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详述设计电子游戏关卡之相关理论(1)

发布时间:2011-07-30 09:07:58 Tags:,,,,

作者:Tim Ryan

本文章旨在阐述关卡设计背后的理论,为关卡制作设定某些规则。文章的意图是帮助那些想要设计关卡的新手提高水平,获得关卡设计的职位。(请点击此处阅读本系列第2部分

在游戏开发循环中,关卡设计就是数据输入和布局分配。无论关卡出于何种意图和目标,它们都类似于任务、阶段、地图或玩家互动的其他载体。作为关卡设计师,你主要负责的是游戏可玩性。这篇文章将让你了解如何为各种类型的游戏设计优秀的关卡,无论是由大批坦克执行的军事任务、在空中遭遇飞行模拟器还是角色扮演游戏中的地下城、解谜游戏的关卡或某个需要玩家战胜强大敌人的世界的地图。

我会在下文中提出某些关卡设计理论,但开篇会先探讨何谓优良的关卡设计。然后将从象棋和GI Joe的动作中深入探究电脑游戏设计的非电子源头,以及我们能够从它们的成功中获得哪些经验。最后,我们将彻底剖析故事情节背后的理论,并探讨如何将它们用于关卡设计中。

优秀关卡设计对玩家的意义

玩家是指那些付费购买游戏或花长达半个小时的在线时间下载你设计的关卡的用户。如果你正在或有意愿为某开发商或发行商工作,那么用户就是你实现自己梦想的舞台。正如所有现代营销学校告诉你的那样,只有创造出让用户感到满足并愿意承担其费用的产品才能形成一笔生意。作为关卡设计师,如果你想要获得成功的话,就必须各位关注那些能够让用户感到满意的事物。

逃避现实

玩家购买游戏的目的是为了逃避其现实生活。优秀的关卡和游戏会让玩家沉浸其中,而且不会对此表示怀疑。从游戏标题画面显示出的那刻起,他们全部的注意力就被游戏所吸引。从那一刻起,他们所看到和所做的事情都让其深信自己正处于你所设计的游戏世界中。

你必须布置满足玩家期望的场景和演员。也就是说,你需要设计的地图不仅看起来与玩家所处的游戏世界相符,而且还必须包含有让玩家不必思考现实生活状况的元素。许多种常见错误可能会破坏玩家逃避现实的感觉。这可能包括图像差错或冲突等漏洞,但以设计作为出发点来看,不恰当的内容也可能产生影响。比如,麦当劳的金色拱门商标出现在中世纪的城镇中显然与背景极为不符。同样地,如果角色告诉玩家按ctrl+T来做出动作,这会让玩家意识到他正在用电脑玩游戏而不是存在于某个虚幻国度中。通常来说,为保持玩家逃避现实的感觉,所有的内容都应该设计成游戏场景中可能看到、说到或做到的事情。

挑战——测试玩家的潜力

玩家购买游戏是为了接受挑战。如果没有任何挑战,那种感觉就像他们正面对着文字处理软件或电子表格软件。挑战通常应该以通过核心游戏玩法测试玩家技能的形式表现出来。枪手应该测试的是他们的手臂和反应能力。战争游戏应该测试的是玩家的战术。战略游戏应该测试他们的战略感。有些游戏成功结合了多种玩法,为玩家营造各种各样的挑战,比如《命令与征服》对计划/建造和战术玩法都有要求。

命令与征服(from gamepodunk.com)

命令与征服(from gamepodunk.com)

挑战自然就有一定的难度。优秀关卡设计的技巧在于,所呈现的挑战应该难到足够捕捉玩家的注意力并让他们产生兴奋感,但不可过难导致他们经常失败并感到沮丧。维持这个微妙平衡需要了解普通玩家的技术,在游戏发布之前不断调整变量。

娱乐

与优秀的电视节目或书籍一样,游戏必须要能维持玩家的兴趣。产生冲突、揭露场景或背景故事、获得新资产、显示新艺术设计以及难度的增加,这些元素的出现间隔都必须谨慎进行安排,以保持玩家的兴趣,使他们期待见到下个关卡。

乏味的关卡可能导致游戏失败,尤其当这个关卡是游戏前数个关卡之一。游戏评论员和多数玩家在判定游戏好坏之前,只会给予游戏数个关卡的展示时间。优秀的关卡设计师知道自己的产品所需达成的目标,他们时常会询问自己“这个关卡有趣吗?”对于许多设计师而言,较为困难的部分在于他们觉得有趣的东西,目标用户或许并不会觉得有趣。作为关卡设计师,你需要理解核心游戏玩法,这是制作人和首席设计师所所表达愿景的部分内容。你需要努力理解这方面内容,站在目标用户的位置思考问题。

