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Author Topic: Balding's Quest: Level Design  (Read 98902 times)
Akhel
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« Reply #80 on: April 19, 2007, 09:45:01 AM »

These are a few levels I sketched up, but they are not complete and shouldn't be used in the game. They are meant to be set in the alien world. I hope they serve as a source of inspiration for someone. Smiley

Angry Dragon


The huge red block is a dragon-like alien creature facing left. It begins throwing the little green creatures in front of him at GB; when there are no more creatures, it throws fireballs (which are faster and bigger). Both projectiles (heh heh heh) can pass through walls.

The blue-ish block is a jetpack, and the grey block is an armor of some sort. Fireballs do not hurt Balding after he's got the armor.

If GB gets near the dragon, in front of it, it eats him. That means instant death unless the player has the armor - in that case, he stays alive (but immobile, inside the dragon) for five more seconds. The dragon then burps to indicate the player's death. If, however, the player drops on the dragon's head from at least five tiles higher, it gets stunned for three seconds.

The key here would be to climb upstairs, jump on the platform, fall on the dragon's head, get the jetpack while it's stunned, get the armor and go near the dragon so it eats GB. When in the dragon's stomach, the player should activate the jetpack and watch the dragon explode. Smiley

That's apparently not a fun level.

Evil Clone


This is not viable for it would require advanced AI. Here, Evil Alien Balding chases Good Not-Alien Balding. Alien Balding, however, doesn't die as the regular Balding does. He has to be stunned (I'm not sure how Huh?) and fed to the green creatures in the cage on the upper-left corner.

That cage, however, is protected by two doors - the first one opens from the outside only, and closes five seconds later; the second one has to be opened using the computer (blue-ish tile). The player would have to stun the Alien Balding, carry him to right above the second door, leave, and - finally - use the computer.

It's noteworthy that, if the player is stupid enough to lock himself behind the first door, Evil Balding will also use the computer to kill him.

That's apparently not a fun level either.

Alien World


This came up after I accidentally merged the two above levels together. A few changes and it turned into a new level design; I actually do like it - it has a very alien-ish feel to it - but I can't think of anything that'd fit there.
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Xion
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« Reply #81 on: April 19, 2007, 11:39:40 AM »

That last one actually looks more like a cave system. I think it would go well in the caves. You mind if I try and make it playable?

And I do think some "chase balding like balding" AI would be so worth the work.
...But I don't know how much work that would be so I'm prolly wrong.

I like the dragon Idea, I just think it needs to be in a better setting.
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Akhel
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« Reply #82 on: April 19, 2007, 11:50:34 AM »

That last one actually looks more like a cave system. I think it would go well in the caves. You mind if I try and make it playable?

Of course not, that would be awesome! Smiley
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Zaphos
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« Reply #83 on: April 19, 2007, 02:31:25 PM »

If you guys want I could make an actual level, with tiles
Oh, I want.  Do it!   Grin
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Jimbob
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« Reply #84 on: April 19, 2007, 04:10:16 PM »

Inane, with your boulder thing, what's to stop the player just jumping away from the slope and on to the other platforms to let the boulder run underneath? Just a thought. Here's my attempt at a temple level.



Okay, so Guy starts off in the middle of the level, a little unsure of where to go, what's going on. He can squeeze down to the right to grab the treasure from that statue at 1, easy pickings. But maybe he doesn't realise that brings it to life, and he has to dodge the falling fists whilst dodging the fire blows it shoots.

Alternatively, he thinks, nah I'll get it later, that disk up at the top looks mighty inviting. Either way, you have to climb up and dodge the moving spikes over the jumps and clamber up to the top. But wait, check out that statue, I think you can push it over down below. Why would you do that? I don't know, but with the benefit of hindsight (or replaying the level), you'll know exactly why.

So you're now in the coveted hall of kings. You grab the disk and hear a rumble, the altar starts sinking into the ground, do you have time to grab that treasure at 2 before the inevitable boulder rushes down towards you? Maybe you do, but the previous exit has been blocked by a bit of falling rubble. You rush through the pillars as the boulder crashes them down behind you. You see a swinging vine ahead, maybe you time it right so it's swinging towards you, maybe you fall into a heap at the bottom. Maybe you decide to be a wuss and just drop down on to the shallow platform underneath as the boulder rushes overhead and through the floor. But it's not over yet. You hear another rumble, and one of those fallen pillars has just dislodged another boulder. If you're quick enough you might catch the boulder. But poor Mr. Balding isn't quite that strong, so you instead have to leap over that hole it's just created. Note that the statue, along with the treasure at 1 is now completely obliterated, so it's probably your fault if you were a bit lazy. We continue, skip through the fists (second nature now), and return up to the exit.

