SMU Guildhall Graduate Catalog Spring 2018 — Cohort 26 | Page 100

Lost in the Dark Team: Sleepless Dreamer Studios « Use the light to escape, or be lost in the dark forever A young orphan wakes to a nightmare with no memory of how she got here. A growl echoes through the darkness. Someone, or something, is watching... Lost in the Dark is a third-person exploration an emotional, visceral manner extending epidemic in Victorian-era London. Playing months, the team worked to bring Lost in the game with horror elements set during an as a young orphan trapped in her own psyche, you must find a way to escape from a nefarious entity seeking to drag you into the depths of the darkness. Players are equipped with a lantern as their sole means of protection, and must stay in the light to avoid fading away. Sleepless Dreamer Studios latched onto the concept of “vulnerability in a nightmare” and its latent potential to impact players in 100 beyond simple mechanical fun. Over five Dark from an initial concept to a shippable build. They learned that developing with a strong thematic concept in mind leads to many possibilities, the importance of committing to a single focused direction as early as possible to maintain overall vision, and to keep the whole team moving with a strong iterative process. They also learned that having a healthy team culture improves productivity, encouraging individual accountability and maintaining morale.