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Sonic Level Design


Sparks

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This is glorious, I've been wrapping my head around multiple paths and unique floor plans for building my next home.

Honestly, I'm curious for what you have to say about the more exploration-based levels of Sonic CD, as it took the level design in a different direction than Sonic 2.

 

The debate on the whole boost thing and death for imperfect homing sequences is quite funny actually. Ever since Unleashed, it seems that not only have the 3d segments become only half obstacle course (with the three lane segments), but more of a performance run, where you have limited set/routes that have to be done in perfect combination to get a passing grade. Like an Olympic Gymnastics run, where you have a specific routine set up for the stage, the "modern" gameplay has become more or less, you need to run through these rings, deafeat these enemies, follow this path of rings, put in that button combination, stomp here, butdoitquick! otherwise you die for messing upp the sequence (or get a score lower than a B ). Almost like Assassin's Creed, where certain events have to happen for you to proceed with the punishment of de-synchronizing and having to restart, even though the open world gameplay permits you to ignore tasks or kill anyone whenever.

 

synchronized running, I want that coined.

Edited by GiriX
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  • 7 months later...
Sonic the Hedgehog Level Design Guide: Episode Alex

 

So Sparks already covered routes and stuff, but I'm going to cover enemy placement, set pieces and level progression.

 

So, to start off I'm going to talk about what you'll likely be doing first, which is level progression. Thing is, any good level designer will have planned their game before starting to build their levels; the actually progression and tropes of the levels will be decided in this process as well obviously. Thing is, sometimes progression isn't properly thought about. Not to single out SuperBliz or Delta here but, when beta testing for Sonic Edge of Darkness I noticed that the level design is rather flawed in the fact that it goes from a beach/grass level to a desert level to a snow level. Now, the first transition isn't too bad but desert to snow, really? o___o

Now, this is actually the easiest part of the guide to get right but you need to think about what you're doing. The things that you ned to think about are as follows;

 

1) What level trope would most logically come after the current one?

2) How can I make a good transition between these two tropes?

 

If you can create good answers to both these questions, you're on your way. Of course, the transition has to be able to be coded and such unless you're making external cutscenes for your game and try to be inventive; due to the little time we had before SAGE, I had to advise Bliz to use a sort of cannon transition between Corrupted Canyon and Antarctic Amethyst, which I'm sure you'll agree is a pretty lazy/uninspired copout on my part. However, and not to spoil things, one of the transitions in Sonic Dynamo will literally have Sonic pushed to the next Zone by the explosion created when the boss is defeated. Not to brag, but a lot more unique, no?

Anyway, if you're stuck for ideas, take a popular transition and try to put a new spin on it.

Example: Want to have Sonic run to the next Zone? Why not have him hit top speed and warp to the next Zone or run into a warp ring?

Yeah, you get the idea now.

 

As for enemy placement, this one's simple; always use vertical movement to slow the player down first and give them time to react to the oncoming hazard. Also, feel free to use multiple enemies at once as one instance of combat will prepare the player for further such activities. If you can do that, you pretty much have enemy placement sorted, apart from the big no-no;

 

DON'T PLACE ENEMY CHAINS OVER BOTTOMLESS PITS. IT'S NOT GOOD DESIGN.

 

Thing is, as cool as it is to feel like an experienced player bouncing over several enemies without your homing attack or dat good stuff, but one screw and your dead. Not cool. If you want to create such a challenge, use spikes with a way out of said spikes.

 

Finally, set pieces; this is much more opinionated as you can sort of do what you want here; you can have this stuff affect level design or you can put it the start or beginning of an act for a good spectacle or cutscene. Either way, the choice is yours, no real rules on this, though if you plan to use set pieces then don't just use one. Sean Evans (Overture Musician) advised me that, to keep the player surprised in a Sonic game, you must keep the spectacles coming thick and fast.

 

OK, done here, kthnxbai.