有个可以为设计师提供极大帮助的做法就是玩竞争者的游戏。通常制作人和首席设计师都会提及他们想要努力赶超的成功游戏。边玩边研究那些游戏。确保你所设计的关卡给你带来的娱乐感和兴奋感能够持平甚至优于竞争者的关卡。

挫败感也可能让游戏失败。速度变慢或图像差错等问题可能会让玩家的娱乐心态消失殆尽。如果关卡设计师能够关注技术限制和设计师对于如何放置艺术作品的指导,可以避开许多此类的漏洞。当然,设计师也可能制作出令人产生挫败感的漏洞,比如破碎的AI脚本或玩家期望完成却没有完成的任务。更为糟糕的是,设计师可能创造出所谓的“show stoppers”。show stoppers指那些不可完成的任务、无法解决的挑战或不可避开的陷阱,这会让玩家大感挫败。优秀的关卡设计师会察觉到这些问题,在消费者接触游戏之前通过细致缜密的游戏测试来解决它们。

独特性

事实上,玩家不希望购买或玩两款相同的游戏。当然,就像《星际迷航》的粉丝和Gor科幻小说的读者一样,有些玩家可能会买到同样的游戏规则甚至只是情节、场景、角色和艺术设计有些许变化的相同游戏。这务必要引起关卡设计师的注意,人们不喜欢玩相同的关卡。这不仅会破坏娱乐价值,还无法激发想象力。因而,在关卡中引进新的情节、挑战、场景和角色(游戏邦注:比如敌人)是至关重要的做法。

电脑游戏设计的根源

电脑游戏设计的根源来自于早期的娱乐形式,也就是之前的操纵杆和个人电脑。桌游、纸质和骰子游戏、玩家以及先前的故事情节都有不断引发人类想象力和乐趣的方法。关卡设计师可以研究这些方法并从中得到学习,理解各种形式和方法对电脑游戏设计有何贡献。

桌游以及纸质和骰子游戏

游戏早于文明出现。有些年代久远的游戏今天依然存在,比如mangala(游戏邦注:一种石头游戏)、骰子、方格、一字棋和象棋。为何它们能够存在如此之久呢?作为复杂电脑游戏的设计师,我们能够从它们身上获得什么呢?就是简单化和精致。

这些游戏的玩法和规则都很简单。几乎所有人都可以掌握而且能够迅速培养取得胜利的必要战略和技能。长年累月的规则提炼、成分增加以及玩家平衡使得游戏格外精致,提供长久不衰的娱乐价值。

简单化和精致应该成为关卡设计的目标。许多设计师(游戏邦注:包括作者在内)都落入陷阱中,即制作复杂的游戏和关卡,使得玩家很难掌握规则、目标、战略以及趣味性。设计师时常并没有花足够的时间来测试关卡,从而忽略了某些不平衡的因素。所以,保持关卡的简单并反复测试关卡,这样才足以使其精致。

我们还可以从非电脑游戏中学到更多其他内容,比如象征手法的价值、统计数字和角色扮演,但这些都不属于关卡设计的范畴,可以留待将来讨论。

玩具——火车玩具、GI Joe和芭比娃娃

玩具总是能令各个年龄段的孩子为之着迷。玩具火车是最具互动性的玩具。你可以扮演设计师、建筑师、油漆匠、乘客和工程师(游戏邦注:如果你乐于制造自然灾害的话,你甚至可以扮演上帝)。GI Joe和芭比娃娃也都有互动功能,比如可移动的肢体和可更换的衣物和配件,甚至还有车辆等。他们利用孩子的抱负和梦想来赚钱。我最喜欢引用某纸质游戏行业资深人士和前玩具制造者的话是:谁会知道仅仅一个玩偶就会这么畅销呢?

芭比娃娃(from news.sooe.cn)

芭比娃娃(from news.sooe.cn)

玩具的互动功能越多,它们就越接近人们的抱负和梦想,也就更受人喜欢。关卡设计也是如此。把你的关卡当成火车玩具。思考如何利用所有的铃声、哨声及其他特别效果来使其产生互动性。想象你要如何来勾勒玩家,让他们在游戏中做何种事情。让他们感觉像是一名正指挥追击撤退的坦克军团的将军或摧毁坦克并攻占山头的小队长。

故事情节

最古老的娱乐和故事情节形式能够从说出的第一个词就开始吸引玩家。冒险、胜利和灾难故事能够震撼我们的心灵。它们时常会挑战我们的信仰、照亮我们的灵魂或激发我们的情绪。作为游戏设计师,你应该将注意力集中在最后一点上。

