Help my Level Design

Hello, good evening.
As you may know, I work on Temporal Line, a mod that I hope will be respected. But I want to have a very good level design. I think that's something we have or not. I want to make very good levels like those of Tortured Planet. I think my main problem rests not on Things (bonus, enemies) but especially for the disposal sector. You're going to redirect the SRB2 WIKI, I know, but I do NOT want this.
What I come want here looks simple but in reality it is certainly a very complicated thing to SRB2. Thus, I demand answers and make sure the levels will be correct. I would preferably councils by experienced builders.


To prevent the wiki links, I want this :
Here are several sentences. I ask you to confirm correct those false and confirm real ones.


- We need to create wide corridors. Mecha / Techno size : about the beginning of ERZ1 , and Nature size : around the beginning of Sunshine Atoll Act 1.
- The rings are usually either be placed in a circle or in small lines of 3 or 5.
- "Decoration" : create small platforms slightly higher or less high than the ground or Sonic short (decoration). This allows not leave land empty and flat.
- I want to emphasize on this, because it is probably my biggest fault level design (check it if is wrong): Do not create a single path. Urban style (ERZ or THZ) is MUCH harder to insert various ways, and in general the roads are divided into two branches very visible and can maybe stop the player that he chooses his path, left or right.
However, the style nature, specially like Sunshine Atoll (again, yes.) Is much easier to create multiple paths that do not resemble two branches visible.
- Bonuses, the "risk vs. reward" : bonuses are small "gifts" to the player who takes the time to visit the place, he will be rewarded by a little bit of rings, or something small (Ring boxes, shields maybe ...) It is important that the bonus hidden behind walls or other things can be tracked using a different texture, for example (like the grid Greenflow with cracks.)

The risk vs. reward offer great gifts to the player. It's more powerful shields, invisibility, 1-Up, etc.. However, I must be careful that Knuckles and Tails are not too many advantages to Sonic to get these rewards.
It is preferable that the paths that lead to rewards is dangerous and within sight of the player.


There. Now, please, NO LINK WIKI. I read it.
I work on a "mini-pack" that contains all types of environments: city, forest, beach, desert, water (style DSZ), space, etc.. I will accept all your criticisms and I apply a maximum of it : I want to have the same L. design as Fawfulfan!

Thank you so much, it's an advanced topic.

I don't think you want to have level design "exactly like" mine. Every level designer has things they are good at and things they are bad at, and every level designer has a unique style.

But I'm just being too literal here; I know what you mean--you want to be at my skill level. (Personally, I'd say a far better goal would be to be at the skill level of Spherallic or Blade, who, in my opinion, are better level designers than myself, but that might be a little too ambitious.)

You definitely have potential. You're already a better level designer than a lot of people in this community, in that you have solid ideas for gimmicks and execute them competently. Your main shortcoming is a lack of moderation in your level design; you frequently overuse good gimmicks and visuals to the point that people get very tired of them.

Now, I will analyze the basic things that you said:

-Yes, sufficiently wide corridors are important. There isn't a real formula for working out precisely how wide a given corridor should be; you have to base it on intuition. Generally, length of a corridor can be quite important too; an overly long hallway is boring, but if there are any twists and turns, then a short hallway can prevent the player from getting a good view of what's ahead. Of course, it's always possible to design levels so that conventional "hallways" aren't necessary.

-The technique of contouring the landscape with slight grooves and depressions is something I specialize in, and it can certainly work, but it is just one strategy. If you think it's appropriate in a certain situation, go for it, just note that it isn't crucial.

-Yes, that one is very important. Having only one path means there will be substantially less reason to play the level a second time. The more alternate paths you have, the more open and more interesting your level will be, but you should bear in mind that there is a right way to do it and a wrong way. In particular, be careful about how your paths split and join up; doing this incorrectly can confuse players into going backwards along the other path. Also, you don't need to just use basic two-path splits; you can have three or four paths, or you could make one branch of a path split divide into two more paths. Note, however, that it is essential that every path be interesting for some reason. If one path is clearly better-looking or easier or both, the other will never be used.

-You should indeed use appropriate risk and reward for bonuses. There's a lot of flexibility in that; be creative in how you hide those, and make sure that whatever you have to do to get it isn't too hard or too easy based on what it is.

Also, did you really look at the Wiki that closely? In particular, did you read Level Design 101? It's a very, very helpful resource, and you shouldn't underestimate it. It tells you all kinds of things, including some of what I am telling you here.

I guess that covers everything I have to say, really.

