Sometimes the small details in Homefield Hero do not come from an asset pack. They start right at the football ground.
For the club levels, I do not want to build just any generic football setting. The grounds should have some character of their own. One of those details is the floodlight.
The reference was right in front of me
It started with a photo of a real floodlight mast. Instead of searching for a ready-made asset that looked similar, I wanted to try turning it into my own graphic for Homefield Hero.
Reducing it to the important shapes
The goal was not to reproduce the photo as realistically as possible. Homefield Hero has its own simple 2D style, so I first reduced the mast and lamp to their most important shapes.
Then I added outlines, shadows and smaller details. The black outlines in particular help bring the floodlight closer to the visual style of the game.
From that single lamp, I created a clean version that could be used in the game.
For larger floodlight masts, I could reuse the basic idea and combine several lamps into a bigger setup.
Why I create details like this myself
Of course, it would be faster to look for a ready-made asset for every object.
But I want Homefield Hero to have some individuality of its own and not consist entirely of assets made by other people. That is why I keep trying to create individual graphics and details myself.
Not every object has to be perfect or especially elaborate. What matters more to me is having things between the ready-made assets that were created specifically for Homefield Hero.
The floodlight is one of those details. The reference comes from the real world, but I created the game version myself and adapted it to the style of Homefield Hero.
Piece by piece, that gives the game a little more of its own identity.
And then the lights come on
During the day, the floodlight masts are simply part of the environment.
At night, however, they become much more interesting. The lamps are no longer just decoration: their light becomes visible and noticeably changes the atmosphere of the level.
So a photo from a football ground ultimately became more than just a custom graphic. It became an element that is actually part of the world of Homefield Hero.