Immersion and theme

One of my goals was to create lighting that would create a feeling of being in a cave with some areas being more well lit than others due to different light and torches being used.

The screenshot above shows how lighting in this certain room is enhancing the theme of it. Once you enter the room, you can see that the torch by the door is illuminating the room, creating some shadows by the cross. And further down the room, you can see that the bodies attached to the pillars on the those textures are well lit, showing the player immediately the content of the room.

Guidance and orientation

I wanted my lighting of my level to guide the player through the cavern easily. I had originally thought about making the cavern be more dark, but I figured that would not be the best idea, as the player would have been confused by the layout of the map and would not be able to see well, especially since the level is indoors with many hallways or corridors that would not be well lit. Because of this, the bigger the area, the more I had wanted to include more lighting to help the player be able to see where they are walking or attacking.

These two screenshots from above help guide the player by casting shadows where they make sense. It helps orient the player by showing lighting to important displays in the level as well as lighting paths from torches and from their residual lighting too.