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Jaye Williams
Level Design
Best Practices : Modulating Tension Using Contrast Lighting
The goal of my thesis was to find best practices for using contrast lighting to modulate tension . I created a level in Dying Light ( 2015 ) called “ Just Another Day at the Office ” to find the best methods to create contrast lighting and to test how players react to environments with low and high contrast lighting .
I chose this topic because I wanted to do something related to horror games and learn how level design techniques are used to raise players ’ tension levels while simultaneously influencing their in-game actions . Choosing this topic also allowed me to practice my narrative design skills in the form of environmental storytelling .
From June 2023 to March 2024 , I spent approximately 250 hours creating my thesis level , plus 175 + hours on research , documentation , presentations , and data analysis .
Before starting this project , I had no real knowledge of how to properly light a scene , and it was a great challenge for me ( especially in the beginning ). This project was highly beneficial to me because I learned the universal principles of lighting techniques and how to use them in game engines to light spaces in a way that has the desired effect while also appearing natural .
Overall , I believe that this thesis project can benefit other developers in the video game industry as well . By using this research , developers can learn the basics of contrast lighting and how to use it to control tension levels . They can also learn other unexpected design lessons that I discovered as I conducted the study .
44 LEVEL DESIGN