Level Up.pdf

238 LEVEL 9 Everything I Learned about Level Design, I Learned from Level 9
can stand on (like platforms) is relatively flat. Most characters are not
programmed to adjust their body to uneven surfaces and, even if they are,
they can “ stutter ” or misstep as they are playing their walking animations.
Try to have smooth transitions between even small elevations to avoid this
problem.
While making a level feel like a real place helps the designer create the
level, remember that you shouldn ’ t be bound by realism: this is a game after
all, and you are only limited by how real you want to make it.
However, here is a cautionary tale about realism. A friend of mine was a
designer who joined the team of an action shooter. The levels had already
been created by the artists, who were extremely proud that they had created
architecturally accurate buildings. These buildings had realistic nooks,
stairwells, in - scale hallways, and even bathrooms on each level. The
buildings were almost completely unusable in the game as the spaces didn ’ t
allow for gameplay or work well with the game camera. Think of it this way: in
the movie Star Wars we never saw the toilets on the Death Star. I ’ m sure they
were there just off camera, but because we didn ’ t need to see them, we
didn ’ t have to see them. Omit any parts of your building, temple, city, and so
on that doesn ’ t help support telling the story that you want to tell.
Stop! Wait, you haven ’ t built your gray box levels yet have you?
Good, because you will want to create a playground first. A playground is
a gray box level not intended to be used in the game. It is a separate
testing ground for game mechanics and hazards. All mechanics and
hazards should be tested and tweaked in the playground until they feel
right, then you can use them in your levels. Here are a few things to test in
your own playground:
• Create ground angles to test basic walking, running, inverse kinematics
(IK), and other technology to make sure the player looks good while
moving even when not on level ground.
• Build several simple boxes at a variety of elevations to test the player ’ s
metrics with jumping, hoisting, teeter, etc. You should create any specific
length and height geometry to test double and wall jumps.
• Test mechanics and hazards to determine distance, timing, and
lethality.
The sister to the playground is the combat arena. This is just like a
playground but used by the dev team to test combat systems, cover
systems, and enemies. Have a way to quickly spawn and test combinations
of enemies to create the best combat experiences. I ’ d rather hold off on
talking about this because — SPOILER ALERT — the next two chapters are all
about combat and enemies!