How To Fail At Level Design
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- čas přidán 15. 12. 2023
- Almost every game needs level design, so it's time to learn how to be really really bad at it. No more of this pretty decent level design stuff. No. I'll show you the way...
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Twitter(x): / theartindi
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Doh De Oh by Kevin MacLeod
Link: incompetech.filmmusic.io/song...
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A good idea in platformers is to introduce obstacles in an unsafe environment, far from a checkpoint! It's a great idea to make sure if the player doesn't already know the complex workings of a stage gimmick, they must go really far back just to get another try to figure it out. Bonus points if your game has limited lives, so if they just don't figure out the gimmick within their few lives, they game over!
You triggered a bit of ptsd in me with this comment.
NES developer mindset
Dude, you just described entire "Trap adventure" idea
Oh my goddd nooooooo😭
Every Megaman game😭😭
I made this video.
Cool
I never knew that before
Bull
i did
I watched this video.
Remember that the key to a well paced level is to have as many slow moving platforms and other mechanics that involve waiting. That means the level is longer, and that's always a good thing!
Good idea! For added effect, make sure the slow moving platform sections are the only way between key areas you'll visit a lot! Another great thing to do is to AVOID placing checkpoints near these sections! Make sure the player will have to redo these slow obstacles every time they fail, just to get another shot at what's ahead!
Excellent ideas! :D
Also: autoscroller!
Especially in games where speed is encouraged through mechanics and timers; if your player goes fast every level, they won't have time to look at all your amazing art and assets!
More playtime is more game is more fun
Sonic 1...gets 1 zone that takes advantage of the game mechanics well, 3 zones that are antithesis of the game's mechanics and 2 that are in between.
Hedgehogs can swim but you are playing with a magic blue hedgehog who is allergic to water.
@@Mikewee777 ALLERGIC TO WATER HHHHHHHHHHHH
Nah more like 2, Starlight also works too
@@thatperson1009 This is usually considered 2nd best zone although it still has fans, bomb enemies and a few platforming things that briefly slow down your page, not to the extent of Spring Yard Zone though.
Last level doesn't have rings at all, so any hit => death
I actually have a revolutionary new technique for my newest game, instead of putting a quest marker and yellow paint to show the player where they need to go there's an auto-play button and it plays the game for them! I know it's very avant-garde so to prevent the existential horror of a total paradigm shift, I'm thinking of having an optional feature to turn the yellow paint on anyway, just so the player doesn't get a heart attack when they notice it's not there.
If your player gets a heart attack, it's their fault. They should get good (at having proper cardiovascular functions)
It's actually where we are going, there are people who beat elden ring/cyberpunk just watching CZcams playthroughs without even purchasing the game.
May I introduce y'all to like half the MMORPGs from the Asian market (especially Mobile, but not limited to that platform)? They have unironically utilised autoplay for years by now. And yes, it literally makes the game play itself. No idea why that even exists, but there we go.
@@KubinWielki 'Cause the real game is the barely-disguised gambling systems.
@@KubinWielki not even that surprising, seemed like the logical next step
I love this series and I’m using on how to fail my next game and everyone hates it, even me! Thank you
Great job! Let the hate flow through you, mah ha ha! :)
"I'm leading by example" god that one got me. The pixelart memes are amazing too. Keep up the failure my friend!
For sure, (also, the secret to the pixel art memes, I just download the image and trace the outlines, it's super hard.) lol
A great tip is to also add collectibles inside walls so that the player begins to walk onto any wall they see.
Remember to never add any signs that it's a wall with stuff in it too.
And never ever give player an equipable item that makes it easier to discover these fake walls.
Cries in dark souls
And!! Make those collectibles required to unlock secret levels
You can only do this for one, singular collectible. If players get encouraged to do something and get *rewarded* for it, that’s bad design. Best to punish them for it with arbitrary instakill walls, and wait until players become paranoid of even touching walls before you put that one collectible in there, maximizing the amount of people stuck at 99% completion forever
1:38
Its also useful to make sure that the obstacles in a level vary wildy in dificulty. That way people who want casual, or chalanging games get what they want.
And also put the chalanging stuff at the end, while making the easy stuff take a long time. Players will enjoy this high stakes gameplay for sure.
This is the self-aware video, he's finally getting on his own two feet as a youtuber!
I already had two feet, I don't need two more... Oh wait, this is another one of those metaphor things people keep telling me about... isn't it.
we're witnessing a youtuber gain sentience before our very eyes
The 7th thing is making sure your level has traps that will blindside the player. Gotta keep them on their toes and artificially drag out the playtime by making sure the player dies and restarts a lot.
