Originally started in 2018 and revealed just a year later, Lightyears from Home is a game that follows the tale of a father who embarks on a journey to find his lost daughter in a solar system far from our galaxy.
Throughout the years there has been quite a bit of back and forth in regards to this project, including the consideration to turn it into an animated show instead, as we are more experienced with animation as opposed to game design and everything related to it. However, due to our love for the medium we’re hoping to be able to package this project into a more interactive experience, as the thought of roaming this world as one of the characters was too intriguing for us. That being said, we consider Lightyears from Home as much of an animated film, as much as we consider it a video game.
While we don’t want to spoil too much in terms of the story, the main narrative revolves around the engineer Sam, who despite his brilliant mind struggles with drinking escapades due to his inability to balance his work and family life. While following his daughter to an unknown planet on a desperate suicide mission, he runs into Monty, a feline mechanic who turns out to be just as stranded as him. From here the game slowly transitions into a buddy comedy-drama, in which the player keeps exploring the hostile planet as Sam, while Monty stays in the home base to support the player from there. The relationship between the two characters is both developed in major cutscenes, as well as walkie-talkie/radio conversations reminiscent to those in Firewatch. Gameplay-wise, the blueprint for the game is a first person adventure with a tense atmosphere. Going for first person seemed like the most logical conclusion, as it offered the most immersive experience.
The game is a passion project first and foremost and is still handled as such, operating on a fairly liberate schedule, as well as getting by with no investors currently and for another while. While there is a budget, it mainly consists of my personal savings plus whatever I have left at the end of the month. That also means that due to my personal circumstances, I had to lay the project on ice a few years ago. However, this year I’m starting out much better prepared, specifically in terms of story, assets, and funding. Furthermore Unreal Engine 5 is out of its infancy and seems to make for a much better base than it was during its initial phase.
Right now there’s a tiny skeleton crew working on the project, and while I’m intending to keep it that way going forward, we’re always looking for more talent to help us out. We’re currently fairly well-positioned when it comes to writers, audio, concept artists, as well as character animators and rigging artists. We could however use a hand with anything concerning the technical aspects of UE5, including gameplay programming and blueprints. Furthermore we have a slight shortage of 3D modelers and could use additional hands for both hard surface and character/creature modeling, bonus points if you’re able to pull off a decent semi-realistic style (see Monty).
Follow the project
You can follow the project on twitter or on my blog.
Twitter:
@LightyearsGame
Let’s get in touch — I’m currently looking to hire staff to work on the project. If you have experience in working with Unreal Engine 5 and are interested in working in a small team of passionate developers and artists, feel free to send an e-mail to lfh[at]dennyschneidemesser.com and introduce yourself! Make sure to include a link to your portfolio or other references!
