Oh, fancy meeting you here.
I um... I didn't expect to see you...
Wow.. you uh... you look handsome today...

...

Just kidding. It's meee! Creatormage!
(but you are handsome today.)

This is just a little bonus document with some of my thoughts.

There are a lot of spoilers tho.
I mean, you should've already known that.
If you're reading this and you haven't beaten the game,
I retract my comment on you being handsome today.

Maybe these notes will help you make your own cool stuff!

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The first thing I wanna talk about is that there are actually
two versions of Lights Off I will be referring to.

I initially released Lights Off to the Baba Is You discord
on September 28th, 2024. It had some updates until I decided to make
a big "2.0" update. During this process, I also decided to make an
official itch.io page for the game.

I thought it would be weird to have the first version on that page
to be called "2.0" which is why its simply titled "Lights Off r.1"
("r" is for "release").

The images in this folder and the commentary (below the dashed line) were notes I made while making the original, "1.0" version of Lights Off. Since the release version has a lot of changes from the original versions, these notes don't accurately reflect what the game looks like.

Sorry if they're a little illegible. I'm not a camera expert so I may have been able to take better pictures. However, feel free to ask me about these, or anything else about development.

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Lights Off takes inspiration from quite a few sources.

It was obviously inspired by knowledge-based puzzle games, The Witness being the most popular example. Tunic was another big inspiration.
(and it's really good, play it)

The general vibe takes a lot of inspiration from OneShot; the use of lightbulbs as prominent symbolism was straight out of that game.

Here's a curveball: I actually took inspiration from the Arcade and NES era of gaming. I don't have a lot of nostalgia for that era, but I've heard a lot about how games of that era were designed to be obscure to get people talking about it. It's something I really wanted to do for Lights Off too. The only in-game help you get is from mostly vague NPC hints. So you'll need to consult others for help, or solve the puzzles and mysteries as a group.

Of course, people already talk & ask about custom Baba levelpacks in the Baba Is You Discord, but I wanted to lean into that, where it's MUCH harder to beat the game alone than when solving it with other people, bouncing ideas off of each other. So hopefully, you guys enjoyed discovering the secrets of Lights Off together!

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Now, I want to talk about more general world design stuff.

The tone is very dreary; The Abyss has taken over a once legendary city and destroyed its Light. The Abyss is harsh and cryptic.
(Sound familiar? :3 )
I think you can really tell how broken this world is. Where the only thing that bring hope are the fractured remains of Light, and you.

You may have also noticed the lack of any fast travel; you have to manually walk around the map. If you find the reasons for this choice interesting, here they are:

1) The map is already designed for getting around quickly. Especially Lamplit Well, an area that exists to quickly get around the map. In fact, Lamplit Well turns "fast travel" into a reward for exploring. Which I think is really cool.
2) Similar to the previous point: you may have noticed that the level transitions are much faster. With some modding help I think running between rooms ended up feeling pretty smooth.
3) When you have to manually move around the world, it makes the world feel larger. (and/or the reverse: fast travel makes game worlds feel smaller.)
4) Manually moving around the world also means you may find puzzles, rooms, or NPCs you may have missed. So fast travel kind discourages exploration, which is a big no-no for Lights Off.

I find the world to be pretty recognizable: each area has its own color, so you can instantly tell what area you're in. It may be just me, but I can tell the exact room and what's near it based on a level screenshot.

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Wow. Thanks past-Creatormage for the insight. This pack has taken so long to finish that I'm not even sure if I agree with past me!

Well, I do agree with most of it still.

Once again, that you to everyone in the Baba Is You discord who played the original versions and gave feedback. Especially the rad lads in the special thanks of the credits!



Ok I don't think I have anything else to say.
So no more reading for you!
Congrats!





