Difference between revisions of "Levels"

Revision as of 17:43, 28 March 2011

A level is a part of the game in which all player action takes place until a certain goal has been reached or an end condition has been fulfilled.

One way that games can divide gameplay into separate sections or chunks are to spatially constrain players into different parts of the game world. These separate parts are typically called Levels.

The difference between Levels in a game may be in content, aesthetics, or a combination of both. Commonly used differences between levels in early arcade games, such as Missile Command, are different color themes and speed of enemy units, thereby creating different levels of difficulty. By contrast, most of the current first-person shooters and real-time strategy games have new environments to be explored in each level, i. e., each level presents new enemies and puzzles for the player. In some games, the levels can also have different primary activities the player has to perform repetitively.

Note: this pattern is not about the concept of character development 'Levels'. This concepts is described as Character Levels.

Examples

Many early computer games included Levels but where the difference was only in theme or difficulty if there was any difference at all. Examples of such games include Asteroids, Pac-Man, and Missile Command and the primary use of Levels in these games are to signify progression and repopulate the game world, and this is still found in some puzzle games such as Bejeweled, Staries, and Zoo Keeper. However, many other puzzle games have different configurations or game elements to offer new challenges. Examples of this include Braid, Continuity, Cogs, the Incredible Machine game series, Sokoban, and Portal. Other computer games that make use of Levels to offer new challenges include Marble Madness, Mercury Meltdown, and the Lemmings series, as well as racing games such as the Gran Turismo series, the Need for Speed series, and the Wipeout series.

Many other computer games use Levels to gradually increase the difficulty while at the same time developing a story of sorts. Examples of this include The Legend of Zelda series, the Super Mario series, the Doom series, the Quake series, the Left 4 Dead series, NetHack, the Diablo series, and Torchlight.

Computer games with large game worlds sometimes use Levels to handle issues of system resources and keeping various monsters and non-player characters from moving freely. The Elder Scrolls series and the Fallout series are examples of such games. The instances found in some Massively Multiplayer Online Games, e.g. World of Warcraft, can be seen as a similar form of Levels. These allow subsets of the players logged on to particular servers to together try to complete specially designed challenges without interference or support from others; in fact several different groups can be in their own instance of the same Level and have no effect on each other, and this is the source of the name for the game concept. It should be noted though that players often have the possibility to leave these Levels without completing some goal.

Although not as common as in Computer Games, some Board Games can be seen as making use of Levels. Examples of this includes the missions of both Space Alert and Space Hulk, which are described as part of a larger story even if each game instance only typically makes use of one of the Levels. The dungeons found in many Tabletop Roleplaying Games can be seen as weak examples of Levels - they are often described as such in supplements but in many cases players could leave them whenever they wish.

Using the pattern

When implementing Levels in a game, game designers must decide how many Levels the game contains, how they differ and relate to each other, and if they are parts of a larger Game World (e.g. through Instances) or constitute the Game World. Another aspect is how much Randomness is to be used in the creation of the Levels for each game instance.

Themes are an easy way to differentiate Levels (see diegetic aspects below) but this needs to be tied to changed gameplay if this should not just be an visual difference. Another way to differentiate between Levels is by changing the end conditions and the primary activities of the players. Having different types of goals that require different fields of expertise guarantees Varied Gameplay and includes the possibility of having Unknown Goals as the player progresses from level to level.

The combination of theme, end condition, and primary activities sets the boundaries for what diegetic game elements should be used in a given level. The use of game elements such as Big Dumb Objects, Boss Monsters, Controllers, Clues, Enemies, Environmental Effects, Helpers, Installations, Obstacles, Resource Locations, Resource Generators, and Switches, as well as the spatial relationships between them, can be used to subdivide the Levels into dangerous areas, Safe Havens, and Inaccessible Areas. In addition, using different setups can provide further Varied Gameplay and Surprises. In addition to these diegetic elements, Levels can be populated with non-diegetic elements such as Geospatial Game Widgets, Goal Points, Save Points, and Spawn Points. Spawn Points for the player Avatars are especially important as they determine the players' starting conditions and can be used to create Tension if it puts them in danger from their very appearance - this can be avoid by putting the Spawn Points in Safe Havens.