"You can only pick between these two options, though. There's no in between. Trust me." Wow, I instantly trust him :o
It worked.... 😏
He's so kind 😌
i’m passively interested in game development, mostly because I can already stop motion animate and i’m interested in making a stop motion game, but these videos have been interesting even with my almost non existent experience with game development
yeah, even if all one does is play games, game design is still pretty fun to think about and learn. :)
Quick warning though: Almost every part of game development is more difficult than you might expect going in, even if you go in having already heard this and gone "Okay so I'll expect some resistance and a bit of a learning curve". There's just... so much stuff, in my case I struggle with code / software that helps you create code (i.e. Game Maker) as well as overall motivation and difficulty with both learning all facets of asset creation, and the alternative - socializing enough to put together a team and keep up with them. But when you're in the right frame of mind for it, and/or if you manage to push through the hard parts, it can be really fun to do... just to lay little foundation stones and watch them come to life more and more as the greater whole begins to form. =)
- When making a Metroidvania game, you want to design your world to maximize backtracking as much as possible. Avoid making shortcuts, placing areas you go to next near the one you’re in right now, or incorporating any sort of fast travel option whatsoever, so anytime the player wants (or has to) get anywhere, they need to go through the same, tired paths countless times. That won’t get tedious at all! 😊
- When making a platformer or some other game in general where you fight enemies, there’s one rule you *must* abide by at: The bigger the swarm, the better. Cram as many enemies into a single room as possible, no matter how redundant or unfair that makes the experience. In fact, why aren’t we doing this with everything? Variety *is* the spice of life, after all. Cram as many gimmicks into your levels, overcomplicate them so they kinda look like the Brawl stages you made when you were 9 and felt compelled to fill every space with a tile. Program as many different gameplay styles as possible into your game. This will not only make the player have to learn a whole new, incompatible set of mechanics at a rapid pace, but more importantly, that’s basically another game you have to put time into not polishing, which helps ensure your game cannot reach a finished state in time for its release.
im using these tutorials and making my friend play my games
You... are a true friend. ;)
his episodes are already starting to get convoluted. i love it
Me too! :D
You can also bypass the need for good level design by making all levels a flat plane with randomly placed pitfalls and fill as much space as possible with enemies
Then if someone complains just say the game is "combat focused"
More things to fail at: Don't like where the player is going? Add invisible walls! Add them everywhere! Bonus points if your game has secrets that are harder to get to than invisible walls! More bonus points if player has an impressive moveset.
If you don't want invisible walls, you can settle with classics like rubble, road construction barrier, a suit of armor you could clearly slip past or whatever.
One of my favorite anecdotes about the development of "I Wanna Be The Guy" was when a playtester found that one of the jumps required pixel perfect precision.
When he brought this up to the dev his response was
"So it's possible, then?"
And so it remained that way
As I've already said in a previous video :
Just ask the composer you hired for the music to do the level design for you.
Plot twist: *you’re* the composer, and “jumbled chiptune cacophonies” is exactly the way to approaching level design as well.
I think something also important in level design, particularly for incredibly large levels in things like collectathons and metroidvanias, is having some sort of map so you don't have to memorize the level manually. So naturally, not having any map is the best idea, since that gives your game extra challenge for no work at all, which is always welcome! You should also throw in some required hidden areas with no actual hints to where they are just to make sure the player is REALLY getting the entire map memorized mentally.
you forgot blind jumps
You either make a linear levels that extend only in one direction with arrows pointing towards it every 5 meters or you make huge non-linear levels only with one point of interest without any map and indication where you should be going. Nothing in between.
The first one is just a beat-em-up, basically
The 4th wall is breaking
what 4th wall?
the 5th wall is breaking
@@BigSillyOrangeCatwe live in a hexagon now?
@@RetroIsWatching the fifth wall is the floor
I love your how to fail series. This channel needs more subscribers
I love you comment, people need to follow it's directions. :)
The thing about this series is that it defines me in every way possibly and it makes me cry
I like Dark Souls 1 as an example: amazing level design until Anor Londo, and then downhill from there. Especially Dragon Butts and 10000 statues in Lost Izalith.
