Level design/Game Flow Tip

[irishstorm]

Hey there guys!

I am making a Sci-fi themed game for a college assignment that's due in at the end of March, it’s going to be very basic game with the timeframe given.

So a little bit about the game concept. I am going with a generic Sci-fi setting, scientist’s experimenting with robotics, building robotic super soldiers for the military ( might be a bit to ambitious ).

It’s going to be a survival third person shooter singleplayer. I was wondering if anyone could help me with game flow, I know that most multiplayer maps are done in a figure eight pattern so that it always loops and singleplayer is generally quite liner, so I was thinking of mashing the two together.

For my level i am going to do it in sections, I have done a rough sketched on paper and then designed it in Photoshop for my first section!

Here's a pic of the third draft! - Very liner =)

anyone got any thoughts, tips or suggestion? I would very much appreciate it.

[RedYager]

Before I say anything, let it be known I have never really provided feedback on such things, I'm also extremely tired.

You show a start location, but no end location so I've no idea where the player is heading, aside from assuming its one end of those halls.

You give no story, go no goal, so I don't know what the objective is of having these rooms around the halls.

If the exit/goal/finish is on the main hall way, it might be a bit, if not way, too linear, Unless the rooms around the hall are utilised.

[Algor]

What yager said.

Looks like a classic Silent Hill 2 apartment-esque layout. Do the "locked" rooms ever open?

[mjens]

Making straght corridors will force you to sell all the mood at one time. Add way more turns, make it more unique and explorable. Remember that you're making a game and you can't just copy/paste original floor plans form real buildings. Also it's very typical and a bit lame to start a player's exploration in toilet. Your plan should tell where and why he is, how he will move from one place to another, what he will find. Also don't count that player will visit all the rooms and look on stuf you did there. Most of the players will jus run through objectives so make a player's way filled with decoration and avoid dead ends.

EDIT:

Lunaran already covered some of that tips in his article:

[Puddy]

That's just a floor plan imho.

What kind of challenges will the player face? What will his toolset be (abilities, weapons etc)? What's the goal of the level? And where are all these things located within the level? How fun will it to be enter a lot of siderooms that are dead ends? There's a lot of unknowns at the moment. You should focus more on what the level should contain and what the game, in general, will be about and then design the game space to meet those goals.

[GregBoffins]

Making straght corridors will force you to sell all the mood at one time. Add way more turns, make it more unique and explorable. Remember that you're making a game and you can't just copy/paste original floor plans form real buildings. Also it's very typical and a bit lame to start a player's exploration in toilet. Your plan should tell where and why he is, how he will move from one place to another, what he will find. Also don't count that player will visit all the rooms and look on stuf you did there. Most of the players will jus run through objectives so make a player's way filled with decoration and avoid dead ends.

EDIT:

Lunaran already covered some of that tips in his article:

That image doesn't work now 100% of the time.

A lot of games are becoming "cinematic" so a straight corridor will server a purpose now for story telling reasons.

For game play it's not good to leave it straight though, but since more and more AAA games are all about story and cover systems they are more or less straight corridors.

[insta]

It's not a layout, it's a floorplan

[irishstorm]

You show a start location, but no end location

There are no end locations because, i am breaking the Layout Pictures into different sections. I know that’s stupid and takes longer but i prefer to do it that way.

You give no story, go no goal, so I don't know what the objective is of having these rooms around the halls.

Yeah i haven't started them yet as i just got the assignment yesterday!, But basically its going to be something on the lines of a arcade style game, where you need to survive a certain amount of "Waves" of enemies before you can continue to the next level this will more then likely change.

Do the "locked" rooms ever open?

Yes! i am going to add hidden ways into them and then have them unlock from the inside.

it's very typical and a bit lame to start a player's exploration in toilet.

the player starts in a elevator, as the level begins there is a 10 second delay and the elevator doors open.

Remember that you're making a game and you can't just copy/paste original floor plans form real buildings.

Maybe i am picking this up wrong, but are you implying that i am using someone else’s floor plans ?

It's not a layout, it's a floor plan

What’s the difference? this is the way i always design my levels

I also forgot to mention that this is my first attempt at making a game, so please be nice

[choppp]

Remember that you're making a game and you can't just copy/paste original floor plans form real buildings.