论点、对立面和合成

从本质上来说,故事由三个部分组成:

论点,即所述的场景、角色和英雄。

对立面,即游戏中的冲突点和对手,也是故事的主要部分。

合成,即各种形式的解决方法,包括胜利的和悲剧的方面。

我们可以看到,这种模式出现在所有的娱乐中,包括电影剧本等所有发展自故事剧情的娱乐形式。

在游戏中,玩家很轻易便可意识到自己属于英雄这个角色。整个游戏可以视为故事,每个关卡就是对立发生的一部分,即英雄和对手间的较量和冲突。论点的深度仅局限于对玩家角色和场景的介绍。加入你玩过游戏前篇的话,有些游戏续作会直接建立于原作之上开始引进冲突。合成就是游戏结局所发生的所有事情。无论是胜利或失败,你或许都会看到过场动画或某些叙事文本。正如好莱坞电影那样,合成从来都不会非常长。

在关卡设计中理解和开发论点

每个关卡都有其自身的故事。作为关卡设计师,你在准备初始情况时便设定了论点。你设定了玩家所处的位置,可能还会指定其最初的武器或部队以及咒语或其他魔法。你通过地图或谜题来演绎场景。场景和情况可以随关卡的进展而发生改变,因为关卡各部分的内容会不断展示给玩家,比如加入新角色、新元素、能力提升、加入新玩家和新的敌人。由于游戏具有互动性,你必须非常注意玩家在关卡进行过程中特定时间或地点可能遇到的每种情况。

每次遭遇都有论点,即战斗开始前那个时刻你感受到的害怕、兴奋或期待以及当时对所遭遇情况的认识,这些都会影响到战斗。比如,玩家或许会贸然闯进妖怪的巢穴,而且在战斗开始之前的那一刻就对当前情况有所认识,在妖怪头领的附近有辆大型坦克,妖怪位于其火炮射程之内。但是,我们不能假设玩家永远都会做出我们预想的事情,从我们预想的方向进入妖怪的巢穴。关卡设计师必须对此有所规划,并为反常行为提供奖励。以上面的例子为例,玩家或许会偷偷摸摸地从相反的方向进入巢穴,在尽到妖怪之前先看到坦克。他会选择将其炸毁还是小心翼翼地继续前行呢?加入敌人选择利用坦克来对付他又会如何呢?我们将事态设计得更为复杂些,假设在这部坦克旁边有辆更棒却更易被摧毁的升级版坦克。玩家应该怎么做呢?在这种情况下,你的选择并非唯一。事实上,设计师也不要将事情设置成选项唯一。作为论点的部分内容,你需要的只是将选项提供给玩家,让他们来决定怎么做。

在关卡中引进并精制对立面

对立面是玩家与你的关卡互动的层面。通过设立敌军并规划他们的行为、限制玩家行动的时机和速度或他们必须解决的谜题,你正在制造冲突。而冲突应该与关卡的核心玩法有关。如若不然,你就会设计出需要在论点阶段制定多项计划的关卡来。换句话说,如果玩家没有在初始阶段就制定完美的计划,那么在关卡中就会很容易失败,如果玩家制定了正确的计划,就会在关卡中通行无阻。除了战略游戏玩家之外,多数人讨厌这类关卡。玩家希望在冲突出现之时有解决的方式,你不能把他们假设成无所不知或拥有预知未来的超能力的人。设计师通常犯下的错误是,让呈现出的挑战完全无法战胜,除非玩家之前玩过关卡并知道关卡中的情形。应该让玩家在首次遭遇冲突和挑战之时就可以设法将其解决,这是关卡设计中的必要想法。

对立面是划分玩家技术的工具。它的存在区分了技术娴熟的玩家和新手以及专注玩家和浅尝辄止者。理想情况下,游戏中应该存在多种胜利条件,因而技能本身并没有绝对的好与坏。如果只有专业玩家方能打通关卡,那么你就会失去90%的市场,你的游戏也就无法畅销。同样,如果任意普通玩家都可以打通关卡并获得所有的奖励,那么有50%未受到挑战的玩家便会觉得不过瘾。但是如果你的关卡有个令普通玩家感到满足的胜利条件和奖励专业玩家的可选挑战,那么你就可以令各个层面的玩家感到满意。

合成——让关卡有个令人满意的结局

合成是某次遭遇或整个关卡的结局,反映的是对玩家在此次遭遇中行动的苹果和获得的东西。无论玩家是失败还是胜利,都应该让他们认识到其中的原因以及下次要如何才能做得更好。这能够使他们产生再次尝试的兴趣或仅仅为了获得更高分数或奖励而重玩关卡。

