Archive: 12 posts

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I am just about to start building my level (a platformer). How do I start. I want to create a base for the overall level and gameplay to later add detail to. I would really appreciate if you could share your best tips on how to go about this.

2014-08-25 17:12:00 Author: Laxen333 Posts: 43

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I would suggest having an idea of the game play first. That way you don't have to shoe horn it in to your level parameters. I was always design/visual oriented and would then have to do wonky things to add the game play I wanted.

2014-08-25 17:15:00 Author: EinRobot Posts: 739

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I would suggest having an idea of the game play first. That way you don't have to shoe horn it in to your level parameters. I was always design/visual oriented and would then have to do wonky things to add the game play I wanted. Thanks for your help but I have already planned a big part of It on paper. The thing I want to avoid the most Is to make the plajer just move between platforms and challenges (if that makes sense).

2014-08-25 18:16:00 Author: Laxen333 Posts: 43

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Make everything modular. Slap anti gravity tweakers on everything with the dampening set to 100%. That way it is easy to change things around and nothing needs to be glued or unglued. I also like to block out using the snap grid. Then I turn the grid off, slice and dice the block, adjust layer thickness, use the corner editor and finally the material changer tool. In this way you can create very complicated shapes that fit together perfectly in a very short amount of time. If you have obstacles planned out with no plan for moving the player between them. I would suggest considering your pacing and the difficulty of the obstacles. It just feels right for a level to gradually increase in difficulty and intensity.

2014-08-25 23:02:00 Author: one-mad-bunny Posts: 334

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Well I will give some food for thought. Creativity is a bit interesting on the psychological level, because it generally differs from creator to creator, yet we all end up experiencing the same problems. I think every creator ask themselves that very question in some way or form: How do I start? I think this is more of a mental obstacle. Its almost like saying, well how do I begin an essay? The short answer to that is: you dont. You dont have to create linearly. You dont have to start with the beginning of a level. You can start at the end with a boss? Or who says the boss has to be at the end? Hmmmmm I think one of the mindsets we as creators have to get over is that we all think games are built the same way they are played. After looking into game design and my own personal experience in LBP2, Ive found that there are no rules to building or order of operations you have to follow. You will find that it completely takes away the question, how do I start? I think its a question no creator should ever ask and its almost equivalent to writers block. The problem with planning initially on paper is that its very restrictive and it limits our creativity. Why not dive in and generate ideas for a concept and gameplay? Then maybe the theme? I think knocking those two elements out would greatly expand your mind heading back to the paper. We end up creating better obstacles, worlds and story scenarios because everything is much more cohesive and for the developer, its more fun and less restrictive. Another technique I have seen creators do is literally start from the beginning and say "lets start with this obstacle." And then proceed in creating the entire level linearly just by getting more ideas as he progresses. And the level turned out great! I think this works because it avoids creators block and keeps the ideas flowing from the active imagination. Almost like dreaming. If you build wirelessly and just do sections as you get the idea, you can then later mix, match and edit to create good pacing. Pacing is a bit difficult and I wont get into that, because I have a lot to say about it. With pacing, you want to know who your audience is. What type of gamers is it for. Most players expect a constant rise in challenge. However, consider a different pacing like the Last of Us in the sense that you provide a lot of challenge and intensity, and then "cool down" gameplay segments( puzzles, change in mechanics or set piece etc). Or you can punish the player throughout. The theme can play a huge part in this too, so you will have to experiment and most of all: test A LOT and with multiple players to get some feedback. As any college writing professor would say, the intro should always be last. In the gaming world, I've found the intro doesnt have to be first or last. Sometimes an intro is just that good that you can build from it. Whatever the case may be, dont limit yourself. Just get in there and start building, then it will come to you.

2014-08-28 03:28:00 Author: Rpg Maker Posts: 877

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If it's a platformer get your ideas for gameplay, story and general level layout thought out, write them down so you don't forget, have a general idea of what you want the level to look like but don't focus on visuals at first unless they effect gameplay or level layout. Draw a rough sketch of the layout for your level and add details as you flesh out your ideas for gameplay, story, pacing,etc. Maybe draw arrows and notes to get an idea of what it's going to be like and remind you of how it's going to work. Don't worry about the sketch being too accurate, especially scale wise, because you'll make everything correctly sized, spaced and whatnot in-game. Drawing a sketch is really beneficial, it lets you see and plan your level in a shorter period of time than planning it in-game would and allows you to make your level in-game quicker because you don't have to stop and decide what you want huge sections of your level to be. Get your big stuff like bosses or anything logic intensive worked out so you know they work before you start, you don't want to get everything else done only to be find out the important stuff doesn't work. Don't worry about adding visual details to them just yet. Try to divide the level into chunks/areas so you can keep track of complexity within a certain space to help with lag control and let you edit that section easier without effecting other sections. You could make a small part of the level and make it fully visually finished as a test to see how the visuals are going to come out and see if you want to change things accordingly. Choose a basic material and start mapping out your design in-game, cut it up so it doesn't hit max corners, add all of the simple stuff like elevators/moving platforms/rotating stuff/etc, after that move on to whatever you want, add your boss/logic stuff/cameras/whatever and get all that working, then lastly add in the visuals. You want to do your visuals last so you know the rest of the level fits and keep the level of visual detail in check because visuals can take up a lot of thermo fast. Then just test everything to make sure it all works as it should when put together, have other people test it, if it's satisfactory publish it.