But wait, there's one more treasure left. If you were clever enough to spot the statue, along with the pillar, you now have some natural steps to climb up this side of the devastation and collect that jewel from the jaws of the Moon God statue at 3. Unfortunately again, it means you have to keep your concentration for those fists again, but it was worth it. Oh yes...
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Jimbob
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« Reply #85 on: April 19, 2007, 04:28:55 PM »

Just thinking about the Balding AI level. Wouldn't something simple like the Lode Runner Monk AI work? That could be quite cool. You could expand that for the lab stage maybe and have a series of clones that you have to kill to get their treasures using the various traps around the lab. That way, it's quite freeform how and when you despatch them or whether you choose to at all to get the treasures. I'll draw up a level and see if I can make that work...
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Xion
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« Reply #86 on: April 19, 2007, 08:57:18 PM »

I'm sorry, Akhel, I ruined your pretty level! Hopefully it was worth it.



Sucky hole: Undewater current that will pull you off the map/into oblivion.
Water: You know, that stuff that's all liquidy...caves sometimes have 'em.
Waterdragon entrance: See that red fella in the topleft? Well that, my friends is a waterdragon. Not very bright, mind you, but he's a dangerous one alright. He wanders off the sides of the screen randomly traversing the WD entrances. You'd better hope he doesn't appear in a puddle with you.
Dissappearing Platform: They crumble to dust as soon as you step on them. They don't come back. (Except the ones that make up that little bridge above the start)
Block: You know, the stuff that makes up walls and floors.
Ceiling: This is where Balding's ability to hang from ceilings comes in handy...but he needs the "ITEM" first.
Waterdragon: okay I already explained WD2, so WD1 just sits there blocking you from getting to the exit. All chillaxilated down. If ya' touch him, though, say goodbye.
Treasure: Yeah, yeah...
Switch: There be three switches. The ones on the ground are activated by jumping on them. They go down and don't come back up. Switch 2 is activated by hanging onto the bottom of it. (Like in the water temple in Zelda: Twilight Princess, if you've played it.) Each is numbered and when hit activates (or deactivates) a platform (or door) of the same, corresponding number.
Pushable Block: It's a block. You can push it. The one at the top of the ladder plugs up a sucky hole.
Ceiling Gloves: They let you dangle from and climb along the ceiling.
Benign Backdrop Creatures(BBC): So yeah, I thought the levels were missing these. They don't really do anything but mosey around, and they don't block balding.
And finally, Bats: They are bats. They pester and slow balding. They appear when you spend too much time on the level. If you really spend too much time on a level, the BatMaster will come and fly you away. (But he won't chase you in the water.)



Kay, so...
You start in the fairly open middle space. You see the exit is directly below you, but it's guarded by some fearsome-looking waterdragon(1). It's asleep, but if you touch it, it'll wake up and eatcha! so you've got to find some way past it...or through it. The ledge overhanging the monster looks pretty weak but you're not heavy enough to break it yourself...so you go looking around.

You can go to the left into the water and climb up the ladder. See those little bumpers on the ceiling and floor? They don't do anything to baldy. He can run right through 'em. Their function comes later. Now crawl above the push block and stand on the disappearing blocks to make them...well, disappear. Then you can push the push block down. Maybe this lets loose that puddle there in some nifty way. (BTW, the water veins and drips are just for effect.) The platform beneath you disappears.

Or you can go right. That disappearing block will disappear before you can climb up onto it, causing you to plunge into the water and stop just before touching the water dragon. Close call! Now hop over to the far ladder, but don't fall in or you'll get sucked off somewhere. Climb the ladder. Ooh, there's a treasure through this little area. I can get it if I crawl then stand up...d'oh! Fell into the water. (Those D-blocks looked safe). swim back around and mash on the "swim" button to avoid getting pulled down. Another close call! Boy howdy, Balding you sure need to be more careful round these parts! Okay, so you've got to fall into that treasure from above. But maybe you should push that block to stop the suckage first.

