Post feature Report RSS Level Design and Finite Space

Level designing, considering a finite area, can be vey helpful for a level designer as it forces quality over quantity.

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In designing Golfy Golf, I knew it would need a ton of levels. I also knew from previous experience in level design, that I would, to make levels more and more difficult, grow them in size. So, where level 1 may be 10x10 units, level 20 would be 30x30. This proved to be a very poor way of dictating level design. How many more enemies should you hop over? How much further should you run?

GolfyGolf screenGrabs VO17 R 01


In the meantime, I had been playing a lot of chess. It is said that despite the 8x8 gird of the chess board, the amount of games that can be played in terms of pattern of movements made by the two players is more than the number of grains of sand on earth. And with that, I thought, why not do the same?

Thus I created a game design system that uses a 10x10 grid for the game board. Thats it! And with that, I got all the variation I needed. If you consider that I have 3 types of ground units, grass, water and sand. I that I can place anyone unit, in any one position in those 100 positions. I can place the hole in any one of those 100 positions, and I can start the player in anyone of those 100 positions. Those simple 5 variations, allow me to create very dynamic levels with great variation, simply and easily.

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Knowing that I am working in a confined space, that I can not expand and expand the levels area, I am forced to work with in that and think strategically with in that, to make the players life as easy or as difficult as I would like. Add in enemies that I can plop anywhere and give them variations in movement pattern, speed etc, it makes the game extremely diverse, moving level to level, dispite the very confined area.
An interesting mathematical phenomenon.

boxShot


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