Process of Design Document for Impossible Rescue Team 1

Contents
Contents................................................................................................................................................1
Priority 1 Problems/Research...............................................................................................................1
Problem 1: (Insert problem here)......................................................................................................1
Research Material 1:......................................................................................................................1
Priority 2 Problems/Research...............................................................................................................2
Problem 1: (Insert problem here)......................................................................................................2
Research Material 1:......................................................................................................................2
Priority 3 Problems/Research...............................................................................................................3
Problem 1: (Insert problem here)......................................................................................................3
Research Material 1:......................................................................................................................3
Priority 4 Problems/Research...............................................................................................................4
Problem 1: (Insert problem here)......................................................................................................4
Research Material 1:......................................................................................................................4
Synthesis Priority 1...............................................................................................................................5
Synthesis Priority 2...............................................................................................................................5
Synthesis Priority 3...............................................................................................................................5
Synthesis Priority 4...............................................................................................................................5
Refinement Priority 1...........................................................................................................................5
Refinement Priority 2...........................................................................................................................5
Refinement Priority 3...........................................................................................................................5
Refinement Priority 4...........................................................................................................................5
Bibliography..........................................................................................................................................5

Priority 1 Problems/Research
Problem 1: How many areas would each level have?

Problem Overview:
The problem I have encountered was would each level have multiple single screen areas that would
make up the level.

Research Material 1:
Produc Develope Publishe Release Reference Material/Links
t Name r r Year
Binding Edmund Edmund 28th https://www.youtube.com/watch?
of McMillen McMille Septembe v=Sr4LReuBfhw (skip to 2:40)
Isaac Florian n r 2011
Himsl Florian
Himsl

Reference Images:

Description:

 The reference material I look at was binding of Isaac.

 Binding of Isaac is relevant to the problem Im researching because the game
has multiple levels to it, however it also has multiple small areas inside of the
bigger main levels allowing longer gameplay and exploration.
 What works in binding of Isaac is that the game is single screen, allowing for
good research because it was helpful to look at single screen levels. Another
feature that works in binding of Isaac is that the areas are quite quick
however there is multiple of them which makes the main levels longer.
 What does not work within binding of Isaac is that the game is 2D and the
camera is different to what we will be creating.
 What has helped researching binding of Isaac is that having shorter and
quicker smaller areas per level but making more of them could be really good
to make the game more fun and allow more options in gameplay.
Problem 2: Would the game have a difficulty select option?

Problem Overview:

The problem I have encountered was weather the game will have a difficulty select option or will the
level design provide difficulty with increasingly harder levels.

Research Material 2:
Product Name Developer Publisher Release Year Reference
Material/Links
Super meat boy Edmund Edmund McMillen 20th October
McMillen Team meat 2010
Team
meat
Reference Images:

Description:

 The reference material I have researched for this problem was super meat boy
 This reference material is relevant to my problem because super meat boy does not
necessarily use a difficulty select button, but uses the level design to make the game more
harder the further you progress.
 What works well in this research is that making the level design get harder with progression
rather than adding a difficulty select buttons is that it works in platformers really well making
the game harder with levels rather than a button.
 What does not work in this research is that super meat boy is a much faster then what we
are trying to make and the gameplay is much different too so it is really hard to pin point the
specific way we would utilise the difficulty since it could not be exactly like super meat boy.
 What has helped researching super meat boy is that I for sure will not be doing the level
design difficulty the same way, I can utilise some points from me and make it slightly harder
and getting harder but not too frustrating.
Problem 3: Should there be a checklist for the tasks?

Problem Overview: the problem I have researched was whether there would be a checklist for the
player to keep track of their goals and objectives.

Research Material 2:

Product Name Developer Publisher Release Year Reference

Material/Links
Call of duty 2 Infinity Activision 25th October
ward and 2005
aspyr
Reference Images:

Description:

 The reference material I have researched for this problem was call of duty 2.
 Call of duty 2 is relevant to the problem I’m researching because I needed to find a game
that shows the player their objectives completed or not without really pausing the game and
call of duty 2 was a really good example.
 What works well in the material is that the when the player presses and holds tab their
objectives come up their completed ones and the ones they have to do.
 What does not really work is that the material is a completely different genre to what we
will be creating.
 Utilising this kind of feature would be cool to explore however I don’t really think it would
work for a single screen platformer.

