Planning and Research - unit 10

Another style is monochrome, or sticking to one colour shade for every sprite. Most often seen in 90's top down games like Link's Awakening, software limitations that caused this meant designs were simpler but could present difficulty when trying to communicate techniques like shape language. 

Many futuristic games cover a similar palette to evoke the same effect, often a dark colour like black or grey contrasted with neon cold colours such as blue or purple. Slime Rancher shows how fictional technology can be used to incorporate slimes into a more advanced genre. With lots of different slimes to collect, Slime Rancher uses it's simple style to make collecting each individual type engaging. 

To make the game more interesting, mechanics where added like water wheels that rotated depending on where the player is on the wheel and see saw like platforms to create more momentum based challenges and situations where the player needs more careful timing. 

To prevent players from grabbing onto objects freely, this section has areas of cascading water where if you try to grab them, it'll send you down, causing the player to need more precise timing. 

As the game goes on, the lack of safe spots becomes more and more noticeable. Safer spots are also replaced by physics-related gimmicks to challenge players and apply more pressure, a common level design implementation. 

Jump King stood out to me for it's sprite style and size as I'll be aiming to achieve a similar level of detail with the characters. Different colours are used to illustrate texture and behaviour.  

When hitting a wall, you bounce of it a little while gaining some height. This can be used for narrow jumps to reposition yourself on a higher platform, adding an extra mechanic and a layer of strategy. 

I noticed a pattern of games having ice areas reserved for later in the game in more than one example. In Jump King, wind pushes you across the screen which can mess with your jump timing and momentum. Since I'll be making a first level to teach the player basics, I'll stay away from an ice themed level to avoid any advanced mechanics. 

Jusant, developed by Don't NOD is a calming climber game where the goal is to reach the top of a giant tower. Jusant uses innovative controls to help connect what is going on in the game with the inputs on the controller. 

By holding the jump button, you can charge a jump for greater vertical height. In a 2D game, this could still be usable but would have more limitations where the player could go. 

Since holding buttons for a long amount of time can lead to straining injuries, Jusant provides a set of accessibility related settings that can reduce straining on prolonged inputs. 

In some games, climbing requires little thinking. Players only need to hold one or two buttons usually and the sequence will be over fairly quickly. This is completely unlike real climbing where climbers have to strategize where to move next. To encapsulate real climbing more closely, Jusant uses a few tools to help achieve more depth in the main means of traversal. 

Whenever you start to climb, you can attach a rope to a slot in the wall so that if you run out of stamina and fall, the rope will catch you and allow you to recover to where you started to make the climbing experience less frustrating. 

You can also use pitons which act as checkpoints. These are self placed items that catch your fall instead of having to go to the start of the rope. You only have three, so you have to use them sparingly in long climbs to match your personal climbing speed, giving players more freedom. 

Another obstacle seen later are the plant buds that can be used as handholds, but will wilt in sunlight, requiring players to pick up the pace. 

Jusant adds pacing and challenges by having obstacles like harsh winds that depletes stamina or moving rocks to make it so that standing still will only waste stamina, requiring quick thinking. 

Jusant has a variety of collectables like the shells, which carry sound, giving players auditory backstory on the tower's history. 

Concepting an enemy that fits one of the tower themes more since I have some RPG style enemies like I intended. Since one theme I came up with was Overgrown, I could do a sentient moss creature like the Leaf Monster also from The Messenger. 

In addition, I could make another themed enemy, Quillshrooms from The Messenger remain stationary and toss spikes in multiple directions, being difficult to avoid in large groups. 

The tower starts with a room with no enemies so the player can understand the mechanic in a non-dangerous space. Spinning on the screws will move the sandy platforms and move other objects like coins. Tiling is used to hide secrets inside of walls. 

Enemies are placed out of reach to warn players that they will appear later in the level. The ? Block contains a power-up to give players more assistance. 

Using the Ice Flower power-up in this level is helpful for stopping Spike Tops and Dry Bones. A lot of the jumps so far have been simple and not had too many large gaps between them. 

To get the middle Star Coin, players must use the screw in the lower area and wall jump up. This is testing players what their limits are with the mechanics. This gives the level some optional challenge for more experienced players. 

Moving this screw will show some coins either guiding players or challenging them to collect them before getting crushed. The last power-up wasn't too far away, giving players plenty of chance to get an Ice Flower. 

A screw below moves these blocks to the left so the player can reach the pipe but also puts a Dry Bones on the top platform. Three extra lives are placed in an invisible block on the left side. 

The pipe takes players to the checkpoint. The checkpoint is just less than halfway through to make the level easier. The player is also introduced to the bigger Dry Bones while trying to climb this set of blocks, combining parts. 

More breathing room for the player, a few different enemies spread out between the next screw. The coins near the bottom are placed above invisible blocks so the player can give themselves more room to walk on to make the next jump. 

Using the screw will make a staircase to the next breather area. Spike Tops are combined with the blocks for added difficulty. 

Another power up to help the player maintain the Ice Flower. Breathing room combined with a Dry Bones which can risk players being too hasty and getting hit. 

Players can use the screw to platform up, having to wait for the blocks to align to make it to the top. Like at the start the use of tiling hints to the player that something is hidden in thew wall, in this case a red pipe.