To be honest, still need to play that one. But I'll keep an eye out on lesions about level design when I get around to it. :)
I feel like Dark Souls 1 has a very prominent "I'm gonna shoot myself in the foot SO HARD" moment right at the beginning, and people are like "Well that's intentional" or "It's just a more complex game" or "Part of the charm" etc., but really? You either luck out and find your way to the Undead Burg where the game's progression begins (unless you're an experienced, returning player who knows how to work the systems and wants to risk going one of the 'wrong' ways right away) or you start off bashing at brick walls with your face until you either find the manageable path, or get sick of the bricks and tell the game to get stuffed.
Took me a couple years to try again after my initial "spooky graveyard? neat... oh, near-instant death by bleeds, not super neat", followed by "ghost-filled swamp? can't seem to harm them, and they can still kill me, also not great" (yes there's transient curses in a big pot right before you enter the swamp, and nobody anywhere gives you the slightest indication you should break the pot, take the curses, use one on yourself, and experience zero negative effects, UNLIKE normal curse status which is health-halving, persist-through-death trolling of players who dare to step in the basilisks' spew clouds for more than a microsecond) ...and so on and so forth.
Starting the player at a big multi-branch crossroads with no indication of where, if anywhere, they would want to go for a vaguely survivable challenge... not great level design, to be honest. If the areas were of similar danger levels, sure. Or even if not, if there was even a snippet of dialogue from the crestfallen douchebag along the lines of "Careful which path you take... some will surely guide you to your doom. He he he!" or some vague crap like that. I dunno, maybe he does say something like that. I mostly remember him being supremely unhelpful in every way, and then later attacking you because why not.
i do agree a bit with the not wanting to taste brick for half an hour before starting out, but i think making these zones so hard is actually really necesary for the progression, if that wasnt the case people would just continue down these paths which in turn would lead to... nothing! because the bosses of these zones cant be accesed before anor londo, also is not like undead burg is that hidden away, infact its the most clear path (bone zone requires you to explore firelink shrine which does bring a bit of trouble as thats probably the place you want to look first, then new londo is an entire different zone, and im ignoring the fact that theres a HUGE FUCKOFF BRIDGE RIGHT IN FROM OF YOUR FACE TAKING MOST OF THE SCENERY right as you land)@@hazukichanx408
@@hazukichanx408 that's not bad level design, that's just expecting players to actually think about what they're doing and rewarding smart choices and exploration. If a player is having a particularly hard time with something the smart thing would be to reassess if they're ready for it or if there's something better that they could be doing.
@@hazukichanx408 If anything too many games are too hand holdy and don't let the player express they're intelligence.
I thought this video already existed before it existed
But.... now it does... 0.0
dude your videos are so well done and you dont have even half the subscriber count of content farm channels... CZcams really is giving you a hard time with the algorithm man
Thanks! Maybe I should send them a stern letter. ;)
1:01 - 0:14 My experience with the game Rain world, wondered around for 2 hours with no in game explanation of the game's mechanics, movement, or goals. The tutorial just tells you to "survive", super vegue and lazy in my opinion. That rotating thing in Sonic 3 and Knuckles' carnival night zone was less frustrating; at least it visually demonstrated it went up and down, and was interactable.
1:44 - 1:54 also my experience with rain world. The game is a Metroidvania with an invisible time limit. So as you aimlessly explore and try to figure out where you are supposed to go or what you're supposed to do with zero guidance; the invisible timer runs out and you just insta die for "exploring" for too long or accidently picking the wrong branching path.
After playing actual good games like Celeste and Hades, this video really tickled my fancy. Thumbs up,
I've hard as much from Rain world. I've also heard it shines in other aspects of game design, but yeah, I can see why that would make it hard to get into, ha ha.
I've heard rain world is great, but that does NOT sound fun lol
actually, you're wrong. rain world's tutorial also tells you how to move left and right and how to jump. a perfectly in depth tutorial in my opinion.
@@chromosoze
Are you sure? I could have sworn I had to check the wiki for that info.
I also struggled with it at first but it gets weirdly fun later. Still havent finished it tho.
I'm still waiting for a series of videos from you on how to do everything right.
Wheres the randomly generated levels with no reason to be randomly generated?
Ha ha, that would have been good. well, I guess if you think about it. does that really count as designing a level? I mean I guess it should if you are trying to fail. ;)
Randomly generated games have this bad habit of generating levels that have no exit .
Or the levels that look randomly generated but they're actually just randomly selected from a pool of four or five premade levels that were poorly designed to begin with so they look random? Yeah Megaman X6 museum stage I'm talking about you...
@@Mikewee777 Perfect. Nothing like having to start an entire level all over because the game bugged out and left out a key object you need
Jokes aside, if you want to see just how delicate something like level design can be, just check out the developer commentary of any valve game that has it (half life 2 episodes 1/2, portal 1/2, or even team fortress 2). They can provide a lot of insight and show just how many details there are that are totally invisible to the player (by design).
