Ch 1 – History & Background the world of the level designer
1. Imagine that you are a level designer working in the 1980s. Knowing the
limitations associated with this era, what type of game would you develop?
I would like to create a RPG like The Legend of Zelda or just a text based adventure game.
2. Play three games—one from the 1980s, one from the 1990s, and one
released after 2004. Compare and contrast how levels and environments are
designed in all three games.
Final Fantasy (1987) –The levels and environment in Final Fantasy were made to be very simple due to the technology at the time. The grass would be plain green, dirt would be plain brown, all the trees looked the same, the sea had a very basic pattern. The level design was just basically dungeons where you would try to find something or someone inside them.
Super Mario 64 (1996) – The levels and environment in Super Mario 64 was very bright and colourful. The levels were kind of designed to make you follow a path.
Diablo 3 (2012) – Diablo 3 level design is quite simple, you would enter a dungeon and explore it trying to get to lower levels until you reach your objective or a portal out of it. The environment has a dark evil feel to it which makes a lot sense as the world is being overrun by demons.
3. How does a game’s genre affect the way its levels and environments are
designed? Choose one level from three different games—each from a distinct
primary genre—and compare how these levels are designed with regard to
setting, goals, puzzles, and risk–reward system.
Gears of War (FPS) – The levels are set out to give the player cover almost everywhere throughout the game, which they can use to avoid taking damage from enemy fire. Players can choose to get out of cover and charge at the enemy or take cover closer to the enemy to make more accurate shots or use melee, but in doing so the player will be much more likely to get shot.
Tekken (Fighting game) – In Tekken the aim of the game is to knockout your opponent before they knock you out. As attacking leaves the player defenceless it is quite risky and must be timed well or the attack could be blocked, dodged or if the attack is too slow the player could get hit before landing a blow. The player will have to decide on whether to block the opponent’s attacks or dodge or even counter them.
Final Fantasy (RPG) – The dungeons in final fantasy usually give you more than one path to follow, only a few may lead to the goal but others will lead to treasure or a dead end. The player can risk running around battling enemies searching for treasure which could be very helpful but dangerous as the enemies will slowly be killing the player if they run out of resources. But the player usually has the option to run from the enemies taking only a fraction of the damage that they would take otherwise, but the enemies if defeated can also reward the player by giving money, items and experience which allows the player to level up.
