A most excellent game design article by the original Sonic level designer

[DimensionWarped]

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3769/game_design_psychology_the_full_.php

I use this to work out all the gimmicks [ie. the unique features to each level], but I threw some small, easy --

Ooooooh, looks like someone else calls them that too eh Seraph? Someone like... Hirokazu Yasuhara.

But really though, I didn't make this topic to make a jab at Seraph. Well, I did, but there is so much more to discuss here.

Fact is, I've been getting a lot of questions about level design from people lately. Mostly Aero. And one of the biggest questions is about how to get started. This interview talks about dictating the players actions, setting goals, creating more of an illusion of freedom while keeping the player on route to see what you want him to see, and stuff like that. He even discusses how the biggest change from 2D to 3D is perspective, a topic which I covered in detail some time ago. He goes so far as to say that Sonic has always been a 3D game, just limited in how 3d was portrayed.

It also discusses some lesser thought about angles... like that the ring loss wasn't really meant to be this huge gameplay feature as much as it was meant to show off the Genesis's processing power. Very interesting article with more insight than anything you'll ever read from Naka really.

lol Seraph

[VectorSatyr]

Damn... I was just going to link you to this. xD

Yes, this article is totally awesome. A must read. I already have it bookmarked for reference.

Fact is, I've been getting a lot of questions about level design from people lately. Mostly Aero.

*Probably will not stop asking, either* =P

[ssbfalcon]

Wow, that was a pretty nice read...

Great find DW!

[Serephim]

Rofl, I already told you I was joking, DW. I have no wierd personal problem with the word "gimmicks".

I actually remember stressing that "goal to accomplish" principal before in one of OUR topics. Happy to see most of my Game Design philosophy is shared with someone who actually matters.

Edit: i think the ring loss just being a showoff was the coolest thing ive heard about sonic in the last few years.

[DimensionWarped]

Sure thing, but I'm still going to rag on you for it until the end of time. It's just my thing.

As for the find, I have to credit Shadix with that. Shadix pays more attention to Gamasutra than I do. However, I also saw that later today, Kotaku posted it... making note of none of the neat stuff and only that it tries to make a jab at Western culture (which the author agreed to in spite of the vastly greater market for creativity based games in Western markets).

[GSF]

Wow, this is a great article. This is the guy credited as Carol Yas in Sonic 1, right?

*adds to scrapbook*

[DragonXVI]

The article seems to kinda degenerate into a "I don't really like these kinda games" from the interviewer, but the initial pages are pretty useful.

When my team was coming up with level design for Dare we had a big pile of comments from Rare who told us in no uncertain terms that our level looked like ass They mentioned that a level should lead the player subtlely to their goal, and even things like the placing of lights affects which direction the player'll want to go (Putting great big arrows all over the floor not withstanding )

Moral pretty much is, people should never get lost in a level. Even if your level has backtracking it should make sense to the Player that that's what they should be doing (Something lighting up, cheap cutscene showing what the button did, audible noise of a door opening that was previously blocked etc.)

A good point with the short term goals though. In Sonic this can be anything from reaching a button to extend a bridge, defeating a badnik or climbing up some falling platforms. The long term goal (At least in terms of the individual levels and without mentioning the plot) for Sonic is pretty much "Go right/forwards, and reach the end" with fairly audible blocks in which the Player stops and either has to solve a puzzle, destroy all the enemies in the area, find a button etc. (Very noticable in the recent games)

[DimensionWarped]

Destroy all the enemies in the area was never a short-term goal until Sonic started getting shitty.

Retro Edit:

In retrospect, I take this statement back. There is one exception to this rule right before the last boss of Sonic CD.