This week, I looked at a video about level design in single-player games and multi-player games.
Singleplayer vs. Multiplayer Level Design: A Paradigm Shift
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxpjRuATxKE
Framing / Composition
Single-player games:
1. Storytelling
- using every chance to tell the story
- using T - Junction to tell the story (whether the player is going left or right, by putting the story at the junction, the player can always see it)
2. GamePlay- relevant objectives
- the player should always know where to go
- the use of 'Weenies' (always have a landmark to show directions to the player)
Multi-player games:
1. Player paths/ options
- player's routes and the spaces
- make sure when players are running in the scene, they can make decisions quickly (image below)
from the right-hand side, there is a sand pile which gives the players information about they can get to the upper floor by walking through this route
from the left-hand side, the players can see clearly that there is a bridge, which indicates there might be people coming from that place
Zanzibar Map in Halo
2. Tightening up sightlines/ exploits
- always pay attention to the player's sightlines (in single-player games, when the player kills an NPC, the NPC will not feel bad because they don't have feelings. However, in multi-player games when a player is killed by another player and he doesn't know where is the killer, he will feel confused and think it's the game system that caused his death. I guess this is why in the game PUBG Mobile will play a lens close-up every time when I died, this gives me a clear sign of who is in which position shooting me. The whole point here is to let the players feel that their death is caused all by themselves)
Player Routes
Single-player games:
1. use the optional route to tell the story
In one scene in the basement of a bar, the player can interact with the guitar on the barrel. Once the guitar starts to play, the character will sing a melancholy song telling the fact about the unbreakable circle where poor people can never get out of poverty. Then the character will pick an orange and give it to the little girl
screenshot from the video
- as single-player games will normally be played just once, those small warming elements can be a nice thing to add but really need to consider the time and budget of the whole project
2. Will AI play nice?
- need to create different kinds of AI to face a different kinds of players
left image: those vents will attract players who love sneaking but should be used carefully so that once the player enters the vent and shoots enemies from inside, the enemies are not able to come into the vent
screenshot from the video
right image: (Far Cry 3) once the player is the sniper, they can stand on the roof and shoot every AI enemy due to this game didn't consider how are the enemies going to do when the player is a sniper
- solution:
1. limit the player's movement when they become a sniper
2. consider how will the AI characters confront a situation like this (need to design the AI in a way that can respond to all of the situations that might happen to the players)
Multi-player games:
- always design more than one route
- have the idea that the players will play this level again and again in my mind
the image on the left shows 3 routes for players to choose from (from simple ones to difficult ones)
always design routes that allow players with different levels of skills can take
screenshot from the video
Pick Ups
Single-player games:
- design the level first and then add the pick-ups (weapon placements, power-ups...)
- remember pick-ups can also tell stories
1. why are those items placed here?
2. who is used to be in this place before?
Multi-player games:
- consider the pick-ups when designing the level layouts
- how will the spatial relationship be changed after those items are picked up?
Bug Fixing
Testing
Single-player games:
- the testing people can only play the game once
- need to be polished and carefully designed before testing
Multi-player games:
- should be tested more often
- let people get involved as quickly as possible
- note: it is normal when players don't know where to go the first time, they will find out when they play this level a few more times
Summary
screenshot from the video
Examples of levels that I found (Analysis)
Single-player games:
1. What Remains Edith Finch
https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/842102830302106316/
a narrative game where the levels are basically linear (larger rooms have more than 2 entrances and small rooms only have one)
as players normally play once, it is important to have a large map for the players to explore (otherwise the game will end quickly and the players will never touch this game anymore)
cannot have many routes, too many routes can be tricky while designing the game story. It's easy for players to get lost and doesn't know where to go (this happened to me in this game, there is one scene where the whole environment is dark and I'm lost inside a house, no matter which direction I go, I cannot find anything to interact with)
Conclusion:
In single-player games, a large game world is really important. As a designer, you want players to stay longer in your game world as you couldn't expect them to play your game again, so you have to create a huge map full of story content and need always make sure the core storytelling is visible to every player. At the same time, the navigation in a game should also be considered carefully, as there is only one player who is the real person, and it will be easy for him to get lost in the game world.
Multi-player games:
1. Rubber Bandits (multi-player mode)
https://newsletter.gamediscover.co/p/case-study-rubber-bandits-double
small space - able to allow players to fight with each other (force them to fight)
multiple routes to get to the left and right area (across the bridge or jump above the life buoy)
use water (obstacles) to show the advantage of using ranged attack weapons
2. Gang Beasts
https://unity.com/case-study/gang-beasts
similar to the Rubber Bandits (small area, multiple routes and obstacles)
3. Fall Guys
reasonable to have a long-liner level map due to the game's mechanic is the player who gets to the finish point first wins. In comparison with the Rubber Bandits, the design of levels is in totally different concepts.
one main route contains many small routes (inside the whole level, the players are always running toward the same destination but they can make decisions about which specific way to go)
different forms of obstacles (those allow players to interact more with the game and they can always bring unexpected experiences for players each time)
Conclusion:
In multi-player levels design, the level's layout should service the game mechanics. If the game is all about battle with other players, the levels should be designed smaller to force players to compete with each other (Rubber Bandits). If it's a game about racing, then you don't need to consider how to gather players together because they will always be together as there is only one final destination (Fall Guys).
Different routes should be always considered no matter what type is the game. Referred to Fall Guys, although there is one route in general, the players are allowed to make many decisions quickly within the game on which specific way to go.
Always consider: What kind of feelings and behaviours can different game spaces bring to players?
Comments