Designing an enemy that IS the darkness, not just reskinned as one
Last week we told you how light and shadow became a real mechanic. This week comes the next obvious question: if the world is split between light and shadow, who lives in between, where neither rule fully applies?
The problem with "generic" enemies
At first we tried enemies that were, basically, dark-colored versions of normal monsters: something to attack, something to dodge, with no real connection to the game's central theme beyond spawning in a dark area. They worked as obstacles, but added nothing to the story we're trying to tell. And since Afterlight leans heavily on telling things without dialogue, an enemy that communicates nothing about the world is a missed opportunity.
The idea: beings with no side, no eyes, no conscience
That's how what we internally call "The Extinguished" (Los Apagados) was born: beings that belong to neither the race of light nor the race of shadow. They have no ideals, no allegiance, only one motivation, survival, and to that end they attack anyone who enters their zone. We deliberately designed them without eyes, a visual detail that in our world marks the difference between "civilized" beings (light, shadow) and those that aren't. It's a silent way of telling the player, with zero text, that this isn't someone you can reason with.
The real challenge: making the AI respect the world's rule
This is where the design got interesting. Since we'd already established that light and shadow affect Lumen and Umbra's physical strength, it made no sense for enemies to ignore that same rule. So these beings' behavior also depends on which zone they're in: they don't react the same way in a brightly lit area as in dense shadow, and how they chase or retreat changes based on the light balance of the environment, the very same system that already affects the protagonists.
The first time we tested this with a simple enemy, with no final art, it became clear this multiplied the meaning of combat: it's not just "dodge and hit," it's understanding what terrain you're standing on and what advantage or disadvantage that gives you.
Where it stands now
We're still tuning this AI's behavior states: how much it should chase, when it should retreat, how it should react near a lit lamppost. We want it to feel coherent with the rest of the world, not like a separate enemy bolted on.
A real question for this week:
Would you rather have enemies behave predictably once you learn their pattern, or have some variation so you're never fully sure how they'll react?
As always, we read everything you tell us.
Written by
Rashri Amorós
CEO