Maybe i am picking this up wrong, but are you implying that i am using someone else’s floor plans ?

It's not a layout, it's a floor plan

What’s the difference? this is the way i always design my levels

I agree with these points, and I think they're pointing out that design isn't specifically built like a structure. A lot of level design is about communicating spaces that can be understood by the player. It's important to figure out what parts of the level mean, and things that happen to the player.

Also, floor plans are a good foundation, but more visual realization would help substantially, whether its a drawing of the scene or a prototype model/map.

On a side note, I'd recommend playing Deus Ex: HR if you haven't already. They do an excellent job of weaving the player through very structured buildings, and so on.

[2d-chris]

A good tip is to not think specifically about setting and geometry, but to first start with a massive list of cool ideas you want to try, whats the story and theme of the area? You'd be amazed how formulating some kind of basic flow will open a world of possibilities.

For example,

Scientists are close to developing a retro virus that will eliminate *enemy x*, the problem is the facilities power systems have gone down. Your tasked with finding out whats up? You head to the power plant to discover matt damon has wires stuck into his head and is actually an alien that's growing into a horrific mega boss. You kill matt damon and plug the power in from his head so the scientists can finish their important project.

Only then with a basic plan of action should you start to draw, model, test, iterate and cry

I've gone about making SP levels with both methods. The easier newby throw some shit together based on real life, make some geometry and try to fill it up with cool stuff approach, and the considerably better plan a story, events and goals and then get dirty with design. All that being said, some of the best ideas come from just trying shit out, so it's a giant mixture

PS

If it's just you or a very small team - treat it like a demo, start with some text/dialog of the backstory, set the scene here. The level itself needs a goal, so keep it simple and short ... you know find the missing scientists or what ever. The end with some closing dialog/text to wrap it all up. The key is to feel like you've accomplished something and are a part of an adventure of some kind, walking about some corridors won't give you that feeling alone

[GregBoffins]

A good tip is to not think specifically about setting and geometry, but to first start with a massive list of cool ideas you want to try, whats the story and theme of the area? You'd be amazed how formulating some kind of basic flow will open a world of possibilities.

For example,

Scientists are close to developing a retro virus that will eliminate *enemy x*, the problem is the facilities power systems have gone down. Your tasked with finding out whats up? You head to the power plant to discover matt damon has wires stuck into his head and is actually an alien that's growing into a horrific mega boss. You kill matt damon and plug the power in from his head so the scientists can finish their important project.

Only then with a basic plan of action should you start to draw, model, test, iterate and cry

I've gone about making SP levels with both methods. The easier newby throw some shit together based on real life, make some geometry and try to fill it up with cool stuff approach, and the considerably better plan a story, events and goals and then get dirty with design. All that being said, some of the best ideas come from just trying shit out, so it's a giant mixture

PS

If it's just you or a very small team - treat it like a demo, start with some text/dialog of the backstory, set the scene here. The level itself needs a goal, so keep it simple and short ... you know find the missing scientists or what ever. The end with some closing dialog/text to wrap it all up. The key is to feel like you've accomplished something and are a part of an adventure of some kind, walking about some corridors won't give you that feeling alone

This is pretty bang on.

Although I like to think about the setting first because then it gives me boundaries to think about my crazy ideas(I find it fun to come up with cool ideas within a given rule set, more of a challenge). For example you could have a great idea but it wont fit in to the setting or the setting that fits that idea you may not like.

Although we are talking specifics here, but I thought I'd add that

[arhurt]

You say you have a survival third-person shooter, how is it that you'll create this gameplay? Are you going to have a lot of exploration and scavenging for items (bigger environments, less linear) or just plain few resources and force the player to play smart?

I'd take a look at Flying wild Hog's Hard Reset levels, they have a nice linear environment that usually goes on spirals and revisits settings multiple times from different angles and is a nice way to have a somewhat large level that won't need to stretch over a wide area too much. Like they usually start with the player at the lower section, then he goes to the back and climbs on some walkways that spiral back over the starting area. I think it's the best way you can do this and keep the amount of actual work to a minimum.