Level Design
See: Progression – Quest design.
Consider what data needs to be maintained between levels/sections
Also, consider what does NOT need to maintained – e.g. having sub sectional maps for particular purposes, which have particular data (like objects/locked things etc.) that are no longer required later, but don’t need to be ‘checked’ for from that point onwards – or can it just be deleted from the data model so it won’t be checked anyway…
Puzzle dependency charts
Journey into the DAG: Puzzle Dependency Charts, Tentacles and You
World Design for 2D Action-Adventures
Escape room design
Well, would never have thought of this as a link (no pun intended..) https://roomescapeartist.com/2017/09/10/boss-keys-analysis-zelda-dungeons/
Zelda dungeon analysis – for escape room design? Yup! – this site has a bunch of great resources actually: https://roomescapeartist.com/category/business/room-design/
Zelda dungeon design
Eastern Palace
go north 4 rooms – west 2 rooms – north 1 room – east 3 rooms – south 1 room – west 2 rooms – open chest – north 1 room – east 1 room – north 1 room and out
Lots of optional rooms
large explorable space
keys force you off critical path -= modulate diffculty by moving key further away from door
winding path – has more than one level – its a 3d maze…
later dungeons have several doors and several keys – all of which can potentialy open them – so it FEELS like you are deciding your path…
Links awakening – GBA
https://www.pcgamer.com/how-to-design-a-great-metroidvania-map
Original full stream: • Live Lecture: Level Design Approaches for … Sources: Steve Lee’s Channel – / @stevelee_gamedev Lost Relic Games on Level Design Mistakes – • System Driven Level Design (My Biggest Mis… Ed Kay’s GDC talk on Level Design as a Solo Dev: • Moving Mountains: Speedy Level Creation as… Ali Youssef’s Blog on Level Design Basics pt. 1: https://gamedev.dou.ua/blogs/level-de… pt. 2: https://gamedev.dou.ua/blogs/level-de… John Romero’s Level Design Tips/Rules: https://www.helldoradoteam.com/2018/1… Tim Cain on Game Production Stages (inc. “Beautiful Corner”) • Game Production Stages Indie Game Clinic on Environmental Storytelling: • Environmental Storytelling Explained [Stra…
References
References from: World Design for 2D Action-Adventures
https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/book-excerpt-world-design-for-2d-action-adventures
Aya. 2005. A Brief – But Comprehensive – History of the Action/Adventure Genre. 8 February. Accessed May 22, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20090129103800/http://justadventure.com/articles/ActionAdventures/AA.shtm.
Barton, Matt. 2008. Dungeons and Desktops. Natick, Massachusetts: AK Peters.
Bunch, Kevin. 2020. Adventure: Atari Archive Episode 33. 29 March. Accessed May 22, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKq2_060Hk4&list=PLPb8P1_Kn–aDXU7QKIpZh_aCQ0NiBksm&index=2.
—. 2019. Superman: Atari Archive Episode 29. 15 December. Accessed May 22, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyM8Qf4Bls4.
Clarke, Rachel I., Jin Ha, and Neils and Clark. 2015. “Why Video GAme Genres Fail: A Classificatory Analysis.” School of Information Studies – Faculty Scholarship 167.
Donovan, Tristan. 2010. Replay: The History of Video Games. East Sussex: Yellow Ant.
Howard, Jeff. 2008. Quests: Design, Theory, and History in Games and Narratives. Boca Raton, FL: AK Peters/CRC Press.
Juul, Jesper. 2014. Genre in Video Games (and Why We don’t Talk [more] about it). 22 December. Accessed May 22, 2023. https://www.jesperjuul.net/ludologist/2014/12/22/genre-in-video-games-and-why-we-dont-talk-about-it/.
Lockwood, Tom. 2023. GB Studio Central: TMNT III Radical Rescue and Map Design. 11 April. Accessed May 23, 2023. https://gbstudiocentral.com/spotlight/tmnt-3/.
Luban, Pascal. 2002. Designing and Integrating Puzzles in Action-Adventure Games. 6 December. Accessed May 22, 2023. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/designing-and-integrating-puzzles-in-action-adventure-games#close-modal.
Matulef, Jeffrey. 2014. Eurogamer: Koji Igarashi says Castlevania: SotN was inspired by Zelda, not Metroid. 21 March . Accessed May 23, 2023. https://www.eurogamer.net/koji-igarashi-says-castlevania-sotn-was-inspired-by-zelda-not-metroid.