应该清晰划定胜利或失败,让玩家理解为何他们会失败。胜利应该是玩家最后行动的直接结果,与玩家在关卡中间的做法没有关联(游戏邦注:后者有可能让玩家感到乏味)。令人满意的任务结局会让玩家的感觉更为良好。

有价值的内容

故事通过呈现出有价值的内容来保持你的兴趣。人们购买书籍或观看电影的目的不是为了只听着角色们谈论天气,除非天气本身是其中的重要因素(游戏邦注:如《Twister》之类的灾难电影)。精巧的故事需要包含演绎场景、发展角色或推动情节等细节。虽然书籍中可能不会涉及大量的细节,但是电影不能采取这种做法。电影旨在短期的时间内吸引观众的注意力,他们想在90分钟或更短的时间内体验整个故事。电影努力将注重点放在最为重要的细节上,而这些细节通常都会涉及角色互动。

关卡设计也是如此,除非你讲述故事的时间非常少。因此,你必须更注重角色互动细节,尤其是那些设计玩家的内容。玩家看到或作出的每件事情都必须使故事进一步得到发展。玩家所做出的所有努力都应该推动他们走向故事的完结或使他们远离与对立面的冲突。随着游戏进行下去,应该让玩家逐步发现有关他们自己以及对手的更多信息。玩家解锁新天赋、找到新武器或武器升级、深入理解战略或遭遇敌人新战术和新类型的敌人,这些做法都可以实现上述目标。尽管这些建议或许你看起来显而易见,但你会为设计师经常犯下的错误感到惊讶,他们将大量时间花在玩家看不到的场景细节之上。

多数玩家只有短期关注点,尤其是那些玩主机游戏的玩家。他们没有足够的耐心去挖掘微小的细节和游戏精妙之处。如果你向他们呈现过多的细节,或者游戏玩法过分依赖玩家对小细节(游戏邦注:如某个对话信息)的理解,那么你就会失去这部分玩家。对非电脑游戏设计师和RPG设计师而言,很难不再关卡设计中添加各种毫不相干的内容。但这种对细节的过分关注通常会是游戏可玩性受到损害。如果你制作的不是RPG,那么就必须理解故事细节并非关卡设计首先要考虑的事情。

在非互动细节上花费大量时间无疑是对时间和资源的浪费,但是在这方面投入部分精力也很重要,因为玩家偶尔会注意到这些。比如,假如花上一天的时间来精致某个玩家在前往参加坦克战斗途中花三秒钟时间路过的农场,这是个很可笑的举动。最好只花数分钟的时间添加些许物体,让玩家觉得这是个农场,比如农舍、谷堆、筒仓和些许牛羊。即便你有充足的时间来创造出各种非互动细节,你依然不可以这么做。过多的细节会让玩家觉得心烦意乱,感观负载过大。如果他们尝试同那些非互动细节互动,其结果也会让他们产生挫败感。

毁灭公爵(from dukenukem.wikia.com)

毁灭公爵(from dukenukem.wikia.com)

让场景中的所有细节都存在某种形式的互动,这或许是个更好的做法。《毁灭公爵》在这个方面做得很好。甚至连厕所都有其存在的意义,即便只是为了提供些许幽默。酒吧有个正在运转的吧台,街机中有《毁灭公爵》这个游戏,这会引发你产生“我没空自我娱乐。”这种想法。游戏在这方面的额外付出显得很有价值。互动场景营造出非凡的魅力,使得这款游戏与所有其他的《毁灭战士》克隆游戏有所差异。

真实性——按可能性来设计事件

真实性是个技术术语,作者用此来描述读者接受故事中的事实和事件。如果故事中发生的事情超出可能性,那么就会让读者感到挫败。

如果想留住读者,小说故事就需要让读者不会怀疑其剧情。读者只愿意接受特定数量的信息。而读者愿意接受的信息量便使得他们的偏好各有不同,有些人喜欢传统小说和文学作品,有些人喜欢科幻小说。

电脑游戏在这方面的掌控较为简单,因为他们的目标市场大多数是那些喜欢科幻小说的读者。那些所谓的“巨作”通常是那些在科幻市场之外设立新题材游戏的作品。《模拟城市》、《俄罗斯方块》、《文明》以及各种运动类游戏在逻辑或科幻方面并没有很大的进步,它们吸引的都是那些对射杀外星人不感兴趣的玩家。即便如此,今天的大多数游戏都是面向科幻题材的游戏。

模拟城市(from noemalab.org)

模拟城市(from noemalab.org)

