Over the weekend while discussing a fantasy world my girlfriend and I were creating for fun, I had some epiphanies for the story of Haunt, the history of the world, organization, and the magic they use. I am a big fan of Brandon Sanderson and how he creates magic systems that are rooted in rules and foundations. I wanted to create my own version of that for this game, and this world.
I hit a lot of breakthroughs in the kind of story I wanted to create, and the kind of magic system the Haunters use, and thus the player’s will use in the game. It helped me solidify the story and so I updated all of the text in the game to match the new lore. And I also added new objects as well, to deepen the story of the seconds level. I wanted to make sure each item said something important, without giving too much away of course. There’s a lot of story to tell, and with it there are many secrets hidden. I will share here what should be common knowledge within the world.
The Art of Luminancy
Primelight, the unyielding physical manifestation of pure luminescence. It is a resource that only the Haunters have learned how to capture and manipulate. Using an art called Luminancy, the mixture of Blood Arts and Primelight can be used to bend the light itself. It requires a soul that is bonded to a Lantern with Primelight. The method of capturing and containing Primelight is a closely guarded secret, which is why Luminancy is exclusive to HAUNT.
The sun itself is rumored to be the source of Primelight, but there must be another light brighter than it, a sun beyond our sun.
Blood Arts are often associated with the occult, inhumane experimentations, and known as the favored practice of Tricksters. Haunters are trained in biological control, as it is required for the usage of Luminancy. There are many types of Blood Arts, majority being forbidden and far too dangerous. Knowledge and control of blood can also be useful for tracking, and investigation.
Most Luminantic abilities do not involve actual draining of blood, coalescence of blood and light is the main goal. The physical manifestation of Primelight as a weapon is called a Luminarm. Often a Haunter’s first weapon will be in the shape of a bladeform. These Luminarms are able to draw blood which can help collect and enhance the owner’s Primelight. Though for the whipform it cannot seem to recharge the light. This is probably due to its length, being such a thin and outstretched configuration of light limits its ability to manipulate blood.
Using Luminancy, a Haunter can imprint themselves upon a source of light. Studies theorize that only sources that share similar properties to Primelight can be imprinted upon. What these specific properties are, that is still being researched. This is important to know because Primelight has the ability to return the Haunter back to life. It has the capability to learn and remember. The opposite can be done as well, absorbing or consuming light with the Lantern. There is still much to be discovered about Luminancy and Primelight itself. The bonding of blood and light has worked heavily in the favor of Haunters. The potential for growth is near limitless, if only our Lanterns weren’t such poor containers of Primelight.
Science of Primelight and Luminancy
Primelight overlaps normal light, and to the naked eye there is no discernible difference. But Primelight has a different substance, it has a life to it, a strange energy. Measuring light has led to many arguments and never-ending discussions. For the purposes of Haunters they have found that one unit of bloodforce (a unit of measurement used in Blood Arts) is equal to two units of Primelight. The implications of what this could mean is still unsure.
With these new units of measurement. I am looking to update the numbers in the game to match this. The Primelight resource is already set to a max of 100, I am planning to make health 100 as well. This relationship I hope will create an interesting device for story-telling, and also help with the balancing of the game. Instead of using large numbers, I can make it more managable and easier to keep track of. Since I don’t have any experience balancing stats and numbers in games. I’ll have to be meticulous in adjusting the damage of the bosses, and regeneration rate of the character, but overall this is a step in the right direction. A lot of development of the story which is my area of expertise, and it will help so much with creating more vivid and interesting environments, enemies, and more.
GoldenGratus Games 