Artificial Nocturne — Game Development

Artificial NocturneGame Development · 2020A top-down JRPG that uses the device's ambient light sensor as a core mechanic — brighter surroundings widen visibility, and up to four nearby players pool their light.Tools: Unity 2020 LTS, C#, Android SDK, Unity Input SystemRole: Creative Direction, Design, EngineeringArtificial Nocturne — Social Light-Sensing RPGConceptArtificial Nocturne is a traditional top-down role-playing game that leverages a device's ambient light sensor as a core mechanic. In brighter environments, player visibility expands; when up to four nearby players participate, their light data aggregates to unlock larger safe zones and social buffs. The narrative spans twelve chapters planned for distribution via an in-game store. The project draws on late-90s JRPG influences and a gallery-art background, blending cozy exploration with experimental, real-world-aware systems.Process log

2019 — Early: Concept exploration and paper prototyping of light-driven visibility; JRPG camera, tile scale, and encounter pacing studies.

2019 — Mid: Unity 2020 upgrade path evaluated; top-down controller, camera follow, and collision layers implemented. First ambient-light sensor spike on Android builds.

2019 — Late: Light pooling prototype for up to four players; network-agnostic design treating each device's lux value as a contribution to a shared visibility pool during co-located sessions.

2020 — Early: Content pipeline setup for a 12-chapter structure; in-game store scaffolding, chapter gating, and save data schema.

2020 — Mid: Balancing passes on visibility curves, enemy aggro radius, and battery/performance budgets across mid-tier Android hardware.

ObstaclesAmbient light sensors vary by device, producing noisy lux readings that required normalization and smoothing. Android permission flows and background power management affected sensor polling. Designing fair co-play without server sync demanded robust on-device rules to prevent spoofing, and chapterized content delivery required careful save/version migration.Where it standsPlayable prototype with top-down movement, combat scaffolding, dynamic visibility tied to lux input, and 4-player local light pooling. In-game store and chapter delivery are stubbed with working data paths.