The pipe presents an optional challenge using screws in a new clever way. Players move the block so that the Grrrol can reach the grey blocks protecting the Star Coin. Then the player must get to it while trying not to get hit.  

Once making it to the top, players use the screw one last time to open up these long blocks and shoot to the top in one of the cannon pipes, making a simple and satisfying ending to the main level.

At the top is the boss door with two big Dry Bones. A Fire Flower can be collected by using the Dry Bones to bounce up to it. This is intentional as fire is more effective on the boss than the Ice Flower. 

The level ends with a Boom Boom boss fight, where he can charge at the player and jump, a fairly simple fight that makes sense as the intended second mini- boss for the game. 

In common with the earlier tower, the player is introduced to the new mechanic in a mostly harmless space except there's a pit present to add challenge if players fall. Coins help to guide players onto the screw. 

Player is safe at first and introduced to a new mechanic, these red and white platforms that hit enemies when you hit them from underneath. Introducing this early gets players used to the mechanic. 

The use of preview UI helps players get moving quickly without thinking about what button could move the platform. Players could tush and risk getting hit or hit the Bony Beetle and the blocks from underneath for a power-up. 

Player introduced to Double Fire Bars above them to hint they'll appear later. The Fire Bars are on solid ground to not offer too much challenge this early. Hitting the hidden blocks grants access to an optional challenge. 

Players must avoid Bony Beetles by bouncing on Note Blocks and hit the POW Block from underneath to get the first Star Coin, much harder than the first Star Coin of Stoneslide Tower. If it looks too challenging, players can go back in the pipe and give up. Killing all the Bony Beetles rewards players with an extra life in case they are having trouble. 

The tower now starts to combine elements by having two screw platforms next to each other with a Bony Beetle in the middle, increasing difficulty. While easily avoidable, creates false difficulty to make challenge seem harder. 

Sumo Bro enemy introduced nearly halfway up the tower. Enemies all around the power-up providing less space to breathe.

Checkpoint placed at a similar stage as the Stoneslide Tower. One big difference however is the Screwtop Tower is longer, meaning if you die at the end, you'll be set further back. 

After the checkpoint, more elements are combined like Fire Bars and screw platforms. Combining  screw platform movement with obstacles is challenging as to move forward, Mario is stuck in position, adding risk. 

Optional challenge with two different routes up to the next screw. getting of the lift quickly will avoid the Fire Bar but makes the Sumo Bro a risk. Going past the Fire Bar for coins rewards players with having to deal with the weaker Bony Beetle. 

The track that the next platform follows has a Star Coin at the end. To collect it, players will have to go around the Fire Bar and time their inputs on the platform carefully. Players can also wall jump to the coin, a difficult jump but rewarding if pulled off correctly. 

Another Sumo Bro that makes landing tricky with the lightning bolt projectiles. more Fire Bars on the way up requiring quick jumps. 

Instead of starting with the  platform, players instead must find it by following the track. introducing the Fire Bars before the platform removes surprise but adds pressure.

Players have to make a jump across with the Fire Bar moving with the player, meaning it will chase them around the track once they activate the screw platform. Red coin challenge also placed requiring players to earn the  power-up rather than just giving one to them in a ? Block. 

Note Blocks with a lot of Bony Beetles, player gets some breathing room before this challenge but the screw platform leads into the final section of the level. 

Players must use the screw platform to go past three sets of Corner Fire Bars. If timed badly, players could get caught and take damage, requiring more strategic button input. 

Level ends with a Sumo Bro on top meaning player must quickly get out of the way to avoid being hit by the Fire Bars or the lightning projectile. If the player realises they're  missing the third Star Coin, they can find it by hitting some hidden blocks that create a pathway from where the Sumo Bro was standing. 

The Sumo Boss will jump around the platforms and attack using lightning. The player must hit the boss from below and land on top of the boss after the player has flipped him over. Having these platforms in earlier parts of the level helps the player to instinctively know what to do. 

It's important to know that I can use smaller collectables to guide players like in the level design of Super Mario however, having too many branching paths with collectables will negatively impact my intended vision for the short sweet levels that encourage speed. 

Including a few chests containing coins hidden down difficult paths for more diversity could work but it's important not to put them too far out of the way. This could be fixed by having players teleport further up the tower if they reach the end of a room with a chest. 

The autumn theme features a lot of warm colours from elements like mushrooms and pumpkins which could make fitting enemies. The Messenger has chestnuts that fall from trees that can hit you if you're not careful. 

To add to the theme of fast paced climbing, I want a timer at the top adding up to apply pressure and making the time trial theme more apparent. 

Since I want the game to have some competitive presence, I would add a high score. However, since the timer would achieve this, I've decided not to use one to avoid the screen having to much UI and focus more on gameplay like in Celeste. 

Interfaces on a HUD are usually split into two categories: a gauge and a HUD. Gauges are measurable information that would normally be invisible and giving it to the player like coded numbers associated with the player could be shown as health or stamina bars on screen. 

The main function of gauges is to help players to understand the current or future state of the game world- allowing them to strategize and make plans. 

Previews on the other hand aren't on the screen but instead show players what will happen if they select a certain input. In their simplest form, they're often icons placed over an object telling you what button to press to interact with it.