模拟城市

假设你正在制作一款科幻游戏,你确实有某种为玩家扩展事件可能性的义务。但是重点在于了解何时何处以及将现实延伸多远。玩家希望他们能做的事情能比游戏中的其他角色更多。尽管这听起来像是顾及单方面的想法,但这确实就是玩家想要的东西。如果敌人以某种令人称奇而且超乎他们能力范围的行为来攻击他们,玩家会觉得这是作弊。他们希望对手以有限的动作来与他们战斗。这样他们就会理解,打不过只是个技术问题而已。

然而,玩家却喜欢以超出AI能力的技巧来将其战胜,比如用咒语轻松击败对手。那么,你就应该给予玩家他们想要的东西。用上帝般的力量让他们感到满足。但是必须注意的是,如果玩家时时刻刻都有那种能力,游戏就会变得枯燥且失去挑战性。技巧在于取得平衡,这样玩家就不会时常获得此类能力,可以通过限制能力的使用时间等方式来实现此目标。在理想的关卡中,玩家会面对各种各样的可能性,并且以某种难以置信的方式解决这些问题。这样,他们就会觉得他们做了些不可思议的事情,他们是真正的英雄。

首席设计师应该会向关卡设计师描述游戏现实性的界定。这样你就对虚拟世界的运作方式以及你能够采取的做法有个清晰的概念。

而且,这种真实性通常会随核心玩法的平衡和新想法的引进而不断演化,因为最早的想法可能在游戏几近完成之时需要修改。然而,既然已经设定了界限,就应该在游戏过程中得到维持。扭曲玩家的游戏现实感及其自身所受限制的关卡有可能打破真实性,甚至可能破坏整个游戏。

理解这些关卡设计理论,你就可以自行制作关卡,而且有足够的信心并知道哪些做法能够让关卡获得成功。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

Beginning Level Design, Part 1

Tim Ryan

This article is the first of a two-part series covering theories behind level design, establishing some rules for level creation. The intention is to aid those new to the field who want to design levels for pleasure or pursue a career in level design.

Level design is the data entry and layout portion of the game development cycle. A level is, for all intents and purposes, the same as a mission, stage, map or other venue of player interaction. As a level designer, you are chiefly responsible for the gameplay. This article will give you insight into developing good levels for any type of game, whether they are military missions for your horde of tanks, aerial encounters for a flight simulator, a dungeon for a role-playing game, a board for a puzzle game, or a map for a world conquest god-simulator.

I will present some theories behind level design, starting with an exploration of what good level design means. Then it delves into the non-electronic roots of computer game design from chess to GI Joe action figures, and how we can learn from their success. Finally it takes a thorough look into the theories behind storytelling and how we can apply them to level design.

What Good Level Design Means for Players

Players are the consumers who paid good money for your game or dedicated a half-hour of on-line time to download your custom level. If you are working or have desire to work for a developer or publisher, the consumers are those giving you your dream job. As any modern business school will tell you, creating an affordable product that satisfies the consumers is what it takes to make it in business. As a level designer, you must become very aware of what satisfies the consumers if you want to be successful.

Escapism

A player buys a game to escape from his or her reality. Good levels and hence good games will immerse the player and suspend their disbelief. From the moment the title screen comes up, you have their full attention. From that point on, they should see and do nothing that reminds them that they are anywhere but in the world you have them in.

You must furnish a setting and actors that meet the players’ expectations. That is, you need to design a map that not only looks like it could fit inside the world they are playing in, but contains elements that help to draw that reality in the players’ heads. A player’s sense of escapism and suspension of disbelief can be ruined by a variety of common errors. These include bugs such as graphics glitches or crashes, but from a design standpoint, these also include inappropriate content. For example, a McDonald’s Golden Arches on the skyline of a medieval town is obviously out of context. Similarly, if a player is told by a character to hit control-T on his keyboard to teleport, then it would remind him that he’s typing at a computer and not in some fantasy realm. Generally, to maintain the players’ sense of escapism all content should be appropriate to what would be seen, said or done in the game setting.

Challenge – Testing the Players’ Mettle

Players buy games to be challenged. If there is no challenge, they might as well be interacting with their word processor or spreadsheet software. Challenge should always come in the form of testing the players’ skills at the core gameplay. A shooter should test their aim and reflexes. A wargame should test their tactics. A strategy game should test their strategic sense. Some games successfully combine forms of gameplay to offer a variety of challenges, such as Command & Conquer, which has both planning/building and tactical gameplay.

Challenge comes from difficulty. The trick to good level design is to present challenges that are difficult enough to merit the players’ attention and make their heart or mind race, but not so difficult as to always leave them failing and disappointed. It’s a delicate balance based on what is perceived as the median player skill, and it is a variable constantly adjusted up until the game ships.