Despite being the kind of person who pushes for fairness in game design, at times to an unreasonable standard, I'm also the kind of person who puts collectables just far enough off the edge of a cliff so that collecting them is needlessly risky. Bonus points if the player can only grab it by doing a short jump, as a high jump makes them go too high to touch the collectable after getting close enough
Also make sure it's necessary for players to jump from ledges that slope downward. It gives people an instinctive feeling like they're going to slip and fall if they even stand on it, let alone start running towards the lower end of it to gain momentum. Players love this kind of thing, trust me.
Another thing players love is when they have to get the timing perfect on two things at once. Like a platform that's only in the right place to jump from once every 1.5 seconds, and a hazard that's only out of your way once every 2 seconds, which means you only really get a good opportunity once every 6 seconds, despite the platform's movement making it look like you have 4x as many opportunities.
This is going places. Agreeing with Mrs.Artindi on this one. 😂🎉
She knows stuff. Glad to hear. :)
I would like to see a how to fail on extreme sport games, like skateboarding and snowboarding ones. Or one on rhythm games maybe?
for rhythm games just have bad music unreponsive controls and terrible charting
@@mimifurwalker so... the average fnf sonic.exe mod?
@@-Ermine- prety much yes
someone should add all of the different videos advice into one game- wait they already did that with _insert ok to downright unplayable videogame_
yeah, there are a few already out there. :0
1:36 is so real. I hate when people confuse bad game design and high difficulty. thats why the souls community is so good. They recognize when bosses or areas are just poorly designed and they call out the devs for it.
This is like terrible writing advice but for video games lol love it keep it up.
I want to take this moment to pause and really consider that...the videos will never reach the 10+ minute mark for maximum youtube time waste.
Boy. That would probably physically hurt me to reach that long, not sure how other people do it to be honest.
Love the series, try not to burn yourself out though it'd be an absolute shame to have what is possibly one of the most charming game design series fade into oblivion.
Ah, thanks. :) Yeah, if it stops it will be because I'm focusing on my own game or something, but that just means episodes will be delayed... or I guess if I die, then it might fade into oblivion. 0.0
This is better than Bubsy without cat mode!
This is a great series. Just found the channel and subbed 👍
This is a great comment. 👍
@@Artindi this is a great reply 👍
In all seriousness though, this series reminds me of egoraptor's sequilitis series. Unique sense of chaotic humor which is accompanied by legitimately useful and interesting observations.
That’s an interesting philosophical logic riddle - if you don’t try you fail but if you never tried it’s impossible to fail or succeed… if you enjoy making games just make games, the rest will fall into place if it’s meant to be
What about 'How to fail at tilesets'? I guess that'll fit into the 'how to fail at pixel art' but whatever.
And a 'How to fail at using freelance labour' would be awesome.
Thank you! This was hilarious!
another gem and wanted to ask are you bringing back that series games with unique mechanics?
I've been thinking about it, but maybe doing it live? I'm still not sure, it wasn't very popular sadly.
@@Artindi with more games being developed its a good way dev to learn and know more about youe channel i came across this series and that one and immediately subbed maybe i love learning
Youre so real for this
I remember the original Legend of Zelda as having an epic story despite it having no story to speak of at all. .The level design , mechanics, and music made me feel like I was on an epic adventure of exploration.
funny video i laughed hahahahhahahahahah died of laughter the laughs are insane the voices in my head are getting louder
As long as they are nice voices. it's probably fine... right? 0.0
@@ArtindiARITNDI IS TURNED INTO A FURRY
Did Ubisoft Made this tutorial?
Great tutorial :D worked for me
This series reminds me of Terrible Writing Advice, just with video games.
The flow of these videos are amazing
Thanks!: :D
Oh my word I loved this video!
This is great!
Ur video inspired me
I’ve made tons of my game so now I’m gna delete all floors and enemies and just have an endless falling game bc icba to make a level
Shiver me timbers. I might have created something terribly spooky, a good game ( my bad opps 😢)
it's okay, that just means there is room for improvement... or I mean, decay, decline? ...entropy? :)
This series is slowly getting self-aware.
Also, if your game is mostly about solving puzzles, remember to put unnecessarily difficult jumps/obstacles/non strategy based gameplay to make sure the player enjoys the best of both worlds! Everyone loves brain-squishing puzzles on precision platformers, and pixel perfect jumps on puzzle games!
