Level Design Chapter One

Question 1

Imagine that you are a level designer working in the 1980s. Knowing the limitations associated with this era, what type of game would you develop.

If I were to be a level designer from the 1980s, I would develop a game for the Nintendo Entertainment System or NES, it would be a 2d game with Plat-forming and side scrolling mechanics where the player's goal is to navigate all the way to the right of the screen, overcoming any obstetrical in their way. The Levels them self would be accessed from larger “Over Worlds” where if the player Beats all the levels in a single Over-World they would unlock new Over-Worlds to play in.

A single Over-World would consist of say 5-10 smaller levels of varying difficulty and size once the player completes all levels in an Over-World a boss level will be unlocked, that will need to be defeated before new Over-Worlds are unlocked.

Every over-World would have a “Theme” e.g volcano, ice, woodland and Ruins that would affect the way in which the levels are designed. With slippery floors for an ice level, Lava Rivers for a volcano level and Spike traps for ruins. The bosses themselves would also be themed to their level.

The risk would come in the form of the limited lives Possessed by the player with him/her risking them to get to the end of the level or to get to secret areas knowing and the reward being the end of a level or the secret they are trying to get. And if they fail to keep the lives counter above zero then they will be forced to start an Over-World again.

The final Over-World will be like all others but each level would have a boss to it instead of just at the end of the Over-World making this final Over-World harder than the others, giving the player bragging rights upon completing it.

Question 2

Play three games—one from the 1980s, one from the 1990s, and one

released after 2004. Compare and contrast how levels and environments are

designed in all three games.

The games I choose to play where Missile Command, XCOM UFO Defense and Half-life 2.Each of these games have a completely different level design and therefore very different play styles.

Missile Command from the 1980s is an arcade game where the player is given a certain amount of cities to defend from hostile missiles, using their own missiles that are fired from three different bases located near the cities at the bottom of the screen. The levels only differ in colour and difficulty, cities that are destroyed remain destroyed until you get a bonus city

XCOM UFO Defense or UFO Enemy Unknown, Released in 1994 is a Strategy game where the player is given control of an elite organization that’s purpose is to fight off an alien invasion. There are two types of levels one being GEOSCAPE and the other being BATTLESCAPE. In GEOSCAPE the player is presented with a Pseudo 3d model of the world in which they manage bases, intercept UFOs and attack alien basses. BATTLESCAPE is where Combat takes place each environment is randomly generated depending on where the battle is taking place on the planet. Compared to half-life 2 and Missile-command the levels are more open and you have many more options to complete the game.

Half-Life 2 second game in the half-life series is a linear first person shooter with some puzzle and plat forming elements, though more open world then Missile command it is nowhere near as open as XCOM. The levels although linear have some secret areas which the player can access with some risk to acquire health, ammo and other items to help them. It is important to note that though linear the levels are designed to make the player feel that they have some control over their path.

3. How does a game’s genre affect the way its levels and environments are

designed? Choose one level from three different games—each from a distinct

primary genre—and compare how these levels are designed with regard to

setting, goals, puzzles, and risk–reward system.

For this task I decided to pick the following games left 4 dead, sleeping dogs,

Supreme Commander: Forged alliance

Left 4 dead is a cooperative FPS meaning that the player must team up with 3 other Players or bots to make it to the end of a level. The game is set in a zombie apocalypse with the players fighting through hordes of zombies to reach safety at the end of a level. The level I choose to pick was the very first one named No mercy which has the four players starting on a rooftop, their goal to make it to Mercy Hospital to escape from the zombie hoard by helicopter. Compared to the other games I choose the levels are incredibly linear , they funnel the player from start to end goal with lots of zombie massacre in-between.

Sleeping dogs is a sandbox game set in China with the player taking the role of an under cover cop infiltrating a Chinese triad. The game itself does not really have levels instead It has one massive level taking the form of Hong-Kong island with numerous main quest lines and side quest the player can choose from. In contrast to left 4 dead the player can choose their objectives, if they do not want to play the story line they can choose from numerous diversions and generally just stuff around.

Supreme commander: Forged alliance is a RTS (Real Time Strategy) game set in the far future with the player taking command of an ACU or Armored command unit which constructs buildings and can be used to fight enemy units. The levels themselves are large maps in which the player is given multiple objectives to carry out in which ever manner they see fit, while not Completely open like Sleeping dogs it is not entirely linear like Left 4 dead, as the player is given numerous tools to complete a level but the end result is mostly the same. A good example is in the first level in which the player is tasked first to defend a base from enemy attack, then themselves strike back at the enemy, with a wide range of ways to do so such as an air assault, ground assault or using powerful naval units.

Some risk and reward comes in the form of secondary objectives in which the player can choose to complete which gives them extra resources to complete their primary objectives, but if they take to much time or spend to much resources it could leave them open to attack from the enemy.