introduction to level design
TRANSCRIPT
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Introduction to Level Design
Rico LembaGame Designer & Programmer @stellarnull
@ricolemba
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Game Development
Ideas• Concept Art• Gameplay concept• Story concept• Gimmick
Execution• Balancing• Pacing• Level Design• Controls• Physics
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Level Design
• Theme / Level Concept• Enemy Design• Obstacle Design• Puzzle Design• Enemy Placement• Obstacle Placement
not environment design!
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WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?Level Design
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Provides Useful Mastery
• Mario’s Abilities– Jump– Destroy blocks– Run– Shoot fireballs
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Provides Useful Mastery
• No level design, no mastery
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Provides Useful Mastery
• Enter a dungeon -> Get a weapon -> Test the weapon
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Influences Player’s Decision Making
• Nintendo uses coins to tell that there’s a secret path above.
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Teaches Player About Game’s Mechanics
• Super Mario Bros. ( NES )– Powerup– Powerup physics– Jumping Mechanics– Secrets ( Scenario based )
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Teaches Player About Game’s Mechanics
• The Legend of Zelda:The Minish Cap• Link pulls a lever to gain access to a
mushroom
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Teaches Player About Game’s Mechanics
You can also pull the mushroom as the dirt is also placed near the mushroom ( hint )
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Teaches Player About Game’s Mechanics
• How far you pull the mushroom affects how far you jump. ( see the gap between dirts )
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Teaches Player About Game’s Mechanics
• New Weapon : Gust Jar• Used by Link to suck things. He can’t escape
this room unless he understands how to use Gust Jar.
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Teaches Player About Game’s Mechanics
• It can also be used to shoot gust of wind. Again, Link can’t progress unless he has mastered this mechanic.
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Teaches Player About Game’s Mechanics
• You can also do this!
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Good Level Design?
• Reduces amount of tutorials• Balance between difference in scale and
difference in kind• Driven by core mechanics
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Difference in Scale
• Scales a variable from game’s mechanics ( enemy’s hp, game speed, number of blocks, etc ).
• Easy way to provide variety.
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Difference In Scale
• Falling blocks speed gets faster as you progress
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Difference In Scale
Monster AAA• HP : 50• STR : 5• DEF : 3
Monster BBB• HP : 150• STR : 13• DEF : 27
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Difference In Scale
• 4x4 • 6x6
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Difference In Kind
• Variety in Behavior• Encourages or Challenges player to think
differently.
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Difference in Kind
• Basic tiles • Color Switching tiles
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Driven by Core MechanicsMario Megaman Castlevania Contra
Speed Med. Accel Binary Binary Binary
Jump Steerable Cancellable Fixed Steerable
Weapon JumpFireball
BulletPowerup
WhipSub-weapon
8 dir shot,Powerup
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Driven by Core Mechanics
• Mario level design requires more precise platforming
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Kishōtenketsu 起承転結
Four Step Level Design
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Four Step Level Design
• Used by Koichi Hayashida ( Nintendo EAD ) to design levels in Mario 3D Land and 3D World.
• Inspired by narrative structure of four-panel comics
• 1st panel Introduction• 2nd panel Development• 3rd panel Twist• 4th panel Conclusion
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Four Step Level Design
• Introduction• Player are given a safe place to learn the
concept of this level
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Four Step Level Design
• Development• You fail, you die
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Four Step Level Design
• Twist• Add twist to the concept that surprises players
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Four Step Level Design
• Conclusion• Give player one last chance to show off what
they’ve learned to end the level.
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• Games are about processes, not things. It's the processes in games that you interact with, and coming up with interesting processes is really the heart of game design.
• - Chris Crawford
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Thank You