Guiding Light
Created with the Distance Over Time Studio (DOTs) team for the Themed Horror Game Jam and updated for The Rookies Competition
About Guiding Light
Guiding Light is a top down, exploration game created in Unreal where you play as Uri (They/Them), a recently deceased soul, exploring the abyss with their talking lantern, Eri (They/Them). This blind-accessible, narrative-driven game has the player coming across Uri's lost memories in three eerie levels of the afterlife.
With development of the team beginning during the International Game Developer Association (IGDA) Foundation's Virtual Exchange program, Distance Over Time Studio (DOTS) is comprised of those in the Velocity cohort of the program which are those who are transitioning from one industry into the game industry. The Guiding Light team includes: Taylor McElroy, Ashley Phipps, Ross Minor, Monkey KG, Ryan Davis, Kelly Carino, Jacob Wheeler, Sai, and myself.
After the game jam concluded in November 2023, the team knew the game could be even better, and decided to patch the game to submit to The Rookies competition in the following year. The team that worked on the patch was comprised of Ryan Davis, Kelly Carino, Ross Minor, and myself with assistance from Ashley Phipps and Sai.
What I Did on this Project
During Game Jam:
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Collaborated with Taylor McElroy and Ashley Phipps for task tracking using kanban board and scheduling system I created in Miro
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Researched and created low vision and blind accessible task tracking system using a combination of Miro and Discord with help from Ross Minor
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Collaborated with narrative team on story and wrote character sheets as well as introduction and level 1 dialogue, level 1 description text for NVDA screen readers, and level 1 in-game text for objects (6 pages of text total between Google Docs and Google Sheets; Excerpts of Writing Here)
- Spearheaded, organized, and ran playtests for up to 18 possible playtesters with aid from Ashley Phipps, Ross Minor, and Taylor McElroy
- Employed Google Forms and Google sheets to track potential playtester information for current and future playtests
During Patch:
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Coordinated all end of each cycle meetings to discuss progress, identify roadblocks, and solidify action items
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Collected and organized assets in Google Sheets with ease of selection format to expedite implementation
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Corresponded with internal stakeholders for feedback and support when team needed assistance with workload
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Created Google Forms for tracking bugs and playtester feedback during internal and external playtests with aid from Ross Minor
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Amended and updated narrative to fit new and improved version of the game
What Makes Guiding Light Unique
The biggest factor that makes Guiding Light unique is its accessibility. It's one of the the few of its kind to be blind-accessible and even more rare for it to be a blind-accessible horror game specifically according to our accessibility lead, Ross Minor.
On top of this, the game was created with a team who are all part of the Velocity cohort of the IGDA Foundation's Virtual Exchange, meaning all of us are working adults. This was also a first game jam for some and, for others, a first game jam in a big team (myself being in the latter camp). Considering all we accomplished with the time we had on top of other factors, this game coming to fruition is a huge achievement.
An even bigger achievement of ours was patching the game to submit to a competition, another first for everyone on the team. Thanks to the patch the game now has these features:
⭐ Full narrative implementation including built in text-to-speech audio
⭐ Audio descriptions for environment
⭐ Rescaled levels for easier navigation
⭐ Beautiful pixel art CGs
⭐ New and improved proximity sounds
⭐ General visual and UI improvements
⭐ LOTS of bug fixes
Learning and Growing
I had never felt more like a producer ever than on this team! I learned so much about game development with a larger team than I ever had before; I understood the important of communication and clarity before, but after this jam, it became evident how much of a foundational pillar it is to a smooth development cycle. There will always be fires that production has to help put out, but many can be avoided by creating a comprehensive communication system.
However, I also found so much comfort in collaborating with my fellow team members. I learned a lot from every person that deepened my understanding of each discipline. This was my first time not being the only producer on the team: having Taylor and Ashley by my side during this whole experience made a world of difference, and I couldn't have done anything without them there. Your team is what can make or break a game, and I am so lucky to have had this one. Case Study on this project coming soon!