Parish, Jeremy. 2020. Castlevania II / Golvellius retrospective: ’Vania mania | Metroidvania Works #013 . 28 October. Accessed May 23, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTD0cDHd5Wk&list=PLd3vJYdenHKGrWrvCGsIbOOl_h_6tzERM&index=14.
—. 2019. Pitfall II retrospective: Get Lost | Metroidvania Works #007 . 6 November . Accessed May 23, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZ2rP6r-KOU&list=PLd3vJYdenHKGrWrvCGsIbOOl_h_6tzERM&index=8.
—. 2019. Game Boy Works #115: The Tower of Druaga retrospective. 18 December. Accessed July 14, 2023. https://youtu.be/3pyfx2jcotg.
—. 2015. Metroidvania Works #04: Venture [Exidy, 1981]. 29 December. Accessed May 22, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48R-usJ_XKU&list=PLd3vJYdenHKGrWrvCGsIbOOl_h_6tzERM&index=5.
—. 2016. Metroidvania Works #05: Pitfall [Activision, 1982]. 19 April . Accessed May 23, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgzDMPNKUvE&list=PLd3vJYdenHKGrWrvCGsIbOOl_h_6tzERM&index=6.
—. 2020. Romancia / Ys / Legacy of the Wizard / Faxanadu retrospective: Falcom Works | Metroidvania Works #12. 5 August. Accessed May 23, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ktp1FNt6DGo&list=PLd3vJYdenHKGrWrvCGsIbOOl_h_6tzERM&index=14.
—. 2020. Zelda II / Rygar / The Goonies II retrospective: NES is more | Metroidvania Works #11. 29 July. Accessed May 23, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wcefuuDoBU&list=PLd3vJYdenHKGrWrvCGsIbOOl_h_6tzERM&index=13.
Rollings, Andrew, and Ernest Adams. 2006. Fundamentals of Game Design. Hoboken: Prentice Hall.
Sorlie, Audun. 2011. HG101: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Radical Rescue. 14 February. Accessed May 23, 2023. http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-iii-radical-rescue/.
TheOneRing.net. 2013. Interview with Gary Gygax, Creator of Dungeons & Dragons. 6 December . Accessed May 23, 2023. http://archives.theonering.net/features/interviews/gary_gygax.html.
[1] Many 3D action-adventure games utilize 2D game making in their prototyping processes. One famous example is how the developers of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, a 3D open-world style action adventure, created a top-down 2D game in the style of the original Legend of Zelda as a means of prototyping Breath of the Wild’s core gameplay.
[2] Clarke, Rachel I., Jin Ha, and Neils and Clark. 2015. “Why Video Game Genres Fail: A Classificatory Analysis.” School of Information Studies – Faculty Scholarship 167.
[3] Juul, Jesper. 2014. Genre in Video Games (and Why We don’t Talk [more] about it). 22 December. Accessed May 22, 2023. https://www.jesperjuul.net/ludologist/2014/12/22/genre-in-video-games-and-why-we-dont-talk-about-it/.
[4] Rollings, Andrew, and Ernest Adams. 2006. Fundamentals of Game Design. Hoboken: Prentice Hall.
[5] Luban, Pascal. 2002. Designing and Integrating Puzzles in Action-Adventure Games. 6 December. Accessed May 22, 2023. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/designing-and-integrating-puzzles-in-action-adventure-games#close-modal.
[6] Aya. 2005. A Brief – But Comprehensive – History of the Action/Adventure Genre. 8 February. Accessed May 22, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20090129103800/http://justadventure.com/articles/ActionAdventures/AA.shtm.
[7] Rollings, Andrew, and Ernest Adams. 2006. Fundamentals of Game Design. Hoboken: Prentice Hall.
[8] Bunch, Kevin. 2019. Superman: Atari Archive Episode 29. 15 December. Accessed May 22, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyM8Qf4Bls4.
[9] Bunch, Kevin. 2020. Adventure: Atari Archive Episode 33. 29 March. Accessed May 22, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKq2_060Hk4&list=PLPb8P1_Kn–aDXU7QKIpZh_aCQ0NiBksm&index=2.
