Get in touch
hello@magsstudio.com
Studio
Manila · Remote
Steam
itch.io
Discord
Bluesky
Get in touch
hello@magsstudio.com
Studio
Manila · Remote
Steam
itch.io
Discord
Bluesky
Get in touch
hello@magsstudio.com
Studio
Manila · Remote
Steam
itch.io
Discord
Bluesky
Action RPG
←
Back to Games
Kowloon Rain
Kowloon Rain
Kowloon Rain
Forty hours in a rain-locked walled city — three districts, a magenta-and-cyan palette held end to end, and combat built around reading light.
Forty hours in a rain-locked walled city — three districts, a magenta-and-cyan palette held end to end, and combat built around reading light.
Forty hours in a rain-locked walled city — three districts, a magenta-and-cyan palette held end to end, and combat built around reading light.
Publisher
Halcyon Press
Halcyon Press
Year
2024
2024
Build time
10 weeks
10 weeks
Role
Art Direction · Lighting · Combat Feel
Art Direction · Lighting · Combat Feel
Deliverables
PC & console release · HDR master · Marketing pass
PC & console release · HDR master · Marketing pass
Recognition
The Grid Awards · Nominee · Artistic Achievement
The Grid Awards · Nominee · Artistic Achievement
/ 01 — The pitch
A palette that has to survive forty hours.
A palette that has to survive forty hours.
A palette that has to survive forty hours.
Halcyon Press had the districts built and the combat working, but the look was drifting — every area had been lit by a different hand and the game read as three games stitched together. We were brought in to unify the palette without relighting the city from scratch.
Halcyon Press had the districts built and the combat working, but the look was drifting — every area had been lit by a different hand and the game read as three games stitched together. We were brought in to unify the palette without relighting the city from scratch.
We built a single lighting grammar keyed to magenta and cyan, then wrote tooling so artists could apply it per district while keeping their local decisions. Combat readability drove every call: if an attack tell got lost in the neon, the neon lost.
We built a single lighting grammar keyed to magenta and cyan, then wrote tooling so artists could apply it per district while keeping their local decisions. Combat readability drove every call: if an attack tell got lost in the neon, the neon lost.
02 / Production
Holding a palette across forty hours.
Holding a palette across forty hours.
Holding a palette across forty hours.
A consistent look at RPG length is a tooling problem — selected shots from the lighting grammar, the district passes, and the HDR master.
A consistent look at RPG length is a tooling problem — selected shots from the lighting grammar, the district passes, and the HDR master.
/ 01 · Palette study
/ 02 · Lighting grammar
/ 03 · District pass
/ 04 · Combat readability
/ 05 · HDR master
Mags Studio did not just ship the build — they showed us how the whole game should feel.
Mags Studio did not just ship the build — they showed us how the whole game should feel.
Mags Studio did not just ship the build — they showed us how the whole game should feel.
Maya Lien
Executive Producer · Halcyon Press
03 / Launch
By the numbers.
By the numbers.
By the numbers.
40h
40h
40h
Campaign held to one palette
10wk
10wk
10wk
Lighting and look pass
3
3
3
Districts relit with shared tooling
1
1
1
Grid Awards nomination
/ Next project →
Null Horizon
Null Horizon
Null Horizon
Open World
05 / Get in touch
Let’s build
something
playable.
Let’s build
something
playable.
Let’s build
something
playable.
A game, a world, a system that needs to feel right — we’d love to hear about it. One reply away.
A game, a world, a system that needs to feel right — we’d love to hear about it. One reply away.
Replying within 24 hours · Manila · Remote