Mountain Level Design: part 2

Besides giant snow boulders rolling down the mountain, there were other key ideas we wanted expressed in this first level. One such level feature that we wanted to include in this first level is a large field of vision. What that meant to us is that we wanted the player to see features of the level that he would run across in the future, as well as looking back to see where he has come from. What this means for level design is that instead of a fairly straight, linear path that that the player would traverse, we instead designed a path that would spiral, and/ or swerve and curve back over itself.

In the image above, the player could see clearly where he is now, and the immediate setting. It happens that this is a plane area, with reindeer pens in the back, and a large rock wall framing the area. However, while the player is looking just above the brown rock wall, he can see that second level, where he will be running as soon as he finishes off these enemies before him. We realize that the player might not yet realize that he will be running up there, but he will notice it soon. One thing that he might see now is the giant snowball boulder that is falling. We hope this will make him excited to see what is coming, and where that boulder is falling.

This screenshot above is seen by the player in the first moments of the game experience. Right away he can see that he is going to have to go through a cave, and perhaps he can make sense that he will be running up that slope in the near future. He is helped to this conclusion by seeing that there is a fence that lines the slope. Or maybe the player doesn't come to that conclusion regarding the slope. He will know soon enough.

Indeed, a few moments later, after killing this onslaught of enemies, and rounding the corner, and dodging that giant snowball, the player will find himself on the mezzanine of that reindeer pen area, and the player is able to look down upon the place he was previously. There are several places in this first level where this feature of the level design is manifest.

Above, the player is looking down that slope that he might have noticed at the beginning. He can look all the way back to the point where he began the game.

However, as game development was wrapping up and coming to a close, it became clear that such level design might have actually worked to our detriment. That is because the resolution of the assets in the level were high for our system. The best solution is to be able to turn off such assets when they are not in view. However, this is not a viable solution if we want to maintain this large field of vision. That is to say that if we want the player to look over a cliff to see places where he already passed, then we can't turn off those previous places!

Well, it so happened that the level design was such that, in fact, there were places to travel where the player could not see earlier places in the level. Therefore, we were able to exercise the best solution, and turn off certain parts of the level (just not to the degree that we wanted to.)

(Perhaps the reason there are so many games that have levels where the player travels from room to room is so that the engine can turn off all the other rooms that are not in the field of vision. We would explore this sort of level design in other levels (primarily the factory/ prison level, and the palace level). Further, now we know that our level design in future games will try to optimize the field of vision so that we can turn off elements that are not currently in view, and thus, that don't have to be rendered.)

Above is an example in this first level where we wanted a bit of a break in the feel of the level. This break is clearly demarcated by laying out fences that divide the previous parts of the level (the reindeer pens, and then up the slope) to this new portion of the level, the Igloo Village. The player can already see that there will be igloos here, and that the main borders of the path will be icy blocks instead of rocks, or the sides of mountain.

Of course, just because this is a new section of the level, it does not mean that we wanted to abandon our original ideal of seeing parts of the level that are coming up. In the screenshot above, while fighting through the igloo village, the player can see the mouth of the cave that is coming up, that might just be around the bend.

... and so, the player arrives at the entrance to the cave. Again, we wanted to clearly illustrate that the player would be entering a new section of the level, and so there is a fence that welcomes (or not) the player to what is coming next, the cave, which is the first part of the game where the player is completely surrounded, and does not have a large field of vision. This is where the player faces the boss, and finishes the level.

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http://elfwhokilledchristmas.com/
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