Dark Roads

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ABOUT

Four friends are lost on a dark road at night.

Bad things happen to those that are lost here.

Only through sacrifice will they survive the night.

Made for Ludum Dare 43; the theme of the jam was “sacrifices must be made”. Placed 31st for graphics out of approximately 4000 entries.

Design Chat

Brainstorming ideas for Dark Roads

Brainstorming ideas for Dark Roads

Planning the narrative and effects of sacrifice. When a character is sacrificed, players hear their distorted cries for help over the car radio.

Planning the narrative and effects of sacrifice. When a character is sacrificed, players hear their distorted cries for help over the car radio.

Concept for Kate drawn by Jay Menominee; writer of the Dark Roads narrative.

Concept for Kate drawn by Jay Menominee; writer of the Dark Roads narrative.

Challenges:

  • Creating endearing characters players can somewhat identify with and will care about within a short amount of time.

  • Communicating to players that the characters are in peril; putting players in a setting without much context.

Artistic Vision for the Road Ahead

For the game’s visual style, I gathered inspiration from Darkest Dungeon, Borderlands, and Mike Mignola’s works as I felt that the style of heavy lines with an almost cel-shaded look would enhance the tone of the written passages and bring our setting to life. Colours are not saturated and kept muted to bring about feelings of grimness.

A Colourful Cast in a Bleak Setting

I had a blast designing the characters in Dark Roads! Our team wanted believable human characters whose personalities have been affected by their situation. Thus, characters have a distinct individual aesthetic that reflects their personality; no-nonsense Kate, heart-of-gold Rudd, sweet doll Wren, and sensitive “dude-bro” Elijah.

Tools

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TEAM

  • Del Nordlund

  • Sebastian Scaini

  • Patrick Flattery

  • Reilly MacKay

  • Jay Menominee

  • James Pratt