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  • 5 weeks later...
Guest Mr Lange

Thing is, sometimes progression isn't properly thought about. Not to single out SuperBliz or Delta here but, when beta testing for Sonic Edge of Darkness I noticed that the level design is rather flawed in the fact that it goes from a beach/grass level to a desert level to a snow level. Now, the first transition isn't too bad but desert to snow, really? o___o

I do not understand your reasoning at all. How is desert to snow any less unusual than Marble to Spring Yard, or Aquatic Ruin to Casino Night, or Hill Top to Mystic Cave, or Flying Battery to Sandopolis? Arbitrary theme changes are a defining feature of the original Sonic games and even most of the modern ones, and they didn't even have transitions of any kind until Sonic 3, and even THEN they were very crude ways to show a transition to a level just as jarringly different as the previous Sonic games always did, they came up with the bare minimum just to excuse the trope change. The Game Gear games, CD, 3D Blast, and all the others did exactly the same thing with whatever tropes they felt like doing next. They built the game around their ideas, not the other way around.

 

1) What level trope would most logically come after the current one?

2) How can I make a good transition between these two tropes?

These are not the right questions. The basics of what you want to consider is, if you want the beginning of your game to be Greeny Greens Land and the end of your game to be Evil Techno Lair, and what all you want in between. After you come up with all your themes and level ideas, then try to figure out a good logical progression. Do not start with nothing and then create your level themes based on what might come next, as I said above that contradicts the way Sonic games were. You do not have to come up with a good transition between them either. As I also said above, Sonic games did not give a shit about trying to transition level themes.

 

If you can create good answers to both these questions, you're on your way.

Answering these questions has no bearing on the level design process nor the quality of your levels. This advice is senseless.

Edited by Mr Lange
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  • 5 weeks later...

 

 
Finally, set pieces; this is much more opinionated as you can sort of do what you want here; you can have this stuff affect level design or you can put it the start or beginning of an act for a good spectacle or cutscene. Either way, the choice is yours, no real rules on this, though if you plan to use set pieces then don't just use one. Sean Evans (Overture Musician) advised me that, to keep the player surprised in a Sonic game, you must keep the spectacles coming thick and fast.
 
OK, done here, kthnxbai.

 

Ok this is almost COMPLETELY WRONG and makes NO SENSE. AT ALL. The part about keeping players surprised and keeping set peices coming is correct but there are in fact rules to set pieces as they are a key factor in modern sonic level design. To say other wise shows a complete lack of understanding of said level design. 

 

Set pieces help divide the level into segments and can help the player in terms of navigation and are a key part in the pacing and intensity of the level. Modern sonic levels are often divided into thirds by a physical gap which is often also a set piece. These thirds are also divided up into 3D and 2D gameplay for each third. Set pieces act as a way to smoothly transition between these two camera angles in a dynamic fashion and create a memorable moment in the level. This makes it much easier for the player to create a mental map of the level if they decide to play it again and due to the rather unique nature of the set piece, divides the level into segments, playing a key role in the overall pacing of the level.

A nicely paced level is going to have set pieces strategically placed throughout the level at intervals that its dramatic effect would be most potent. Further more they play into the overall intensity of the level directly, often having just as potent of an effect as gradual changes in elevation over the course of a stage or changes in difficulty. If you want a good build up in tension and intensity all the way up to the end of your level, then have set pieces that get gradually more dramatic as the level goes on. Use this in conjunction with gradually increasing difficulty and a gradual constant increase in elevation, and you're going to have on hell of an intense and foreboding level perfect for a boss fight or critical plot point at the end.

 

You also cannot just place set pieces where ever you want willy nilly. Placing them in an area where the player is focused on precision platforming, dodging and attacking enemies or avoiding obstacles is utterly pointless. The player won't notice them and they won't be able to have as big of an effect as they could. You want the player to notice and take in a set piece, so only place them in areas where the player isn't distracted by anything else. A set piece should demand the full attention of the player which means they should hardly be doing anything at all while in the set piece. The most they should be doing is holding the boost button or holding right in the area right before they get to the set piece, while they are in the set piece, and right after they have left it. There should absolutely be NO OBSTACLES in the set piece otherwise they will redirect the players attention to those obstacles and away from the set piece, or even worse, create a conflict of interest where the player has to focus on the obstacles ahead but is naturally drawn to the dramatic and enticing nature of the set piece and ends up fucking up because they don't know what to focus on. It will confuse them and feel weird. These set pieces should act as a small break for the player and allow them a slight recovery from fatigue and a reward for making it that far through the level. This is very important.

