Ultimate Game Design : Building game worlds

C H A P T E R 2
� Overuse of switch systems Don’t use too many switches. Nobody wants to
switch doors open every other hallway. Also, don’t make switch puzzles too
tricky and trap your player. I’ll just stop playing your level.
� No surprises Where is my chance to discover something? Don’t make
everything too obvious. I’d like to find hidden areas and untold secrets. I
want to explore this world you’ve put me in. Give me some humor elements.
Let me in on a level secret not known to others.
� No payoff point After I work hard at defeating your enemies and traps,
what do I get? I want a satisfying reward. Give me mini-visual payoffs, too.
When I work my way into new areas, I want a visual payoff point, at a
minimum. Seed the level with visual payoff points. Identify areas where
you seek to visually dazzle the player as a reward for progress.
� Get me stuck You’re not “giving it away” or “helping me” if I can successfully
navigate your level. Test me with your enemy pacing, simple solution finding,
and enemy challenges. Don’t test my sense of direction. I don’t have one. Use
props and texture markers (“I remember this blue floor!”) to help tell me
where I am in your level. Build a simple location finder into your interface.
Do both and I’ll finish your game. Do neither and forget it.
� No purpose or too much purpose Try not to leave me feeling disconnected
from what I’m here to do in your game world. Help me to know what I’m
after, but don’t make it stale. On the other hand, once I know, don’t bother
me about it! Don’t have an NPC or narrator keep popping up to remind me
that I haven’t found what I’m looking for yet.
� Guide my every move Use NPCs wisely. Don’t tell me what to do, when to
do it, and how to do it from moment to moment. Try not to force me to do
things. This is not the experience I’m seeking in buying your game. Teach
me, but don’t force me.
L EVEL STUBBING WALK-THROUGH
With prefab, modularity, asset breakdowns (our list of required environmental features,
props, textures, and scripted events—like the cathedral example), and grid issues
resolved, we can begin to build up our levels. Keep in mind that game developers
use many different software tools to accomplish level construction and world building.
For purposes of demonstration, this section shows you one of the most popular ways.
In this phase, we start to translate our topographic maps into early level geometry or
level meshes. In this context, geometry and mesh simply refer to the wireframe polygonal
model of environmental features, like room definitions or spaces, arches, stairs, and
so forth. Figure 2-3 shows a basic wireframe view.
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Level Planning and Building