Problem 5:

Problem Overview: should the levels (environment) be vertical?

(More detailed brief paragraph of what the problem is in relation to our brief.)
Research Material 5:
Product Name Developer Publisher Release Year Reference
Material/Links
Super meat boy Edmund Edmund McMillen 20th October
McMillen Team meat 2010
Team
meat
Reference Images:

Description: super meat boy uses both landscape and vertical levels depending on the level design, I
think we could utilise this into our game and have a mix of both landscape levels and vertical levels.

Will the player find story elements in the secrets? Darksouls allows the player to find
additional story info from their items and exploration.
Can we have different types of objects? (E.g. platforms) like most single screen platformers
there usually are different platforms that crumble, move or fall. E.g. manicminer
Do we need optional paths? We could have optional paths aka secret levels. E.g. hollow
knight

Level design Problem 1: What progression methods should we use? (Character, item and level)

Problem Overview: The problem we are facing is how to make the progression in our game as
smooth and fun as possible, looking into other 2D games out there and their level design we should
be able to figure out a really good balance, we will also be looking at how to use character
progression, item and of course the levels themselves.
Research Material: Character Progression (2D)
Produ Develop Publish Releas Reference Material/Links
ct er er e Year
Name
Dead Motion Motion 10th https://guides.gamepressure.com/dead_cells/guide.asp?
cells Twin Twin may ID=40637
2017
Description: The way character progression works in dead cells is the player finds cells by killing
enemies. Cells allow the player to purchase permanent skills and bonuses that are assigned to the
character, but in order for the player to get cells they have to go from one checkpoint to the next
killing as many enemies as possible and not dying in the process because if the player dies they will
lose all their unspent cells. Every time the player dies in the game they come back to life and it’s ok
to die in dead cells because when you do you start to learn and your character becomes slightly
stronger each time making the level you died on slightly easier.

Research Material: Character Progression (3D)

Product Developer Publisher Release Year Reference Material/Links
Name
Dark souls FromSoftware Namco 22th https://www.giantbomb.com/dark-
Bandai September souls/3030-
Games 2011 32697/forums/character-
progression-and-development-
520046/
Description: in dark souls just like in dead cells the player has to collect souls from killing enemies,
souls in dark souls allow the player to purchase permanent upgrades that make the character
stronger, however when you die in dark souls you also lose your souls like in dead cells however the
game allows you to go back and pick them up. The character progression is similar to how dead cells
works, the player themselves become better through trial and error and also your character
becomes stronger from the souls. There is also a story character progression where the character at
the start of the game is in a prison and throughout the game you become stronger and at the end
you are a god slayer, and it feels like you have earnt it.
Research Material: Item Progression (2D)
Product Name Developer Publisher Release Year Reference
Material/Links
Binding of Danny Danny Baranowsky 28th September
Isaac/rebirth Baranowsky 2011/4th
November 2014
Description: Binding of Isaac has really good item progression since its random each time you play.
While exploring the levels and clearing countless of rooms you will get items from the enemies but
mainly chest that give you a powerful item that is bound to the character until you die. This works
really well since each time you play the route is random but mainly the items are random so you will
not really know what you will get since you can either get a powerful item that will help you out a lot
or you can get something that’s not really useful.

Research Material: Item Progression (3D)

Product Name Developer Publisher Release Year Reference
Material/Links
Metroid Prime Retro Nintendo 17th November
studio and 2002
Nintendo
Description: In Metroid prime you find items through exploration, then the items allow you to
progress further into different areas and they also upgrade your character making you stronger. The
items are not random like in binding of Isaac however since it’s a metroidvania they are not that easy
to come across.

Research Material: Item Progression (Razor)

Product Name Developer Publisher Release Year Reference
Material/Links
Impossible Epyx Epyx 1984
mission

Description: in impossible mission the player has six hours of game time to collect 36 puzzle pieces.
In order to progress and be able to finish the game. Every time the player dies in the game ten
minutes is deducted from their overall timer. That’s really the main point of the game there is really
no combat in it the player just avoids enemies and looks for information in order to be able to finish
the game.