Entertainment

Like a good television show or book, the game must maintain a player’s interest. The introduction of conflict, the revelation of the setting or back-story, the acquisition of new assets, the display of new art, and the increase in difficulty must all be deliberately spaced to keep the player interested and looking forward to the next level.

One boring level can be the kiss of death to a game, especially if it’s one of the first few levels. Game reviewers and most players only give a game that much time before they praise or trash it. Good level designers have learned to be objective about their own creations and when asking themselves, “Is this fun?” The hard part for many designers is that what they find fun may not be what the target market finds fun. As a level designer you need to understand the core gameplay, which is part of the vision expressed by the producers and lead designers. You need to try to understand and become that target market.

Something that helps designers tremendously is to play competitors’ games. Often producers and lead designers will name successful games that they are trying to emulate. Play and study those titles. Make sure your levels entertain, thrill and excite you as well or better than the competition’s levels.

Frustration can also kill a game. Players stop being entertained when they encounter technical problems like slowdowns or graphics glitches. The level designer can avoid a lot of these bugs if they pay attention to technical limitations and to the instructions of the artists on how to place the art. Designers can, of course, create their very own frustrating bugs, like broken AI scripts or door triggers that never trigger, or missions that don’t always end when they are supposed to. Even worse, designers can create what are commonly called “show stoppers”. Show stoppers are unbeatable missions or unsolvable challenges or unavoidable traps that frustrate players. A good level designer can spot these problems and resolve them with careful and rigorous play testing before consumers get their hands on it.

Uniqueness

Player’s don’t like playing, or indeed, buying, the same game twice. Of course, like Star Trek fans and readers of the prodigious Gor science fiction series, some players will continuously buy into the same formulae or even the same game with just slight variations in plot, setting, characters and art. The same can be said for level designs – people don’t like playing the same level twice. Not only does it ruin the entertainment value, it also fails to spark the imagination. It’s therefore incredibly important that levels introduce some variation in the plot, challenge, setting, and characters (i.e. the enemies).

The Roots Of Computer Game Design

Computer game design has its roots in earlier forms of entertainment that predate the joystick and personal computer. Board games, paper and dice games, toys, and the ancient art of storytelling all have methods that continue to capture the human imagination and joy. Level designers can learn by studying these methods and understanding what each form has contributed to the art of computer game design.

Board, Paper & Dice Games

Games predate civilization. Some of our oldest games still survive to this day, like mangala (or stones), dice, checkers, tic-tac-toe and chess. What gives them their lasting power? What can we gain from them as designers of complex computer games? Simplicity and elegance.

These games keep the gameplay and the rules simple. Almost anyone can grasp them and quickly perceive the strategies and skills necessary to achieve victory. Elegance comes from years of refining the rules and components to maximize and balance the gameplay, and provides lasting entertainment value.

Simplicity and elegance should be your goal in level design. So many designers (I being one of them), have fallen into the trap of creating complex games and levels that make it difficult for players to grasp the rules, objectives, strategies and indeed the fun. Designers often fail to play test their level enough to uncover any unbalancing factors and make improvements. So keep it simple, and submit your level to a lot of play testing so you can polish it.

There’s a lot more that can be learned from non-computer games, such as the value of symbolism, statistics, and role-playing, but this goes beyond the scope of level design and should be left for a future article on computer game design.

Toys – Train Sets, GI Joe and Barbie

Toys have always fascinated children of all ages. Train sets are the ultimate interactive toy. You can be designer, builder, painter, passenger and engineer (or even God if you like creating natural disasters). GI Joe and Barbie both have interactive features such as movable limbs and changeable clothing and accessories and even vehicles and play sets. They cash in on kids’ aspirations and dreams. One of my favorite quotes from a paper game industry veteran and former toy maker is, “Who knew that a doll with tits would sell so well?”

The more you can interact with toys and the closer they get to peoples’ aspirations and dreams, the more they are appreciated. The same can be said about level design. Think of your level as a train set. Consider how can you make it interactive with all the bells and whistles and other special effects. Think about how you are portraying the player and what you are having them do. Let them feel like a general chasing down a retreating tank corps or a squad leader breaking ranks and charging a hill. Let them feel like a deer hunter chasing down quarry. (Think about the few million units that the latter type game has recently sold.)

Storytelling

The most ancient form of entertainment, storytelling, has riveted mankind since the spoken word. Stories of adventure, triumph and disaster all pull at our hearts. They take us through a ride in someone else’s skin and often challenge our own convictions, illuminate our soul, or simply lighten our spirits. As game designers, you’ll concentrate on the latter.

