next »

[Xeffi]

Since permadeath is a core mechanic of our game, we procedurally generate the world so that it's different each time. The world generates as a series of vertical floors, using a mixture of our prefab sections and terrain that is randomly generated according to rules.





We made a level editor in order to create the prefabs we generate within the world. We are creating skill themes for each world, and the prefabs will be designed with these themes in mind. Level prefabs are categorized by both skill theme and difficulty.





The game is called Beard: Life Grows On (beard-dev.tumblr.com)

[Barret5Ocal]

I made a level for a student game that I worked on and I would like some feedback on it. The game is called Flub Fighter and it is a party fighting game where the player can't damage each other directly. Players can only kill each other by knocking them into environmental hazards.

It is currently on steam greenlight. http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=399961544 Here is a design breakdown of my level.

[Alec S.]

Here's an area I've been working on for Cold Vengeance



It's got three tiers, with the player normally entering the area on the middle tier.  The middle tier has a number of gaps the player can fall through which leads them to the bottom tier (however, there is a staircase that can take them back up to the middle tier).  The middle tier has more of a focus on ranged enemies, where as the lower tier has a lot off melee enemies and close-ranged shotgun enemies.  There are also enemies on the middle tier throwing bombs down to the bottom tier.  The upper tier can only be reached with the jetpack, and only from a couple spots on the middle tier.  It is significantly harder than the other tiers, and has more gaps to fall down, but you get a bonus item if you make it through.

Also note those bridges near the half-way point take the player over a gap.  Basically, the player will have one of four potential encounters depending on which bridge they take.

[PixHammer]

So, this area is part of the 'tutorial area' and the first time that the player encounters a box they can push. I designed the area so that it would teach the player without the need for any explicit communication. When the player drops, from the ledge they fall exactly behind the box so that when they land, they push the box slightly, signified to the player by contrasting audio and particles.
If they attempt to Jump over the gap, they collide with the ceiling, and are still dropped behind the box.
Even if they miraculously avoid both circumstance, the pit acts as a lock-in that forces the player to understand how to push the box in order to progress. 

[Crabby]

Nice job PixHammer, that level looks really cool. I liked how you forced a tutorial without even any text.

[Drof]

So, this area is part of the 'tutorial area' and the first time that the player encounters a box they can push. I designed the area so that it would teach the player without the need for any explicit communication. When the player drops, from the ledge they fall exactly behind the box so that when they land, they push the box slightly, signified to the player by contrasting audio and particles.
If they attempt to Jump over the gap, they collide with the ceiling, and are still dropped behind the box.
Even if they miraculously avoid both circumstance, the pit acts as a lock-in that forces the player to understand how to push the box in order to progress. 

You'll probably find out in playtesting, but I'd guess that a sizeable portion of people would want to jump, even if it isn't necessary or even hurts. It helps usually to have scrape marks on the ground suggesting that something was dragged over it. It sort of looks like a pushable block to me, but I'm not sure if it would to everyone.

[theLucre]

Here's the layout for my upcoming LowRezJam game. The rules are to build a game with a screen max of 64x64. Each tile in the design is one of those screens.



And here's a sample of one of those areas:

[Ishi]

Never noticed this thread before, this is great. I used to love seeing massive level layouts in video game magazines as a kid. Which reminds me that I should browse VGMaps more often.

Here's a map from a small co-op puzzle platformer I made ages ago. It wasn't really planned out, I just drew it as I went along. You start in the bottom left and finish on the right, collecting as many treasures as you can along the way.





Click for full size.

[quantumpotato]

That looks great, Ishi.
Pixelhammer, how do you teach players they can jump?

[pixelmeat]

So, this area is part of the 'tutorial area' and the first time that the player encounters a box they can push. I designed the area so that it would teach the player without the need for any explicit communication. When the player drops, from the ledge they fall exactly behind the box so that when they land, they push the box slightly, signified to the player by contrasting audio and particles.
If they attempt to Jump over the gap, they collide with the ceiling, and are still dropped behind the box.
Even if they miraculously avoid both circumstance, the pit acts as a lock-in that forces the player to understand how to push the box in order to progress. 

Good way to "force" the player to learn a new mechanic. I just hope there's a pull mechanic too, just in case the player decides to push all the way to the left XD

[maruki]

This is the placeholder layout for the level 00, the intro level. I hope to teach the player about Aftertile's basics during this level. It should take more or less 2-3 mins for the player to finish it:



Player starts on the right, at the "ghosty" marker. He will then learn how to cross the red and yellow obstacles, then to avoid spikes while collecting the orbs in the middle. After that, in that room, the player will be told by that ST (which will be a special character) that there are certain conditions to be fulfilled to proceed (fill in the cradle with orbs, heal at the well and meditate). At the end, the player will get the power to be invulnerable to the pink spikes, and will be able to cross that last wall and go up to the next level.

[sajidsarker]

Working on my Turn-Based Tactics game called SIDON.

My little brother is having a lot of fun with the level editor, and making towers and staircases from what he says were inspired by playing Dark Souls.

Have been testing cutscenes through re-enactments of Macbeth on the map!

[tecbug]

Hey there,

Here is how 100 level design looks like on a wall for an incoming mobile game I'm currently creating with a small team.

I originally started to sketch on paper, but with the complexity of the levels, I felt the need to find a nice piece of software to do this task on a computer with a graphic tablet. I ended up using Mischief, which is really amazing for that kind of utility.

It's incredible how useful and necessary it is to do this before creating any level. We didn't do that sort of thing at the beginning of the production, and it was a huge mistake..

I know it was over year ago but do you have this in high resolution?

[SeanNoonan]

I had the rare chance to show some of my latest work in its WIP form in an episode of a show for Star Citizen.





(at 18:36)

My question, what more would people like to see featured in regards to level design process?

[darkhog]

https://twitter.com/thedarkhog/status/802235544751271936
https://twitter.com/thedarkhog/status/802237747037663233

[ChefSeth]

One screenshot compared to a zoom out of the whole world

[2mass]

This doesn't go to show all of the level, but still... a classical level i guess..

[domnick]

This doesn't go to show all of the level, but still... a classical level i guess..

I kinda like it. The game looks cute.

[Schir]

Here are a couple of levels I've been working on:


At the broader game design level, the purpose of this first one is is to surprise the player, and to tell them that the game's going to get a lot weirder than it initially seemed. From the player's perspective, the game hard cuts from talking with a stock RPG Maker NPC in a poorly-designed town to this level in first-person. It's meant to be a quick reassurance that the guy making the game knows what they're doing, while telling a couple of jokes along the way.
At the lower level design level, the branching paths here are simple, but encourage a bit of exploration. Exploration's rewarded with a bit of art and a couple of jokes. If a player isn't familiar with first-person RPGs, a note directly opposite where they started encourages them to move forward, and the branching path next to it is there to teach the player that they can turn. Not seeing the note automatically pop up text teaches the player that they ought to press the action key. Going left teaches the player about non-standard wall tiles being actionable, while going right reinforces the 'read the notes' message.


This level's where I'd introduce combat. It uses the visual language of older RPGs to put the player on edge. The level design's a lot more interconnected, with most rooms having two or three exits, but that might not be clear from the image so here's those paths labeled:

The level's meant to feel like a place that people might live in, but it also eventually funnels the player to the big central room where a cutscene happens. The rooms are made to be mostly distinct in shape to help the player keep track of where they are and where they've been.
Thinking on it, I could probably stand to revise this level a few more times for clarity, but this is where I'm at now.

[Eyon]

Hop ! The first tutorial level I made =)