Once you get past there, you climb up the next ladder and see that to fall from this height would mean sure death. Wot's that switch do? Hop on it! Wot? A 2*2 platform arises in dotted square #1! Kewl. Oh, you can get treasure 2 now. Now that the new platform's there, you can hop up and get yo' gluvvz. Now you can explore a bit more.

To get treasure 3, climb on the ceiling and push the block (with Baldy's massive head) out of the way. The treasure (which I'm thinking is a crystal) was attached to the push block and now, dislodged, falls all the way down. Go collect your reward.

To get treasure 4, you can either drop down or climb up from the bottom-leftest-most area. When you're in that area, Waterdragon 2 is always there. He only leaves when you leave. If you lure him into the shallows and jump on his head (only his head) he'll be stunned for a minute and you can use his body as a platform. That might be useful in an area with more wide open watery spaces, but it's still cool, methinks.

Or you could just bypass all the treasures (lame) and go straight for switch 2, which will make a platform so you can get to switch 3. When you're up there, bats are slowly spawned and try to knock you into the water. More of a nuisance, unless WD2 happens to be down there. So you finally hit switch 3 and a door opens...but a passageway closes (the one to the gloves)!

So what you've got to do is go down to the newly opened area and hang onto the bottom of the boulder, dislodging it. The screen shaking for a couple seconds and debris falling from the boulder should be warning enough for the player to get the heck outta the way. Once it falls, you've got to take the lower route to where treasure 4 was (is) and drop down to push the boulder from behind.
Now you see where those lumps were that you passed up earlier? They play a tiny role that will hopefully keep the level from being too frustrating: They keep you from pushing the boulder too far in case you didn't push that pushable block out of the way earlier. If you did, just push a little harder and the bumps'll get mowed over, but if you didn't hopefully you'll realize it before you screw yourself and make the level unfinishable, climb up over the boulder through that little hole beneath switch-platform #1, push the block out yo' way, then go back behind the boulder and keep pushing.

Once you have the boulder over the Waterdragon, it won't crush it by itself. No, you've got to give a helping hand! Jump on it! 3 times! (or if you like, go to the top of the level where switch 1 was and jump down. You'll die but the impact'll be worth it.) The ledge will break and the boulder will fall off into the depths beyond. Now finish!

Oh, oh, I just got a 'nother Idea: Ok, if you stand too close to the BBCs while bats are pestering you, the BBC's'll get all mad cuz the bats are pestering them too. So then they'll get all MFCish (malevolent foreground creature) and like start hitting you to go away.

Okay, so that was alot more typing than I thought it'd've been. I need to go do my homework now.

'Night y'all! Smiley
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Akhel
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« Reply #87 on: April 20, 2007, 06:32:00 AM »

...oh man, that's AWESOME. You transformed my randomly-put map into something playable and apparently fun! I'd really like to play it. Smiley
« Last Edit: April 20, 2007, 07:31:30 AM by Akhel » Logged
AdamAtomic
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« Reply #88 on: April 21, 2007, 05:12:54 PM »



Hit me with those crits!  Only thing I forgot is the orange square behind the Mutant Mouse Queen is the exit.  Go Go Guy Balding!

EDIT - woops also gray tiles are ladders...
« Last Edit: April 21, 2007, 05:15:27 PM by AdamAtomic » Logged

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Akhel
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« Reply #89 on: April 21, 2007, 06:06:57 PM »

I fucking LOVE this. It's my favorite level so far.
Ur' tha man, Atomic man.

Only one thing... can you guys please stop making levels that make mine look like crap? Grin
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Xion
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« Reply #90 on: April 21, 2007, 06:16:53 PM »

Nice, Adam! Smiley
So you start in the upper left?
question: how exactly do you administer the syrum(s) and where do you find them?
'nother question: can you walk through debris/damaged?
I don't think you should lose your labcoat just by jumping and doing necessary actions. Maybe there's a vent somewhere that blows it off of you? I really like the idea of administering different syrums to each mouse. It'd be cool if each mouse had different behaviors and looks, too.
Just one more crit: That room to the left of lab 1B is a bit big. I think it could be cut in half and something else could go there, too.