Research Material: Level progression (2D)

Product Name Developer Publisher Release Year Reference
 Material/Links
th
Celeste Matt Matt Makes Games 25 January
Makes 2018
Games
Description: celest has a really simple yet challenging level progression, the game starts with few
levels teaching the player the basics and then it throws them in increasing the difficulty slightly every
level you play teaching you new things along the way.

Research Material: Level progression (3D)

Product Name Developer Publisher Release Year Reference
Material/Links
Call of duty Infinity Activision 20th may 2009
modern warfare Ward
2
Description: call of duty is a very linear level progression game. Usually most of them have a tutorial
at the start which teaches you simple controls, and then it moves into the story once you know
everything. The levels are very simple you have an objective, and you follow a simple path that
allows you to complete that objective, and you do multiple objectives in a level and once all are done
the level is complete and you can advance to the next one.

Research Material: Level Progression (Razor)

Produ Developer Publisher Release Year Reference Material/Links
ct
Name
Manic Matthew Bug-Byte 1983 https://guides.gamepressure.com/dead_cell
miner Smith Software s/guide.asp?ID=40637
 projects
amsoft
Description: the level progression in manic miner is very challenging the game does not have a
tutorial level it just throws you into it, and the levels are challenging themselves too since you don’t
really know what to look out for until you actually encounter it, each level has a number of pick-ups
that have to be picked up in order to advance into the next level. What is also really challenging is
that the player has only three lives and once all the lives have been used up the game goes back to
level one.

Research Material: What makes good 2D levels?

Description: making the levels simple yet challenging is going to be a good approach, making them
easier at the start, super Metroid does that after the escape sequence, once you land on the planet
and make your way down there are no hazards and or enemies it’s just you going down, however
once you move on further and collect your first ability and then go back the way u came the level is
full of enemies, the enemies are easy of course they are just a one shot kill. This is a good
introduction to the game even though the game is not single screen.

What makes celestes levels good is how they flow it’s a very smooth experience of you constantly
moving without really stopping and that what makes the levels fun, what also makes the levels fun is
the use of different platforms and hazards and the green orb pick-ups which allow you to dash mid-
air, and also how well the levels transition between each other making it seem like a one big level
and it also keeps the momentum.

Nymphiad: nymphiad has a very unique level design, the level design is planned around this one
mechanic, and the mechanic is when you walk over a sign with an arrow the screen will flip and the
character is able to walk back to back like in pac man. And through that they have to complete
puzzles in order to collect the coin and progress into the next levels.

Research Material: What hazards would be in the levels?

Product Developer Publisher Release Year Reference Material/Links

Name
Super Nintendo Nintendo 1994
Metroid
Description: in super Metroid there are a lot of different environment hazards that the player can
take damage from. At the beginning of the game the player has to avoid steam that blows every
couple of seconds. The other environment hazards that occur in super Metroid are spikes that the
player takes constant damage if standing on them.

Product Developer Publisher Release Year Reference Material/Links

Name
Hollow Team Team 2017
knight cherry cherry

Description: in hollow knight the player has to watch out for falling spikes as a hidden environment
hazard, another good hazard in hollow knight is the worms that shoot out giving the player only a
second or two inured to move past them. There is also water or acid in the game that the player has
to avoid it is very simple but it’s still there as a hazard if you are not careful. There are also these
plants that are really hard to see and if the player walks on them they will shut causing damage if not
careful, after a while though the plants will open and the player can move on these plants are
usually in tight areas so that it looks like you are trapped.
Elevator platforms – platforms that would move up and down. Elevator platforms would simple
move up and down allowing the player to get to areas they could not get with their jump. Supermeat
boy does a good use of them allowing the player to access higher areas.

Crumbling - platforms that would crumble when the player touches them making the player move
fast also it adds an additional way of difficulty. Celeste does a good job of utilising crumbling
platforms when the player touches them they have a few seconds to jump off them and they fall
apart but then after a while they come back, after seeing that I thought I’d be a good idea to
implement something like that to make the levels more interesting and add some challenge to the
levels.

Moving side to side platforms - platforms that would move a certain distance along the x axis. Mega
man has simple platforms that move side to side constantly allowing the player to traverse further
into the level.