The Six-Week Mod Project: Lux

Innovation often finds its voice in PC mod communities. Mod developers are free to make the game they want to play without worrying about deadlines or executives breathing down their neck. With a vast amount of inexpensive, if not free, PC game-engine tools, mod teams have absolute creative control.

Released on December 27th, after only six-weeks of development, the demo for Lux, a steampunk-themed puzzle game, illustrates the power of committed independent developers. Originally conceived as an university assignment, the eleven member development team claim that “it became more than just an assignment,” for “some members of the team decided to continue to work on the game in their spare time.”

The story of Lux revolves around something unknown destroying the existence of light in the universe, making it a commodity amongst its inhabitants who now attempt its collection for survival and trade. Players assume the role of a bounty-hunter seeking to uncover its disappearance. Armed only with a “light-manipulation device” (aptly named ‘tulip’), light is captured and mixed from futuristic environments to solve increasingly difficult puzzles. An ambitious concept, Lux delivers nothing short of interesting, well executed gameplay in its demo, released through Mod DB.

Relfect, capture, and alter the angle of light to progress into this futuristic puzzle game

Lux’s development team hopes to demonstrate fundamental gameplay in this release, urging gamers to stay tuned for future installments of more complex level designs, such as puzzles involving inverted color schemes.

Hopefully developers in 2009 will champion imagination and ambition over all else, as Lux has.