2014-08-29 01:52:00 Author: Bremnen Posts: 1800

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I create everything outside of the level. I start with concept art for the visuals (These usually tend to look better than the final project) then modify it until it takes up and acceptible amount of thermo. After that I start from the start and try to flow my gameplay to the best of my abilities repeatively playing the level to decide the next bit. I create obstacles outside of the level as it is less destracting and also so I can give more attention to the gameplay over the visuals. Apon finishing them I place them into the level and then try to merge them into the environment. My thoery to what makes a good level lays in the design there is no point putting in gameplay or mechanics which just don't fit the environment. It breaks emersion. I also think that difficulty doesn't necessary need to increase through out the level as that mindset may lead to cheap deaths which breaks the flow of a level.

2014-08-29 08:46:00 Author: Jonarrthan Posts: 310

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I'd probably make better levels if I followed the advice of the folks in this thread, but this is typically how I do it. I generally have ideas for "segments" of a level in my head. So I just make them when they occur to me, keeping them modular like someone above said.. When I get enough obstacles/sections completed that I think will work well together, I combine them into a level. I then decide what my theme is going to be and what materials I'm going to use. Once I do that, I look at each obstacle and ask myself if there are any subtle or major changes I can do to make it fit with the style and theme I'm going for. I also replace the materials with the ones I've selected for the level. Sometimes I don't completely flesh out an idea before I place it. In the level I'm currently remaking from a LBP 1 level of mine, I knew there was a spot where I wanted an elevator. I made the area around the elevator, made the shaft, constructed a rough design of what the elevator would look like and left the details, logic and effects for later. That allows me to keep the creative juices flowing without being bogged down by details. I do agree about transitions, they are hard. I'm not obsessed with challenging gameplay, so I always err on the side of "that was cool." Any way I can slap, shoot, fire or flip sackboy to get to a new section is always a bonus. I love the sound "boing!" I hope these ravings of an amateur helps.

2014-09-17 15:17:00 Author: Biv Posts: 734

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Well I will give some food for thought. Creativity is a bit interesting on the psychological level, because it generally differs from creator to creator, yet we all end up experiencing the same problems. I think every creator ask themselves that very question in some way or form: How do I start? I think this is more of a mental obstacle. Its almost like saying, well how do I begin an essay? The short answer to that is: you dont. You dont have to create linearly. You dont have to start with the beginning of a level. You can start at the end with a boss? Or who says the boss has to be at the end? Hmmmmm I think one of the mindsets we as creators have to get over is that we all think games are built the same way they are played. After looking into game design and my own personal experience in LBP2, Ive found that there are no rules to building or order of operations you have to follow. You will find that it completely takes away the question, how do I start? I think its a question no creator should ever ask and its almost equivalent to writers block. The problem with planning initially on paper is that its very restrictive and it limits our creativity. Why not dive in and generate ideas for a concept and gameplay? Then maybe the theme? I think knocking those two elements out would greatly expand your mind heading back to the paper. We end up creating better obstacles, worlds and story scenarios because everything is much more cohesive and for the developer, its more fun and less restrictive. Another technique I have seen creators do is literally start from the beginning and say "lets start with this obstacle." And then proceed in creating the entire level linearly just by getting more ideas as he progresses. And the level turned out great! I think this works because it avoids creators block and keeps the ideas flowing from the active imagination. Almost like dreaming. If you build wirelessly and just do sections as you get the idea, you can then later mix, match and edit to create good pacing. Pacing is a bit difficult and I wont get into that, because I have a lot to say about it. With pacing, you want to know who your audience is. What type of gamers is it for. Most players expect a constant rise in challenge. However, consider a different pacing like the Last of Us in the sense that you provide a lot of challenge and intensity, and then "cool down" gameplay segments( puzzles, change in mechanics or set piece etc). Or you can punish the player throughout. The theme can play a huge part in this too, so you will have to experiment and most of all: test A LOT and with multiple players to get some feedback. As any college writing professor would say, the intro should always be last. In the gaming world, I've found the intro doesnt have to be first or last. Sometimes an intro is just that good that you can build from it. Whatever the case may be, dont limit yourself. Just get in there and start building, then it will come to you. I almost totally agree (= Good post btw. I'm all for the ideas popping up and just going with it. It's how most of my things are made, from drawing, music and writing to LPB level making. But on the other hand I also go back to paper to finetune and marinate some of the ideas. And by the way, the intro should always be the last thing created? What a load of bull. There I'm totally with you, a strong intro can surely sprawn a whole project, whatever the sort.

2015-12-30 11:52:00 Author: JL - wopdido Posts: 56

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I hope you both realize the last posts in this thread was from over a year ago. We try not to bump things that far in the past. Please see rule #3. https://lbpcentral.lbp-hub.com/index.php?t=21530-Rules-amp-Consequences However, I do agree it is an interesting topic at least so I will let it go..

2015-12-31 02:52:00 Author: jwwphotos Posts: 11383

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Oh, sorry. Didn't realize that wasn't allowed thanks for the heads up

2015-12-31 08:52:00 Author: JL - wopdido Posts: 56

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No worries... This is a really good thread, so I don't really mind at all. The ones that really are an issue are ones that the OP asked a question some two years ago, was answered and discussed, then someone basically bumps it all saying "I agree... etc" lol My personal planning and building technique as I have said in other threads, possibly this one... I build everything in workshops and very modular. That way I can build all sorts of stuff for the level, test and certify, before ever adding it to the real level.

2015-12-31 11:45:00 Author: jwwphotos Posts: 11383

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