Arg, All these levels need pixels! I want to see something fleshed out! But I'm lazy! Someone fix it!
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Jimbob
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« Reply #91 on: April 21, 2007, 06:21:45 PM »

Adam: A couple of things:
- Firstly, how are you meant to get past the guy in the staging area to the elevator without jumping or shimmying across the hole (I assume that's what you mean by 'mantle').
- Secondly, what will actually happen if they see you? Will there just be an exclamation a-la Metal Gear and it fades to black saying, 'You've been caught!' or something? Or just get kicked out of the reception door?
- What would be cool would be if you reduced the total number of mice to say, two or three, and you made the level design so that if they see you, they run in the opposite direction through holes you can't pass through. Thus, you have an added element of having to figure out a path to avoid being seen by the mice (and/or scientists to add a bit of spice) to inject the serum.
- Finally, as a cool side thing: Get rid of the hole in the reception and let the player (if he wishes) enter the room with the lab coat on, prompting an animated gesture or sound clip from the receptionist. Or maybe even a 'Gordon Freeman to the locker room' loudspeaker type Easter Egg. Utterly pointless to the level, but it requires backtracking and not a lot of people would think to do it.

Other than that, great idea.
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Akhel
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« Reply #92 on: April 21, 2007, 06:30:19 PM »

Arg, All these levels need pixels! I want to see something fleshed out! But I'm lazy! Someone fix it!

How do we fix your laziness?
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« Reply #93 on: April 21, 2007, 06:59:40 PM »

Usually, you fix laziness with a high speed drill.

I'm really liking the idea of the lab coat being used to identify yourself as a scientist.  :D I demand 70s-style James Bond music while you're doing it, though.
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AdamAtomic
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« Reply #94 on: April 21, 2007, 09:20:36 PM »

Sorry I was busting that thing out in a rush earlier.  Let me add some extra explanation!

The level has basically two phases; stealth, and hunt & destroy.  The stealth phase involves stealing the actual labcoat item, then walking non-chalantly (so no jumping or crawling - you're a scientist for god's sake, act like one!) to the elevator to the lower levels.  When you arrive in 1B, the other scientists warn you not to go in there, somethings gone horribly wrong, and they're going to gas the lower levels despite the trapped assistant in subbasement 3.  But of course, you're Guy Fucking Balding, and you're not about to let that happen!  Being a fellow scientist thanks to your labcoatedness, you continue through the white door, and as you leap up onto the first pile of debris, your coat falls away, and you get your acrobatics on!

1 - The hole in reception is there mainly for fun.  If players should try to go in there, they'll be caught right away if they're not wearing their labcoat yet.

2 - You're right about there being a bug in the Staging Area.  And in Reception really - I had ladders there, but I forgot why, and took them out at the last minute.  NOW I remember why - so you could walk back across without losing your labcoat!  Thanks for the sharp eyes Smiley  That will be fixed in the final version.

3 - Xion, the right side of Lab 1A is a little bit boring, I'll try to spice it up!

4 - You get the serums from Lab 2D.  There will be 3 different serums in there, then once you rescue the lab assistant, a 4th.

5 - I think when you get caught like the whole screen will flash red, klaxons and sirens, then fade to black, and basically resets.  Though now that you've mentioned it, i don't see any way NOT to include the MGS '!'s :D

6 - Yeah actually I want people to visit Reception right after they get the labcoat, just to hear the receptionist or loudspeaker say something funny right off the bat.  BUT, I want to also have special text from all the scientists if you return to the upper levels after slaying the Mouse Queen, like "oh man Guy Balding you are so awesome - science can't even handle it!!"

7 - You can not walk through debris/damaged.

Finally, I will be pixeling the crap out of this level over the next week I promise :D  will be a decent amount of animation involved as well, but I think it will be worth it!
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AdamAtomic
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« Reply #95 on: April 21, 2007, 10:17:43 PM »

Also, talking with BMcC, I think we should coerce Tennis/Kenneth Fejer into doing a Kid Icarus extra board, and I'd like to volunteer to do the Super Mario Bros. extra board, complete with pipes and flowers and clouds and LAVA.
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AdamAtomic
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« Reply #96 on: April 22, 2007, 03:39:53 PM »



Long ways to go still!  Gotta go back and study Arne's maps a little more before I go too much farther...
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« Reply #97 on: April 22, 2007, 05:08:02 PM »

That is AWESOME!
Great work, Adam. You've fixed my lazy!
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« Reply #98 on: April 22, 2007, 06:15:13 PM »

hahaha i LOVE fixing lazy!  Here's my mario tileset (no level design yet so far):

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« Reply #99 on: April 22, 2007, 06:39:22 PM »

Looking delicious! If only pixels were edible.  Grin
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