last chance to support us on IndieGoGo!

Time remaining on IndieGoGo:

Time's up!


Click here to support us on IndieGoGo!


The Luminesca crowd-funding campaign is coming to a close, so this is your last chance to make a donation and get rewards in return.

Why should I donate?

1. It helps support the game's development, allowing us more time to to dedicate to making it as good as it possibly can be.
2. You get free stuff in return! Any donation over $5 gets access to the work-in-progress build of the game, which is updated every week with new features and content so you can play the game before it's even finished. $10 is essentially a pre-order for the finished game, and there are more rewards for higher donations. Come and take a look at the full list!

I really appreciate all the support Luminesca has gained so far. This is the last push to determine how much time I can dedicate to the project, so if you were on the fence about donating now is the time to decide!

There will be one more update before the time is up to address the keyboard control issues people have reported with the demo, but this will by no means be the last one!

demo survey

A big "thank you" goes out to everyone who came to try out the preview build over the free weekend (at one point there were so many of you that Dropbox had a mini-meltdown).

If you were one of the people who played the demo (or have played it in the past) I'd love to know what you thought about it. That's why I've set up a short survey. If you can spare 5-10 minutes please click the link below and share your views.

Go to the Luminesca demo survey

If you haven't played the demo then please do not fill in the survey; the questions are mainly about your experience with the game.

FREE WEEKEND IS LIVE

FREE WEEKEND

Friday 20th - Sunday 22nd May

The Luminesca Free Weekend is now live. Click the link below to play it in your web browser using the Unity Web Player (installs automatically). I also recommend plugging in a USB game controller if you have one, it's much better than keyboard controls for this game.

PLAY LUMINESCA HERE
(Sorry, the free weekend is over!)

Please remember...

1. Luminesca is still in its early days and this is just a preview build demonstrating the general idea in a free-form sandbox level. The finished game will be much bigger and better and will follow a full story experience separate to this preview level.
2. If you experience any bugs or have any questions, comments or criticisms of Luminesca I'd love to hear from you. Send me an email at luminescagame@gmail.com or leave a comment below. Be as honest as you like! I take everyone's opinions on board.
3. If you like this preview please make a donation on IndieGoGo to support Luminesca's development. Donating $5 or more lets you keep playing the preview as long as you like, along with free weekly updates.

I'll be answering questions on Twitter as much as I can this weekend: @LuminescaGame

Enjoy the game!

- Matt

free weekend + demo update 005: lured by lights

Big news today! Firstly there is another major update to the game in the preview build, available to anyone who has supported the game's development with $5 or more on IndieGoGo (only 2 weeks left for your chance to claim special donation rewards!) This update makes big changes to the creature behaviours, bringing the game much closer to its planned design.

In other news...

FREE WEEKEND

Friday 20th - Sunday 22nd May

This weekend the Luminesca preview build will be free to play for everyone! This is a great opportunity to get everyone involved in guiding the direction of the game, making suggestions and sharing ideas, so I hope you'll come and take a look this weekend and let me know what you think.

If you're a Twitter user come and follow @LuminescaGame to get immediate updates.

Luminesca previewed on Indie Games Channel

The charming people at Indie Games Channel have spent some time with a preview build of Luminesca and written a lovely piece about it.

Thanks!

playing with light

Recently I've taken a step back to look at the core gameplay mechanics of Luminesca. Up until now, the focus has been on the player's ability to move around the game environment and physically interact with other objects; push blocks, smash into rocks, swim through fast currents, etc.

With this strong foundation in place, I'm now able to focus more on the use of light (Luminesca is, after all, a game about light). Light is a key component in the relationships between all the different creatures, including Lum. The animals and plants in this underwater world are either attracted to light or repelled by it, and many of them have their own unique way of emitting it.

Take the glowpods, for example: these sessile creatures attach themselves to hard surfaces and bloat their membranous pouches with the glowing chemicals of their last prey, acting as an irresistible lure to the great swarms of planktids. But their beacon does not go unnoticed, as predatory water beetles are well adapted to home in on these free meals.

So what part does Lum play in this ecology? Lum comes from a unique species which has developed the ability to control its bio-luminescence with startling awareness. He can send complex signals to attract planktids and then blend into the shadows when a bigger fish is on the lookout for more food. Through mutual symbiosis with planktids, Lum can achieve great feats of power and high speeds.

From now on I'll be focusing a lot more on your ability to play with light, and how this allows you to influence the dynamic relationships between other creatures in the water.

depth of Luminesca (update 004)

Luminesca is now in the second half of its IndieGoGo crowd funding campaign, and we still have a long way to go if we want the game to meet its full potential. As I have a lot more time on my hands at the moment I'm pulling out all the stops and ramping up the workload: the updates are going to be bigger and better than ever, beginning with an overhaul to the game's art style!

I have swapped the flat old foreground layer for 3D models which allows me to use more advanced lighting effects (Luminesca is all about playing with light after all). I've also added lots of new environment art including twisted creepers, pod sockets, and bubbling tubeplants.

To help all the new effects run smoothly on older computers I have split the demo level down into smaller sections with transition points between them (using the new functionality I talked about in last week's update).

If you like what you see, please consider making a small donation to help support the project, or simply help spread the word.

Even the smallest donation gets a reward!