2:36 i suggest you colour swap meshes, you fought green goo in the swamp at level 1? 🌿🐸🏞️
Now fight with chrome mercure goo at the lava lake! 🌋🐙🌺
Or maybe liquid ice blob in the snowy lake? 🏔️🐟❄️
There so much possibilities!
exactly! it's not that hard, just change color! :)
I like to add text walls because it saves them time of going to a wiki to understand wtf is going on
Yeah that's the stuff
Another piece of advice is to design the mechanics as you design the levels instead of planing out at least some core mechanics before hand. Also make sure to design all levels in the order they apear and don't adapt earlier levels to beter teach you mechanics used later in the game.
Also, don't forget to use things you see in other games. Like how God Of War 2 tells you how to solve puzzles before you can even see them, how T.H.A.W. has arbitrary parts of the map you auto die if you touch, and how terraria has bosses with 9,999 hp that take 1 damage from any attack(2 on crits) and automatically one-shot you.
Inspiration like this can help you succeed even more, at failing!
I feel like he REALLY wants people to do some proper Level Design
There are some games that have TERRIBLE Level Design through out the game
The seveth thing are the areas which are just added for the purpose of adding more areas with nothing meaningful in them.
The quality has improved a lot
I try. Little but at a time. :)
How to fail at video writing... and still make a great video
You should include enemies that don't have indicators for when they're going to attack, you should also make them instant kill, and when you introduce them for the first time it's far from a checkpoint so you die and have to go back.
And add than your character can had an animation time longer than the time between 2 ennemy's attacks, so than when you attack right after the ennemy you might still be stunlocked into your attack animation as your ennemy's second attack is going to hit you.
... like seriously this can happen in monster hunter...
Task failed my game is now nominated for 15 different awards despite not even being released yet
You should do How to Fail at Minigames
The Seventh.... Thing
Also I love how the watermelon keeps showing up
you forgot to mention the totally unoptional addition of microtransactions.
this channel is awesome
this comment is awesome
May I suggest a "How to Fail at Fighting Games"?
SLZ used this video as a guide to make Bonelab
If i cross my eyes I can make the funny blue man touch the flag through the wall.
I think those videos exist to basically show gamedevs what to do to fail (which they obviously will not do) just to see how don't create a bad game
Ok I felt I learn something, yet I didn't learn anything. Hey I did learn something.. I think.
watching your series to make the most frustrating game of all time.
I can see, after watching this video.
A cure for blindness? 0.0
Nah, he could probably see before watching the video already. How would you watch a video if you're blind?
Maybe I saw beforehand, maybe I did not. Nonetheless, I can see after watching this video.
the fact about making the goal a secret being bad is not true for all games , what about hollow knight , for half of the game you don't know what are you doing , and the only sense of objective is provided when you get the dreamnail
1:46 did he just describe fear e hunger?
don't rush bro, content is good, go at your own pace
Thanks! and no worries, I was mostly talking about burnout for individual episodes. Because for each episode I have to think of and create close to 100 images by hand, but after the editing and publishing, and script writing for the next one, I'm fresh to start drawing again. :)
My favorite type of failing is just never starting, am doing it every day 😭
this video also doubles as an example video on how to make a funny youtube video.
I bet I can find different ways to fail at level design
I watched this video
I replied to this comment.
Make one of these about modding games
Someone should make a game following all of the things you said in your tutorials so we can see the result
Been thinking about it. I might make that a thing one day. :)
You. Are. My. Videogame. Hero.
You. Are. My. Commenter. Hero.
@@ArtindiDude, I swear, when I saw this, I thought you made this video specifically about Zelda TOTK.
2:27 Nintendo when developing BotW and TotK:
instructions unclear i succeeded at level design for my game and everyone loves it
I want you to grade this idea on a scale of 1 to 10 if you see this. With one being the best. And 10 being the worst. Making toast the game.
too little information I think, good be good, could be bad, so 5.
I love it when CZcamsrs ruin their own funny jokes by saying they're dull and unoriginal before I get to laugh at them. You don't need to lampshade that hard, you're good!
Dually noted. for this one, I felt I needed to also use the lampshading to point out the "correct" thing to do, because there are some who have a hard time understanding sarcasm, so I have to come up with creative ways to toe the line between sarcastic jokes and helpful information, as well as hopefully have the lampshade be a joke itself. I do apricate the feedback, every bit helps me improve. :)
Pvz3 devs thanks for the advice so we can make are terrible levels
deserve more subs
Rapidly scribbling notes
I like this video