The first rule of the inn is: "Never let the light die."
Because that rule exists, the lantern's flame had to read as real fire.
Is it about to go out, or will it hold? If the player can't answer that from the
flicker alone, then the act of following the rule falls apart.
At first I drove the brightness with random noise. That was a mistake.
Random flicker doesn't look like fire — it looks like a machine trembling.
The numbers were moving, but nothing arrived as a flame.
What it does now is sum two waves at different frequencies, with a very small
random offset on top. One slow, like breathing. One fine and quick.
Only when those two locked together did it finally read as fire.
As the oil runs low, the amplitude of that flicker quietly widens.
No warning sound. No number on screen.
You notice it's time to add oil because the room feels a little darker.
The lantern is the most dependable thing in this inn.
It is also the thing that waits until you depend on it before it goes out.
A free demo is available on the store page. Full release is 5 November 2026.