Level Up.pdf

The Gary Gygax Memorial Mapping Section 219
I have found that there are two types of three - dimensional video game level
design: alleys and islands.
Alleys create a directed gameplay experience; the player has a goal to
reach and the level is built to help them reach it. Your alley can be narrow
like those found in Portal or it can be wider to give the illusion of freedom
and space, as seen in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
Alleys offer the following advantages to designers:
• It ’ s easier to place camera trigger zones when you know where and how
the player will be entering and moving through the level.
• You can get dramatic with your camera movements to inform the player,
or enhance the action and drama.
• You can remove the camera controls from the game, allowing the player
to concentrate on gameplay.
• You can create scripted, triggered gameplay events, since you know
where the player is looking.
• It ’ s easier to choreograph combat and other gameplay events like traps.
• Bottlenecks can be created to prevent backtracking.
• The designer can use illusional narrative to tell the level ’ s story.
The island level, in my opinion, is a bit more challenging to design and
build. The game camera has to be flexible enough to accommodate a wide
variety of widths and elevations. Scripted events are tough to execute, as
there ’ s no guarantee that the player will be looking in the right direction.
Combat encounters can be completely circumnavigated by players. Even
stagecraft- style tricks like fa ç ades are useless, as level geometry can be
viewed and interacted with from all directions.
Despite these limitations, island level design offers expansive space that
allows the player the freedom to choose the order in which they want to
experience the gameplay. Mario 64 is one of the earliest examples of island
level design in which the player could choose to climb mountains, explore
hills, or swim into underwater grottos in any order they liked. Islands allow
for unparallel freedom for the player. In fact, an entire genre — the
sandbox— has emerged as island level designs have grown bigger and
bigger. Grand Theft Auto 4, Burnout Paradise, and Halo’ s multiplayer levels
are just huge island playgrounds.
When creating these sandbox worlds, you should divide them up into
distinct areas to aid the player ’ s navigation and orientation, much like the
“ lands ” of Disneyland. Disneyland goes through great pains to make each
land visually distinct. Take Frontierland: It has everything you would expect
in the old west; watering troughs, wooden cigar- store Indians, wagons,