Thesis, Antithesis and Synthesis

Stories essentially come in three parts:

The thesis, which is the introduction to the setting, the characters and the hero

The antithesis, which is where the conflict and villains are introduced and is what amounts to the majority of the story

Synthesis, where there is some form of resolution, be it triumphant or tragic.

We can see this model followed precisely in the three-act play. We see it in film scripts, and indeed, all the forms of entertainment that evolved from storytelling.

In games, your player is easily identifiable as the hero, and the game as a whole can be seen as one story, where each level is a portion of the antithesis, the interplay and conflict between the hero and the villain. The depth of the thesis may be limited to a cinematic that explains who you are and what the setting is. Some sequels will gloss over the thesis and jump right into the conflict, assuming you’ve played the prequel. The synthesis is everything that happens at the end of the game. You’ve either won or you’ve lost, and you may see a cinematic or read a few lines of narrative before you see the credits. Like Hollywood movies, the synthesis is never very long.

Understanding and Developing the Thesis in Level Design

Each level in itself is its own story. As level designers, you set up the thesis by preparing the initial situation. You position the player and perhaps indicate his initial arsenal or force or set of spells or pieces. You render the setting with your map or your puzzle board. The setting and the situation can change over the course of the level as portions of the level are revealed to the player or new characters or other elements are introduced such as power-ups or new player or enemy forces. As games are interactive, you have to be very conscious about every possible situation a player can be in at any given time or place over the course of the playing the level.

Each encounter has its thesis – that moment right before the battle when your fear, adrenaline, and anticipation kick in, and how observant you are of the situation right then and there will influence the fight. For example, a player may stumble into a rats’ nest of bogies and realize at that moment right before the fighting begins, that just next to the head rat is a large fuel tank within easy range of a missile salvo. But we cannot assume that players will always do the same thing and come from the same direction. A level designer has to plan for that and reward that behavior. Using the previous example, a player may come from a sneaky route from the opposite direction and see the fuel tank in his line of sight before he sees any of the bogies. Does he blow it up now to be cautious or walk on through? What if the enemy chooses to use it against him? To complicate matters, let’s say that there is a nice but destructible power-up right next to the fuel tank. What should the player do? In this situation, you don’t have to make it a single choice. Indeed, you really don’t want to make it a single choice. As part of the thesis, you need only present options to the player and he’ll decide what he wants to do.

Introducing and Refining the Antithesis in Your Level

The antithesis is where the players interact with your level. By positioning enemy forces and scripting their behavior, or by setting the timing and speed of the bugs they have to zap or the puzzle pieces they have to place, you are creating conflict. This should be where the core gameplay of your level is. If it’s not, then you’ll have a level that requires too much planning in the thesis stage. In other words, if the player doesn’t plan things out right from the beginning then the level is over before it began, and if the player plans correctly then there’s not much to it. Most people, with the exception of strategy wargamers, hate this kind of level. Players need the ability to resolve conflict as it arises – you can’t assume they are omniscient or psychic. A common mistake designers make is presenting challenges that are absolutely unbeatable unless you’ve played the level before and know what to expect. It is essential that players be capable of resolving the conflict and tackling challenges the first time they encounter them.

The antithesis is where you present the knife’s edge to the player. It divides the good players from the bad, the experts from the novices, and the dedicated from the dilettantes. Ideally there is more than just one victory to be won, because indeed the division of skills is not black and white. If only experts can beat your level, then you’ve lost 90% of your market and your game won’t sell well. Likewise, if any mediocre player can beat your level and reap all the rewards, then it’s not satisfying to 50% of the players who weren’t challenged. But if your level had a satisfying victory for the mediocre players and optional challenges to entice and reward the good and expert players, then you’re presenting multiple edges to challenge and satisfy a diverse group of players.

Synthesis – Making Your Levels End in a Satisfying Tone

Synthesis is the result of an encounter or the entire level. It’s a moment of reflection for players to evaluate the encounter or level and what they got out of it. Whether players fail or succeed, they should be able to recognize why and how they might do better next time. This keeps them interested in trying again or just replaying for a better score or reward.

Victory or failure should be obvious. Players should understand why they lost. Victories should come as the direct result of the final acts of the player, not as the result of something the player does midway through the level (the latter tends to make players bored). Ending the mission on a big, satisfying note leaves a player feeling good.

Worthwhile Content

Stories maintain your interest by presenting worthwhile content. People don’t buy a book or see a movie just to hear characters talk about the weather, unless the weather itself is the villain (as in disaster movies like Twister). All the details that a well-written story contains are those that render the setting, develop the characters or move the plot. While books can get away with including an awful lot of detail, films cannot. Films are aimed at short-attention span people who want to experience the whole story in 90 minutes or less. Films try to focus on the most important details and these usually are the ones involving character interaction.

