LucasArts talks Lucidity's controls, concept

5:40 PM on 09.22.2009   |   Brad Nicholson

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In Lucidity, players won’t control the protagonist, a child named Sofi. We will, instead, find ourselves fiddling with pieces of game’s environment in order to allow the girl to maneuver through whatever hazard or obstacle is in the way. It’s a little Lemmings and a bit of puzzle solving. It’s an interesting approach, one that I had called “Indie” when the rumors of the title first emerged. I wasn’t far off.

In a recent e-mail interview, I asked project lead David Nottingham about the control of Sophie and what the lack thereof said about the game. Nottingham told Destructoid that the controls were the result of a concept that the studio decided to play around with post-Indie emergence. Nottingham added that he enjoys games that “promote positive actions” and likes the fact that the controls lend to the feeling of being a protector of Sophie. While that’s not necessarily a direct answer, it’s a personal one. This is what the controls say to him.

“It all comes back to the emergence of the Indie scene with how people are experimenting and trying different things,” Nottingham said. “We thought it would be interesting to try out a concept that looks like a platformer but really breaks the expected rules of that genre.

“Jens Andersson joined our team late last year from Starbreeze and had been creating his own experimental game concepts. We had a kind of meeting of the minds where we sat down with the other designers and a ‘reverse platformer’ (as it was called then) jumped out as something that would be interesting to explore. I personally enjoy games that promote positive actions and the idea of protecting this sweet girl as she goes on her journey is one that resonates with me. I also think that not having direct control fits in with the relaxing more sense of flow.”

This afternoon, we’ve hit the three major components of this downloadable title: the visuals, the sound, and the control mechanics. Every part, at least on its face, is a unique one that we hope will blend to make a great game. And that part is something we’re not sure of yet.

Lucidity hits the PC and Xbox LIVE Arcade on October 7th.