 

Also set pieces have to work together to maximize their effect. You'll want a peak of intensity in your level and you want a set piece that'll make that peak even more dramatic and intense. How can you make that peak even more intense? By having set pieces earlier in the level get progressively more intense and dramatic as the level goes on. One set piece is going to increase the intensity of the level on its own, but that intensity will start to wear down if another set piece or other factor isn't strategically placed soon after. Placing another set piece after that will increase the intensity even more than before and keep it going, but if that first set piece wasn't there, then the second set piece would have about the same impact as the first, thus lowering the overall intensity of the level. Set pieces work together to control the intensity of the level, with out this understanding and proper execution, the set pieces and level as a whole is going to feel less intense and dramatic and may feel a bit odd at times. Set pieces can also be used to lower the intensity of the level to help bring resolution to the level, like a cool down for the player. Cool down set pieces are less spectacular and dramatic than those last experienced and aren't as dynamic in shape. They'll be more horizontal or simple in their composition so they are at the least unique from the rest of the stage visuals but don't upstage the peak set piece of the level. These set pieces are also a bit more drawn out than build up set pieces. Also, the closer together your set pieces, the less intense the level is going to get. This is because the player is doing NOTHING in them except holding a single button and waiting for it to end. Too much of this waiting without challenge and conflict in between will start to bore the player, and you don't want that. Build up set pieces have more dynamic and complex compositions, making the eye travel a little and pull the player in. They should entice the player in and be rather memorable and iconic, make the player say "wow" as they go through it. It should be exciting.

 

Look at Rooftop Run in both Unleashed and Generations to see what I'm talking about. Green Hill Zone in generations is also a good example. In Rooftop Run, everything before the clock tower is building up drama and tension to maximize the effect the clock tower set piece has. The clock tower is LITERALLY the peak of the level both dramatically and physically. If you mapped out an elevation map of that level, you'd get a very gradual increase in elevation before the sudden spike of elevation at the tower, then a sharp plummet before gradually lowering elevation to the end of the level. It is also the single most memorable and iconic set piece of that level and possible of Unleashed as a whole. It wouldn't have as big of an effect as it had with out the other set pieces before it.

 

In GHZ, the set pieces create a very obvious flow and intensity arch.

The first real set piece is the giant loop that transitions from 3D to 2D. Then there is the exit from 2D to 3D via jumping through a massive water fall into a tubular cave and out into a vast and open cave. Then the player almost gets eaten by a fucking giant fish from nowhere and gets launched high into the sky barely escaping. This is the peak of the level's intensity. After that the player goes through a rather standard corkscrew, another standard loop, and then flies through the center of another standard loop. This progression of set pieces perfectly demonstrates what I'm talking about and how to intelligently use them. Look at any modern sonic level as well, they all follow these kinds of rules.

So yeah, there are in fact rules to this stuff Alex. Do your research.

Edited by Highwire4
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People need to curb their enthusiasm for harshly correcting people's opinions in here. Level design is not a science and what is good level design to some may not enthuse others and you need to be respectful of that. Feel free to share your thoughts and even your disagreements, but language like "Ok this is almost COMPLETELY WRONG and makes NO SENSE. AT ALL." doesn't fit and doesn't help to advance the discussion.

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My bad DW, I'll keep a lid on it in the future.

I personally do think there is a bit of a science to it as well as an art as well, but you're right I do need to be more respectful of that with other people. What I have stated above is just what I have personally found through my own research, if you have found things to the contrary please post it up guys.

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