Maybe there are more experienced mappers you. I'm not saying otherwise. However, I am especially inspired by T. Planet because it contains all styles of environment with the style that I like. I love your way for to design levels. So, from time to time, in my levels, I wonder : What will Fawfulfan? ^^" .It's especially your style I want to approach.




I just had an idea ... but is it good?

- I create a level. It will look something like Golden Palace (my level of competition). Then I go begin again, I create some walls cracked with bonus behind, I enlarged the area to create additional passages ... and then I go back AGAIN at the beginning, and repeatedly up until the level is free and great for the player without it messes up the framerate. Is this a good idea?

Now, I told myself that maybe the creation of various passages is harder in different environment.
Is it easier to create multiple level crossings in a "natural" level or "city / death egg style?"


It is possible that my little problems are due to my themes ... too specific and hard (urban style). I should try a training level in the nature theme and see if the level is actually easier to build or not. (I'm not talking about gadgets, eh. I mean the player that way in everything and anything that does not stop when he sees that the area is enlarged to have a branch paths ...)

Another question, perhaps it is a key to my level design. When I start a "room" (say for example ... Greenflower act 1, the beginning to the first Check Point, before the bridge over the lake.), I should rather make a large circular space or I will put things or instead create a "tunnel" into a giant wall?

And one last question. Sorry. Should you avoid up the walls in the style NATURE?



WIKI SRB2: I've read, I have never underestimated, it helped me enormously in 90% of cases. I reread occasionally Part Level Design 101 to rework my brain to the level design.

Thank you for answers to some situations, anyway !

Try your best to emulate things to how it would look if it was real.

Try your best to emulate things to how it would look if it was real.

Click to expand...

I reassure you, I try to do that ... but hey, I think me is that the level design, it's we had or we had not ...

I train in urban setting at the moment. About several passages, it is not the top. It is normal that I have more difficulty creating passages in environment "city / metropolis style" ?

Go look at other people's maps. Mystic Realm is good for the basics. Looking at how other people solve problems is something you'll want to do often as a new mapper.

Internet Explorer said:

- We need to create wide corridors. Mecha / Techno size : about the beginning of ERZ1 , and Nature size : around the beginning of Sunshine Atoll Act 1.

Click to expand...

Too small corridors are always bad. I go with 256 as my minimum width, and 192 as my minimum height. (I think in multiples of 64, so when I see "256" I think "4".) Other than that, pick the size of your rooms based on how you want them to feel. There's no rule for how big you should make it, but if you have too much unused space you're probably too big.

Internet Explorer said:

- The rings are usually either be placed in a circle or in small lines of 3 or 5.

Click to expand...

I usually go 4 to 7 for my ring lines. You use rings to catch the player's attention and give the level a stronger sense of direction. Generally the player goes from one line of rings to another, so they're a very effective way of pointing forward blatantly without seeming to. I only use a circle of rings when it feels right. Part of mapping is calibrating your gut, then following it.

Internet Explorer said:

- "Decoration" : create small platforms slightly higher or less high than the ground or Sonic short (decoration). This allows not leave land empty and flat.

Click to expand...

Decoration is anything that makes your level more interesting to look at. It can be anywhere. On the floor, on the walls, in the air. Most mappers don't decorate their walls, so you'll stand out if you do. They don't because SRB2 maps are built from the top down so it's harder. You'd also want to decorate with something that feels appropriate for your theme. Rocks and trees are good outdoors, and architectural details are good indoors.

Internet Explorer said:

- I want to emphasize on this, because it is probably my biggest fault level design (check it if is wrong): Do not create a single path. Urban style (ERZ or THZ) is MUCH harder to insert various ways, and in general the roads are divided into two branches very visible and can maybe stop the player that he chooses his path, left or right.
However, the style nature, specially like Sunshine Atoll (again, yes.) Is much easier to create multiple paths that do not resemble two branches visible.

Click to expand...

I think of paths as a rabbit trail of the mind as much as anything else. I want to do something with one path that doesn't feel right in the other. The other thing about paths is that they give your level more substance without being too long. I'd like to think that a one-path level would work occasionally, so long as that one path has a lot of stuff to do. But that would be really boring for me to make for me, so I think I'll never do it.

In terms of how you graft your paths together, the first thing I would look at is other people's maps. You want to know how to make two paths separate in an indoor room? I usually make a large room and fill it with interesting stuff. Usually my room is so big that I make two or three exits from it, and those are usually where I start my alternate routes.

Don't worry too much about a set of rules for how you make a map. Look for the "why" behind the rules and remember that "why." Learning why changes how you think, but rules restrict how you think.