The same can be said with level design, except that you have an even shorter amount of time to tell your story. As a result, you must focus even harder on character interaction details, especially those that involve the player. Everything the player sees or does must further the story. All of the players’ accomplishments should move them toward the completion of the story or pull them further into the conflict with the villain. As the game is played, players should discover more about themselves and their opponents. This can be achieved when players develop new talents, find new weapons or upgrades, gain insight into strategy, or encounter new enemy tactics and new enemy types. All of these suggestions may sound obvious to you, but you would be surprised how often designers make the mistake of spending a lot of time working on setting details that are rarely, if ever, seen by the players.

Most gamers have a short attention span, especially those who play console games. They don’t have as much patience with minor details and game subtleties. If you present them with too much detail, or if your gameplay hinges on the player understanding the significance of minor details (like a single dialogue message), then you will lose them. It’s very hard for non-computer game designers and RPG designers to not populate levels with all sorts of irrelevant content. Often this focus on details works to the detriment of gameplay. If you’re not making an RPG, then you have to understand that the finer details of the story come second in level design.

Spending a lot of time working on non-interactive details can be a waste of time and resources, although it’s important to put some effort into it because the player will pay some attention to it. For example, it’s ludicrous to spend a day creating the details of a farm that a player will pass in three seconds on his way to a tank battle. It’s better to just take a minute to sprinkle a few objects that give the player the feel of a farm, like a farmhouse, barn, silo and a few cows. Even if you have all the time in the world to create all sorts of non-interactive details, it’s still not a good idea. Players get distracted and suffer sensory overload from too many details. They also can get frustrated as they try in vain to interact with non-interactive details.

It would be even better to make all the details of the setting interactive somehow. Duke Nukem did an excellent job of this. Even the toilets had some purpose, if only to give a little humor. The bar had a working pool table and the arcade had a Duke Nukem machine that prompted you to say, “Hmm, I don’t have time to play with myself.” The extra effort it took was well worth it. The interactive setting created a great allure and set this game apart from all the other Doom clones.

Verisimilitude – When to Stay within the Realm of Probability

Verisimilitude is the technical term used by writers to describe the readers’ acceptance of the facts and events within the story. When the story steps out of the realm of probability, the readers get frustrated.

Works of fiction must suspend the readers’ disbelief if they want to keep the reader. Readers are only willing to accept so much. How much varies with the reader, which often separates the readers of classical fiction and literature from those of fantasy and science fiction.

Computer games have it easy because their target market is much more likely to be readers of science fiction and fantasy. Though the so-called “break through” titles which establish new genres of games often go beyond the sci-fi and fantasy market. Titles like Sim City, Tetris, Civilization, Deer Hunter, and sports games of all types don’t make any grand leaps of logic or fantasy, and they entice players who’ve never shot a single alien. Even so, sci-fi and fantasy oriented games are the vast majority of games made today.

Sim City

So assuming you are working on a sci-fi or fantasy game, you do have certain latitude (or indeed, a certain obligation) to extend the realm of possibility for the players. But it’s important to know when and where and how far to stretch reality. Players like the realm of possibility extended more for themselves than for other characters. While this seems one-sided, it’s what players want. Players feel cheated if the AI enemy kicks their ass by doing something amazing and beyond their capabilities. They prefer to have their butt kicked by an opponent who’s limited to what they can do. Then they can at least be impressed and comprehend that it is just a skill issue.

On the other hand, players enjoy pulling off amazing feats beyond the scope of the AI capabilities and romping the AI for a spell. So give the players what they want. Let them enjoy themselves with a little god-like power. But be aware that giving that ability to players all the time can lead to a dull, unchallenging game. The trick is to balance it so that players don’t always have that edge, either by limiting the use of the ability or by countering it with enemy powers. In an ideal level, the players will face overwhelming odds and overcome them by leaping beyond the apparent realm of possibility. That way they can feel like they have done the impossible and that they’re real heroes.

The lead designer should describe the boundaries of the game reality to level designers. This will give you a concept of how the fantasy world works and what you can do.

Additionally, this reality often evolves as the core gameplay is balanced and new ideas are introduced, because preconceptions often fail when the game is complete enough to play. The so-called “fun factor” outweighs the unsubstantiated premise every time. However the boundary is set, it should be maintained throughout the game. Having one level that distorts players’ sense of the game’s reality and their own limitations can break the verisimilitude and potentially ruin the game.

Armed with this understanding of level design theories, you can begin creating your own levels with greater confidence and a clearer insight into what will make them successful. Next week I’ll present a set of rules for level design and offer advice to aspiring professionals. (Source: Gamasutra)


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