Assignment 3: 3D GameKit Lite
The differences between my version one level and my version two level are very vast, as my version one level was not completed when i turned it in. I added lots to my version one level in order to make it a complete experience.
The mechanics that I had in the level were mostly switches, moving platforms, acid, and enemies. These allowed me to gate progress behind being able to find and activate three switches. Each switch would provide a different challenge. The first one would be unlocked by going on a moving platform that leads to the rest of the level. The next would be unlocked by going up a vertical platforming section with a ranged enemy blocking the path on one of the platforms. The last would be behind another door locked behind another switch, which you could unlock by platforming across acid and killing enemies. All of these worked well to create a cohesive tutorial level that showed off all of the necessary mechanics for the levels to come.
I think that the enemies in my level could have been place better or placed so that the navmesh worked better. The navmesh allowed it so that enemies could walk on acid to get away from the player, making it impossible for them to be killed and had to be chased after via the next platform.
The level was appropriately easy, as it was meant to be a tutorial level for the player. I tried to make it so all of the jumps that were required were actually able to be made with relative ease. None of the people who playtested my level had that much issue with the platforming. Perhaps some of the enemy placements could be better, as they ran in front of the player's jumps a couple of times, forcing damage to be taken. For my next part of my level, I think that ranged enemies will be the most used ones during the platforming sections.
The path through the whole entire tutorial level was very easy to find, as well. This is because a tutorial level has to be appropriately linear and introduce the linearity of the levels to come. The critical path could be taken by doin
g either side of the doorway after finding it, allowing you to choose which place to go based on which looked more fun or interesting. The box and healing part to the left of the door might lead players towards the left side of the door as well, which is nice because it would be the shortest switch to get to.
My plan for the lead-up to the next part of the level is to make the player go through a similar gauntlet to before, with some switches that lead to the opening of a door. One of the switches will be in a longer vertical platforming section. The other will be a block-breaking section with hidden enemies. The unlocked door will open to a teleporter to a long platforming section with acid and spitters shooting at you from safety. There will be a moving platform section where you have to ride one of them to get to a switch that activates the other one.
After all this the room prior to the boss will be empty with two switches that aren't hard to get to, as lead-up to the boss fight. An empty room will give good reflection time for the player and allow them to begin to feel nervous for the path ahead. The door will open into a large circular arena where the boss will preside. Hopefully this gives the players a reason to be afraid and be cautious when entering.
Assignment 2: Mega Man Levels
In the beginning of our Mega Man levels, we had a very simple design that we made, and we put it together in Mega Man Maker. The levels that we made were following a specific theme and were playtested by people later. My first level was a jungle level where there were split paths up or down. This idea worked out well when I played it but the upper path was much harder. The harder challenge made people not want to go up that way in the end. Moving forward in the level and reaching the converging point leads to a normal path, meaning there is not really a reason to take the top path at all.
When I added the keys and doors, I found a reason to make more branching pathways and a good reason to make the players take said branching paths. The length of the gameplay went on longer, thanks to forcing players to take the time to go and grab the keys for progression.
My second level was an industrial themed level with lots of lava and fire. The level starts with a part where you have to go up to grab a key to enter the facility.
Once in, the facility is fairly linear. The weapons I chose to give the player in this level are the C.Kick and the Nado. I chose the C.Kick because it seems like a fairly useful ability to use against enemies or for movement due to the ability to slide in mid air. The Nado is also very useful as you can cross large gaps with ease and it is fairly easy to use.
Adding the weapons allowed me to be more free in the design of my level and make more branching paths that might only be accessibly by the Nado. Designing parts of the level around only having access to certain powers is fun as well. Some of the playtesters stuck with the mega buster for most segments that don't require abilities, but that's the beauty of game design where people will just prefer something over another.
The things that went most right in the playtest were that the playtesters were able to make it through the level and understand the theming that went into them. My levels' theming was pretty well communicated through the use of tiles and backgrounds, such as entering a giant log in my first level or entering into a facility from the outside. My placements of health kits in my second level also went well with playtesters thanking me for the health kits that I gave.
The things that went most wrong in the playtest were some of my rooms being harder than was intended. In the first level, it was the room directly to the right of the spawn. Two of the cowboy type enemies next to each other was a lot harder for people than I thought it would be. In the second level, it was the main parkour section, with lots of falling fire and a bullet showing up at the end. This was a rough section for all of the people that played my level. Thankfully, I placed plenty of good checkpoints around.
For improving those levels, I would probably remove the top path on my first level entirely. It doesn't seem very useful and giving more time for the level is probably a better idea anyways. For my second level, I might remove some of the falling fire I placed around in the lava sections. It made the level unnecessarily hard in some points and led to a difficulty spike in those spots.
Assignment 1: DnD Map Assignment
In our most recent assignment, we had to use level design principles to put together a basic tutorial tabletop game map. Our most recent playtest was on the third and final version of said map, where we introduced items to the map.
Some things that went right were that certain items were super interesting to use and worked well with what I intended them to do. As a way to counteract the new items, I buffed the enemies in the final section of the map, increasing their health and defense, as the mage’s magic stat was increased and the ranger could make their damage way better.
Something that went wrong was that I had intended for the rogue to have an interesting route to take and get a special item, the Minotaur's doubloons, that makes the fight way easier if the player used the invisibility cloak correctly. If they used the invisibility cloak then they could sneak past all the other enemies there, then reach that item. It did not end up happening, but that branching path is still an interesting thing that could have happened if the person playing the rogue decided to use it in that way.
My level was very linear from the start, so implementing doors and keys gave the players reasons to go to all of the other places that were made. For example, there is a spot above the main foyer of the dungeon above that the players did not go to in the first playtest before the locked doors were introduced. The place didn't serve much purpose in that moment, so it was good to be able to introduce a reason for that place to exist.
The players seemed to have a positive reaction to the items being there, especially finding the duct tape item to be a humorous addition, as well as it being pretty powerful. I think there is much more reason to have the duct tape on the ranger rather than the knight, as greatly increased damage is a much more important thing to have than increased range. Maybe the balance that I would have the duct tape be a one time use item on the ranger, but permanent on the knight.
In my first iteration, there were very few reasons to go anywhere but the main path, as it seemed pretty obvious which ways were the right ways and which ways weren't. The players really liked it, as there was a story and some interesting events that happened, like the bridge getting knocked down if the first goblin encounter took too long. In the second iteration, the keys and doors were nice, as they did what I said in the previous paragraph and also allowed for another interesting event, the goblin ranger alerting the boss to the fact that they were getting intruded upon. Finally, in the third iteration, the final combat encounter got somewhat harder due to the power of the items that I introduced, and further balanced it by introducing the Minotaur's Doubloon item for curious players.
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