Dalilya Rakhmatulina | Technical Game Designer
Dark Is the Night
Unreal Engine 5
Solo
Top-Down Shooter
2 Months
Game Trailer
Dark Is the Night is a twin-stick shooter game where you shoot enemies to collect points. Survive as long as you can in the growing darkness as you try to grasp the bits of light scattered across the labyrinth.
Limited Visibility
The core gameplay revolves around challenging the player with restricted visibility. A small circle of light surrounds the player, but it steadily shrinks over time, making navigation increasingly difficult. To restore visibility and gain points, players must seek out and collect light orbs, which reset the light circle to its maximum size. This mechanic makes searching for orbs the player’s primary objective.
Maze-Like Level
A key gameplay element enhancing the experience is the maze-like level design. It complements the limited visibility mechanic by adding an extra layer of challenge, as players must navigate and find their way while struggling with disorientation as the light fades.
Project Role
Game Designer/Technical Game Designer
I worked alone on this project, and I mostly focused on the Technical Game Design. I developed the concept and built functionality to support it. This is a list of the work I did:
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Designed and Implemented the Decreasing Visibility Game Mode
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Developed and balanced the Shielded Enemy
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Concepted and Built Different Enemy Projectiles
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Implemented the Pickup System
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Designed a Maze-Like Level to enhance gameplay
Designed and Implemented
the Decreasing Visibility Game Mode
Description
The decreasing light game mode revolves around creating tension and challenge by progressively limiting the player’s visibility through a shrinking spotlight, which serves as the player’s only source of light. To streamline light control, I developed a data table that stores preset spotlight values (such as intensity, attenuation radius, and color). Using this, I created a function that dynamically applies these values based on a specified data table row. This approach ensured efficient light adjustments throughout the game, supporting the core mechanic seamlessly.
Why was it built?
This game mode was the core idea for the project because I thought it was fun, creative, and relatively simple while still providing interesting gameplay opportunities. The mechanic of shrinking visibility adds a natural sense of urgency and tension to the game, encouraging players to strategize and adapt as they move through the level.
Conclusion
I really enjoyed working on this game mode, and I think it established a strong and engaging gameplay loop. The dynamic between shrinking visibility and the search for light orbs creates an intense and satisfying challenge that keeps players on their toes. From a technical standpoint, building tools to simplify spotlight adjustments also enhanced my understanding of system design and optimization.
Decreasing Light Game Mode
Blueprint example: Lighter Management
(Please zoom out using CTRL + Scroll wheel)
Developed and Balanced the Shielded Enemy
Description
The shielded enemy was designed to encourage more dynamic player movement by introducing a unique challenge. This enemy has a shield in front that blocks attacks, requiring the player to move around and reposition themselves to hit from behind. The shielded enemy moves quickly but rotates at a slower pace, giving players the opportunity to outmaneuver it. The shield itself is destructible, but it takes significantly more effort to destroy compared to eliminating the enemy directly. I built this enemy on top of the base enemy system, extending its functionality while ensuring smooth integration into the existing framework.
Why was it built?
This enemy type was created to enhance the gameplay by making combat encounters more strategic and engaging. The goal was to encourage players to interact with movement mechanics more actively, rewarding them for tactical positioning and creating a satisfying gameplay experience. Additionally, it was a fun challenge to design an enemy that combined defensive and offensive mechanics in a balanced way, while still being fun and fair to fight.
Shielded Enemy
Conclusion
The shielded enemy added a valuable layer of depth to combat, making encounters more varied and rewarding. It was a satisfying addition to the game and provided players with a reason to think about their positioning and movement in combat. Building the shielded enemy also allowed me to expand on the base enemy system and explore ways to design enemy behavior that challenges the player without overwhelming them. I’m really pleased with how it turned out and the gameplay opportunities it created.
Concepted and Built Different Enemy Projectiles
Description
I designed a projectile system to make combat more unpredictable and engaging. Enemies shoot large, slow projectiles with a random offset, making them harder to dodge. I also added two types of projectiles: yellow (destructible) and blue (indestructible), giving players different ways to interact with them.
Why was it built?
This system aimed to challenge players by requiring quick thinking and strategic positioning. The offset made projectiles less predictable, while the destructible/indestructible mechanic was meant to encourage prioritization and decision-making during fights.
Conclusion
Although the offset added difficulty, players didn’t notice the difference between projectile types, as the screen was already very busy. Still, it was a fun addition and helped make combat feel more dynamic and challenging.
Enemy Projectiles Behavior: blue ones are destructible, yellow ones aren't
Implemented Pickup System
Description
Enemies occasionally drop pickups upon defeat. There are two types: health pickups, which restore 1 point of health, and light pickups, which restore 1 point of light.
Why was it built?
This system allows players to extend their combat engagement without being overly pressured by the shrinking light mechanic. However, since drops are not guaranteed and provide only small boosts, players cannot rely solely on combat and must return to the core loop of collecting light orbs.
Conclusion
This system adds a layer of strategy, letting players take risks in combat for potential rewards while maintaining the need to engage with the main survival mechanics.
Enemies dropping health and light pickups
Designed a Maze-Like Level to Enhance Gameplay
Description
I designed a maze-like level to enhance the core darkness mechanic. The maze is wide enough for smooth movement, allowing players to maneuver around enemies in corridors without feeling stuck. It has a central area with four major sections that include dead ends, creating a balance between challenge and accessibility.
Why was it built?
The maze structure reinforces the need for light—navigation becomes harder as visibility decreases. I experimented with map visibility and settled on a design where the screen fits almost the level almost fully, so the lighter can be easily found at all times. However, the player can only make out the part of the maze which is lit up by the spotlight around the player, which makes the level seem bigger than it is.
Conclusion
The final design creates a good balance between challenge and guidance. Players must rely on light to navigate while still having enough cues to avoid frustration.
Full Level Layout