What do you guys think about having perpetual night in a survival horror multi-player RPG?

My game uses 2D illustrations and not 3D graphics. I realize it would cut the art costs by half if I didn't have to commission art for when it is Day and for when it is Night.

Although I would have to come up with some excuse to explain why it is always night (survival horror game). Or alternatively, I can just ignore this and don't come up with any excuses.

There are lots of science fiction or fantasy novels where the world has somehow become shrouded in a thick layer of clouds or the air is full of ash or the sun is dying, or zombies are nocturnal and only attack at night, etc. Shouldn't be a problem to come up for an explanation why there is no day, and might add some uniqueness to your game concept.

Most games are already perpetual day / night without explanation.

2D graphics are no different than 3D. It's just pixels on a screen. You can multiply the output by the same value to get night lighting on your screen.

Home, Lone Survivor, and Closure are three games that use constant darkness; the first two are horror/exploration titles and Lone Survivor is in fact a 2D survival horror game. Don't Starve uses darkness/night time as a mechanic, and while it's not perpetual you do spend much of the day cycle preparing to survive the night cycle. In all of these titles, the absence (and limited presence) of light and visibility are very important mechanics and it works very well for each of these games.

So, intrinsically I like the mechanic and there's evidence that it's good in 2D settings. :)

2D graphics are no different than 3D. It's just pixels on a screen. You can multiply the output by the same value to get night lighting on your screen.

This cannot be done for the numerous hand drawn illustrations in the game.

How does the game get drawn? I assume you have a background, and then you draw the characters over top? You can multiply the background on any outdoor places after it gets done being drawn, and then draw the characters on top. You can even swap out the sky.

Just as long as you don't also draw in things that are a give away for the time of day.

What do you guys think about having perpetual night in a survival horror multi-player RPG?

No problem for me either!

How does the game get drawn? I assume you have a background, and then you draw the characters over top? You can multiply the background on any outdoor places after it gets done being drawn, and then draw the characters on top. You can even swap out the sky.

Just as long as you don't also draw in things that are a give away for the time of day.

There are parts that are "background + characters on top". There are parts that are full blown illustrations.

To make things easier for myself, I might just make it perpetual night without explanation.

Home, Lone Survivor, and Closure are three games that use constant darkness; the first two are horror/exploration titles and Lone Survivor is in fact a 2D survival horror game. Don't Starve uses darkness/night time as a mechanic, and while it's not perpetual you do spend much of the day cycle preparing to survive the night cycle. In all of these titles, the absence (and limited presence) of light and visibility are very important mechanics and it works very well for each of these games.

So, intrinsically I like the mechanic and there's evidence that it's good in 2D settings.

Thanks for this. I actually didn't know about Home and Lone Survivor until I saw your post. Checked them out and got some inspiration (and encouragement).