next »

[Tumetsu]

I'm currently debating myself if I should make my game open world like with some kind of hub world (with real content though) where player can venture seamlessly to levels of game. The world is supposed to be something like VVVVVV did. Thing is that I would like to make some levels exclude each other. Like if you beat one level, another is sealed forever.

I'm not sure how I should do this. Just erecting a wall to excluded levels seems little too simple. This mechanic is supposed to be metaphor for certain decisions in life, like choosing certain worldview when another closes etc. How I could tell player that these other places were closed? Should entrance just vanish leaving bare wall? Or should it leave little mark that there was once passage here?

One final thing is how I should deal with difficulty. I'd like to make some really hard levels too but if player wanders into those first, they might frustrate him. At the same time game should allow to beat levels in any order.

[gimymblert]

faction?

[SundownKid]

Instead of being separate places entirely, they could all be inter-related with each other. For example, a water level on top of another one, so if you beat it, the lower level floods. I was thinking some kind of massive building, or cave, or something.

[1982]

It depends quite much of type of the game. Maybe you should be little more specific about what sort of game you were thinking of. Simple action shooter/platformer? Deep exploration/adventure? Human life simulation? I believe that more bigger scale and deeper the game is, more it can benefit from this idea and there is more reasons to do it like that.

In simple action gaming it would be just irritating to not to be able to access all levels and content. Unless they are very different when it hopefully provokes replay value. If you want it to be metaphor for life, then player should not know that he is missing something. Until he plays the game again and makes different choices. My opinion is that instead of metaphors, you should concentrate the game itself.

[Tumetsu]

Well, game is platformer with special mechanic which I intend to be the center of design so in principle it might resemble VVVVVV. So it is platformer with "dungeons" where there is treasure at the end.

In simple action gaming it would be just irritating to not to be able to access all levels and content. Unless they are very different when it hopefully provokes replay value. If you want it to be metaphor for life, then player should not know that he is missing something. Until he plays the game again and makes different choices. My opinion is that instead of metaphors, you should concentrate the game itself.

Game itself will probably be rather small and short. Also, I try to marry gameplay and theme as well as possible so I think this kind of planning might be rather important.

@Sundownkid
Interesting, I'll think about that.

[letsap]

The blockage to the level, rather than being something universal like a wall popping up, should depend on both the level being blocked and the action blocking it. For instance, beating a volcano level causes an eruption, blocking entrance to the dungeon before it (just to mess with sequence breakers, I guess) with big volcanic boulders.

[C.D Buckmaster]

If you don't want players to miss the fact that they're missing out on something, make sure that whateer you use to block the paths is something that will spark their curiosity, perhaps strange, silent beings that wordlessly guard the entrances?

[Ashkin]

strange, silent beings that wordlessly guard the entrances

I like this idea. You could probably tie them into the story, but I just like the idea of coming back from a level and discovering these tall dark figures standing silently at the exits you had planned to use. As the game goes on, more and more appear and you get more and more curious about who they are and what they do. Maybe their explanation for guarding the entrances is that the character must make decisions in his life, and they represent the regret of decisions unmade.

[Tumetsu]

That is actually good idea! I had already decided that I'll go linear levels because of these problems but that sounds cool and fitting enough that I might actually revert to open world

[gimymblert]

If you don't want players to miss the fact that they're missing out on something, make sure that whateer you use to block the paths is something that will spark their curiosity, perhaps strange, silent beings that wordlessly guard the entrances?

Did anyone played pathologic?

[gunswordfist]

Instead of being separate places entirely, they could all be inter-related with each other. For example, a water level on top of another one, so if you beat it, the lower level floods. I was thinking some kind of massive building, or cave, or something.

Ingenious.

[Belimoth]

Instead of being separate places entirely, they could all be inter-related with each other. For example, a water level on top of another one, so if you beat it, the lower level floods. I was thinking some kind of massive building, or cave, or something.

The game takes place in a big living evil tower. Each floor is a level and you can take an elevator to whatever level you want. The bosses are nodes of the tower that hold it together. Higher levels are easier but beating them causes a collapse on lower levels, which makes them harder. The end-game goal is to level the tower.