Megaman Level 2

When designing my Megaman level 2 I wanted to have a Metroid Vania style exploration element to the overall level. Despite the level I turned in being an incomplete version I managed to make the intended level and had friends and people online test the level and even provide me with feedback via email. The design was a strait forward linear level with now peaks or troughs at first glance and eventually you reach a door at the end of the level where you need 4 keys. To find the keys you must engage in activities you might night even think was a wise choice on your first run through. Jump to heights on platforms mysteriously higher than normal and arranged in a stair like manner gets you into the upper portion while falling through a pit gets you to the lower half. I also avoid death pits in general as to not lie to the player about some pits being okay and other not because I feel like that’s pretty cheap the design allows for players to explore and get the keys needed to succeed with areas providing powers that can only help in other locations. The player first has to explore an area and encounter a challenge that needs a specific power unfortunately the area you go to does not have the relevant power so you must leave and explore other areas to get the relevant power to advance. 

Metroidvania map design example 1

When playtesting the area I got the level of exploration I wanted from my play testers who had to traverse the environment to get what they needed. Several acts of backtracking through the level to get what was needed with some of them trying to use the powers they got to advance. Unfortunately, I made sure that powers you get wouldn’t be that helpful in getting what you want. You could potentially use some powers to get other places, but it was more difficult without the intended power so in the end the level came out to what I wanted it to be. Another good aspect of the level was the time as my previous levels were completed too quickly as my play testers new what to do in the beginning of the level as they have played platformers before. What really worked out well in my opinion was the difficulty that was based on level design rather than enemy placement as my previous levels were a bit heavy on the enemies to make a since of difficulty, but I felt that was a bit hollow in terms of challenge.

Metroidvania Map Design Example 2

What went wrong however was something I will take into account on my later levels such as enemy quantity. Because players had to backtrack, and enemies respond when you leave certain scenes having enemies placed in the back caused players to damage themselves walking into them so enemy placement is still a problem for me. I decided to station them in the middle to avoid this issue in the future or have enemies that pose non issues. The overall level size was a bit of a problem because the game lacks a map player took too long to get what the level is about, so I say make the level shorter but have the exploration being to main draw and time consumer for playing. Another issue I encountered power up replenishing as certain powers have separate meters, I found it difficult to gauge which powers I need to provide and which I don’t to avoid player spamming. It is possible to use powers in unintended ways, but I felt that was a positive overall.