continue to function at a constant speed, while blue objects can be interacted with Low's Future Ghost.
- Future Ghost - Whenever you stop rewinding, a ghost is created, which reenacts whatever actions were made before the rewind. Low's Future Ghost can interact with blue objects to help you reach the end of each level.
- Manipulator Gloves - Low is equipped with a pair of nifty gloves that allow him to realize memories of the past, but also interact with objects. Low is able to levitate small objects and move them around with ease.
- Time Cubes - Low can throw time cubes to slow, speed up, or even stop objects separately from your other rewind abilities.
The game is currently in the prototype phase. It is being developed for PC with hopes of expanding to other platforms.
Most of the scripts have been made, aside for boss-specific logic, and some other housekeeping scripts. This means the focus can now shift towards level design, 3D assets, animations and sounds.
I have planned for a potential release date of mid-2017, with beta access to run prior to that (upon announcement). This is subject to change.
Currently, only a few worlds, and a few enemies have been revealed. There will be around 25-30 worlds, plus 5 boss fights. These numbers might even increase as time goes on!
Completing Lightime by mid-2017 will require a lot of time and focus. Being able to work on Lightime full-time will mean that I can work on my dream game all day long and not have to worry about life's expenses every minute. Reaching the initial kickstarter goal will allow me the ability to put at least 10 hours a day into development! This is where I need your help.
Company and Operation Costs - There are many fees that must be paid, such as selling on different platforms, a Unity Pro license, business license, etc. Development is very time consuming, having financial backing would mean I can focus on the game without worrying about bills and other expenses.
Faster Development and A Better Product - This is my dream game, but reaching higher goals means I will be able to hire other professionals to help with development. A composer would mean amazing music to tie everything together. Hiring an animator would mean I could focus on coding and modelling, while having animations made that are most likely better than my own animation skills.
Improving and Fixing - Community feedback is the biggest reason for doing a Kickstarter campaign. It means that I can focus on making my dream game, while having input on things that I may have overlooked. The feedback will help make sure that they quality of the game itself is above and beyond what most people expect from a video game.
Above is the second boss in the game, known as The Might Giant. Towering over the player, this imposing figure is actually quite peaceful compared to the other bosses in Lightime.
Above is a small enemy that will be found throughout the world of Lightime. The player will be able to jump on top of the spiders to launch himself/herself higher into the air. Currently, there aren't many enemies crawling around in this robotic universe, but more and more will be added as time goes on.
Each level in Lightime is accessed from the pentagonal shaped platform known as the Motherboard of the Universe. Low must jump into orange glowing warp gates to access each level. These levels are divided into 5 unique worlds. Above is the spaceship that is being used to contain all of the levels in the second world of the game.
My name is Dustin Hyden, im 23 at the time of writing this campaign. I spent the majority of my free time making 3d models, animating them, and coding. However, a few years ago I landed a full-time job in Media. Long story short, I was that guy who made ads appear online. You know, the ones we all hate before a YouTube video. Yea, that was me, and I hated it! I knew I couldn't do that for my life, I wanted to make something that people enjoyed.
One day I got up, walked up to my boss, told her I was sorry but this life wasn't for me and I went home. I immediately began coming up with concepts for games that I would love to play. Flash forward, and it's been a year, and here we are now. I came up with a really solid concept right after competing in Ludum Dare 35 (my first compo). I finished the compo game, after almost 48 hours straight, reclined in my chair and had a eureka moment: Lightime.
I've been working on this game full-time, but to continue doing so I need your help. The concept is solid, and I know I have what it takes to make this game a reality. I will be streaming the entire development of the game, as I have been doing already, over on twitch.
That's me in a nutshell.
Risks and challenges
I have a degree in business and know what needs to be done to ensure Hyden Studios is a success.
I've spent over a year developing this concept in my own unique art style. During this year, I’ve become known as one of the best low-poly artists. I also have several years of experience in 3D modelling, 3D animation, and programming.
I am currently a few months into development and I know more than ever that this game is the game I need to make. A fully immersive and realized 3D world by one person is a task in and of itself, but I absolutely love doing what I'm doing. I want to continue working on Lightime full-time, but daily bills and other life's expenses, I need your help to continue to work on the game 10 hours a day, and to completion.
I am extremely grateful to have thousands of supporters on YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, and Twitter, to rely on as a support system if needed. I feel incredibly lucky to have so many people enjoy my artwork and coding tutorials, and to have such reliable friends willing to help me complete Lightime. I stream everything I do live, so when a problem is faced, my viewers and I work to solve it together.
I've put my heart, my soul, and my time into this project, and if you decide to join this campaign, it would be greatly appreciated. You won't regret it.
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