[10] Parish, Jeremy. 2015. Metroidvania Works #04: Venture [Exidy, 1981]. 29 December. Accessed May 22, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48R-usJ_XKU&list=PLd3vJYdenHKGrWrvCGsIbOOl_h_6tzERM&index=5.
[11] Howard, Jeff. 2008. Quests: Design, Theory, and History in Games and Narratives. Boca Raton, FL: AK Peters/CRC Press.
[12] Game Designer Scott Rogers contends that this association with the Inferno and the nine levels of Hell, along with the similar concept of descending into “levels” of a dungeon in many RPG games, are where the term “level” comes from when referring to game environments.
[13] TheOneRing.net. 2013. Interview with Gary Gygax, Creator of Dungeons & Dragons. 6 December . Accessed May 23, 2023. http://archives.theonering.net/features/interviews/gary_gygax.html.
[14] Barton, Matt. 2008. Dungeons and Desktops. Natick, Massachusetts: AK Peters.
[15] Parish, Jeremy. 2016. Metroidvania Works #05: Pitfall [Activision, 1982]. 19 April . Accessed May 23, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgzDMPNKUvE&list=PLd3vJYdenHKGrWrvCGsIbOOl_h_6tzERM&index=6.
[16] Donovan, Tristan. 2010. Replay: The History of Video Games. East Sussex: Yellow Ant.
[17] Aya. 2005. A Brief – But Comprehensive – History of the Action/Adventure Genre. 8 February. Accessed May 22, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20090129103800/http://justadventure.com/articles/ActionAdventures/AA.shtm.
[18] Parish, Jeremy. 2019. Pitfall II retrospective: Get Lost | Metroidvania Works #007 . 6 November . Accessed May 23, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZ2rP6r-KOU&list=PLd3vJYdenHKGrWrvCGsIbOOl_h_6tzERM&index=8.
[19] Parish, Jeremy. 2020. Castlevania II / Golvellius retrospective: ’Vania mania | Metroidvania Works #013 . 28 October. Accessed May 23, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTD0cDHd5Wk&list=PLd3vJYdenHKGrWrvCGsIbOOl_h_6tzERM&index=14.
[20] Parish, Jeremy. 2020. Zelda II / Rygar / The Goonies II retrospective: NES is more | Metroidvania Works #11. 29 July. Accessed May 23, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wcefuuDoBU&list=PLd3vJYdenHKGrWrvCGsIbOOl_h_6tzERM&index=13
[21] Parish, Jeremy. 2020. Zelda II / Rygar / The Goonies II retrospective: NES is more | Metroidvania Works #11. 29 July. Accessed May 23, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wcefuuDoBU&list=PLd3vJYdenHKGrWrvCGsIbOOl_h_6tzERM&index=13
[22] Goonies II would also include “adventure scenes”, which were first-person-styled and menu-based graphical adventure sequences not unlike early adventure games. Parish notes that this makes the game a link between contemporary action-adventures of the late 80’s and their “primordial” origins in the likes of Colossal Cave Adventure and Zork.
[23] Parish, Jeremy. 2020. Romancia / Ys / Legacy of the Wizard / Faxanadu retrospective: Falcom Works | Metroidvania Works #12. 5 August. Accessed May 23, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ktp1FNt6DGo&list=PLd3vJYdenHKGrWrvCGsIbOOl_h_6tzERM&index=14.
[24] It is further outside the scope of this book to untangle the complicated lineage of the Wonder Boy and Monster World games and these authors, in fact, don’t wish to touch that.
[25] Lockwood, Tom. 2023. GB Studio Central: TMNT III Radical Rescue and Map Design. 11 April. Accessed May 23, 2023. https://gbstudiocentral.com/spotlight/tmnt-3/.
[26] Though this book’s focus is on how the creative aspects of these games’ designs evolved over time as developers continued to learn from previous works, the authors acknowledge the role that increased hardware power and storage space also contributed to these evolutions.
[27] Co-author of this book Chris Totten included.
[28] [Reference to Metroidvania Retronauts where Benj argues this]
[29] Matulef, Jeffrey. 2014. Eurogamer: Koji Igarashi says Castlevania: SotN was inspired by Zelda, not Metroid. 21 March . Accessed May 23, 2023. https://www.eurogamer.net/koji-igarashi-says-castlevania-sotn-was-inspired-by-zelda-not-metroid.