Control Day and Night in Vibrant Side-Scroller Planet Alpha

Hello PlayStation fans,

My name is Adrian Lazar, Creative Director on Planet Alpha, an adventure that takes place in a living alien world where you have the ability to control the day and night. It combines fast platforming, challenging puzzles and stealth moments with an unique artstyle to create an unforgettable experience.

I started developing the game in my spare time four years ago, but many things have changed since then: we are now a small — but ambitious! — team, the game swapped its name a couple of times, and even the gameplay went through a few iterations.

But what stayed the same from the beginning was this desire to create an immersive, living world that would awe, scare and intrigue at the same time. An unexplored alien planet is the perfect canvas for this so we let our imagination flow.

In this blog post I would like to tell you about the biodiversity of Planet Alpha.

Moving to Scandinavia, I was fascinated by the long, colorful twilights when the sun lowers below the horizon and the sky is scattered with vivid shades. It’s a huge, often dramatic transformation that as an artist I wanted to replicate in our game.

So we implemented a day and night cycle that we keep evolving even today, which goes way beyond the visuals, affecting every part of the gameplay. What’s more, the player has the ability to change the time of day at will, using the transformation that the planet undergoes to their advantage.

For example, deep in the dense alien jungle light barely reaches the soil, so during the day some species of mushrooms extend toward the canopy to escape the shade. If you’re observant, you can use them as platforms to reach higher places or as covers to sneak past enemies.

High above the mountains, a different kind of transformation is taking place.
During the day, small floating islands warm up in the sun. This releases steam, which makes them move through the sky. You can use them to traverse this unstable environment, but be warned: some of them have sharp edges that can cut deep.

On an unexplored alien planet where you don’t know what’s harmful and what’s not, you will be tempted to move forward constantly. But I would encourage you to take a break once in a while and admire the scenery. Who knows, if you like exploring you might be rewarded with more than just a nice view.

However, this is a world in distress, threatened by an unstoppable force. Will you prove to be the foretold savior, or will you fail like many did before?

The diverse world of Planet Alpha is best experienced firsthand, so I’ll stop here. We’re hard at work creating a special experience and I cannot wait to share our creation with all of you.

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