Megaman Level 1 Version 2 Feedback

Ragalla Seliby-Kaplan

When developing the second level using the first as a base was a simple task as I was able to implement various aspects of design I wanted in my previous level. Unlike the last level however I felt like I ran into the problem of inconsistency as when making this one I mainly went by the seat of my pants when designing it. Ultimately, I had a clear vision of the max size of my level and how I wanted it to end but getting there was basically me filling up the spaces until I got there. 

The linear levels I want to avoid as I feel they are too simple.

 When making the level I had much more creativity flowing from me than last time as I was used to the system even after the updates. Creating levels was like drawing and I just let whatever came to me out and honestly if worked out in my opinion for the best. I kept the overall linearity of the level deciding that if I was going to expand the overall design into having more roots then I was going to have to start from scratch and tear the whole thing down peace by peace so I decided to scrap some ideas like alternative routs and instead focusing on the difficulty curve that was an issue with my last level. I removed some enemies stationed right after area transitions as being knocked out of one area and back to another caused enemies to respawn and having to destroy them all over again. I also placed some enemies further away towards the end of each square in the level to give players a reasonable response time to attack them. This reduce the number of times my play testers died, and I felt was a better design choice. I also incorporated a different type of enemy that didn’t break the theme but was more on the flight or fight side of enemies that could be destroyed for health pickups or avoided.

The rising escalation I am looking for in my design but still a bit too linear.

 What went wrong however was the downside of making levels on the fly. The clear lack of consistency with the first and second level designing was noticeable as one clearly felt like it ended but just kept going on. I needed to have a consistent escalation of enemy’s health and challenges for my level which I couldn’t have when making two separate assignments. One idea I had was having the level be bigger than what players would see and only be shown to players who accidently fell down a bit expecting to die but rather find a whole second part of the level they didn’t know about. The other challenge was difficulty as some felt my level was too easy and boring without a proper challenge of enemy placements. I could rectify this with better enemy formations and adding more health pick ups and check points to better get the feel of difficulty but not constantly killing the player. The idea of alternate routs is something I have been toying with in my head but confused on how I implement them. I had the idea of having the level be linear and the alternate routes only being exposed if you do something contrary to your gaming experience. This is the first level in the game so getting players used to the idea that there are no actual pit falls to instantly kill you would be a bit of a mind screw and exploration gained from doing things no game would seems like a good Idea that I can try for my next level design or maybe just when I am creating levels on my own for fun.