There are some options for Levels that affect the overall use of them. The first is the option to let them be Backtracking Levels, that is Levels that one first moves through and then has to move back through. The second, which is a way is an opposite, is to provide Quick Returns so that players do not have to go through parts of Levels they have already been in unless they wish to do so. While Levels are usually designed as a continuum of the Game World populated with game elements, they can also be created from Tiles (this is done for example in Space Hulk).

The spatial construction of Levels affect how players can be made aware of the existence of further Levels, and how they perceive that they can reach them. Being able to directly observe the other levels through Invisible Walls or Inaccessible Areas is an obvious way to do this, but Game State Overview as well as Clues and Helpers can also be used. The latter option is in some cases easier to fit within the Consistent Reality Logic of the game.

Game designers can with relative surety make Levels have Casual or Challenging Gameplay since they can decide on a quite exact level what types of challenges the players will met. This can be used to create Smooth Learning Curves by making the first Levels small or easy so that players can get familiar with interfaces and core gameplay, and when they have completed these they can proceed with more challenging ones.

A common effect of finishing a Level is the Quick Travel to another Level.

Diegetic Aspects

Being limited parts of Game Worlds, Levels provide natural points for creating Exploration and Traverse goals. Finishing Traverse goals are often symbolized by the activation of a Controller, such as opening the main door to the next level, or by defeating a Boss Monster. Regardless of what specific goals are used in a Level, game designer creating Levels need to consider how players should be able to do Game World Navigation (Big Dumb Objects can play roles here), and between which parts of the Levels the exists Line of Sight. Optionally, one may consider if one should actively design to support Speed Runs.

In order to be perceived as part of the same game, Levels need not only share the same core gameplay but also have Diegetic Consistency between them. As the change from one Level to another typically signifies a change from one location to another, this can be used as a means to change theme, e.g. from a forest to a cave or from a railway station to a factory. The theme can then be used to set the boundaries for how much the Diegetic Consistency can be stressed; changing the theme too much to introduce new gameplay can however become an example of Alien Space Bats.

The design of a part of a Game World can of course also be used to create Environmental Storytelling.

Interface Aspects

Mini-maps are quite common interface tools to help with the Game World Navigation of Levels.

Narrative Aspects

Unless created completely by Randomness, Levels are Predetermined Story Structures and can thereby be used to progress a narrative as gameplay progresses, especially since any present Boss Monsters or Environmental Storytelling can be more likely to be encountered by players through how they are herded through the Levels.

Consequences

The concept of Levels lets the game designer delimit Game Worlds and thereby the complexity of the game as well as giving players Limited Foresight. When leaving a Level is an Irreversible Event this can be used to let the transitions function as Closure Points. Levels can also be used to progress the Narration Structures in a controlled fashion since they can be Predetermined Story Structures. Besides what actually take place in the Levels, this progression of stories can be done through Cutscenes between the Levels. Since entering new Levels put players in contact with new game elements, they can provide Game Element Insertion into the game seen as a whole.

Except when used as smaller part of a Game World (as for example The Elder Scrolls series and World of Warcraft does), the existence of a Level assumes the existence of a next Level or the completion of the game. This provides explicit short-term Exploration goals of finding the next Level. The completion of a level thereby provides strong Hovering Closures and Anticipation, and the former can be increased further if Save Points only exist between the Levels. These types of Levels create Goal Hierarchies, be it linear, as is the case with the many First-Person Shooters such as the Doom series, or structured in a more elaborate way, as is done for example in the different worlds in the Super Mario series.

By being different both as to structure and gameplay, Levels can provide Varied Gameplay and Surprises. Combined with Environmental Effects or Switches this can become Varying Rule Sets and only some rules apply on some Levels. Levels partly or wholly created through Randomness can vary gameplay further and in this can also supports Replayability (as for example in NetHack). Levels also have the possibility to support Exploration and Traverse goals, the former which may be extended to a larger scale if players have a choice between the order in which to complete Levels.

Movement between Levels create Quick Travel unless games are explicitly designed to not have this. One example of how this can be avoid is present in the Left 4 Dead series - here the safe rooms are present in both levels and changes occur when all doors are closed so the noticeable difference of having changed Levels is minimized.

Levels can instantiate Extra Chances since they are portions of the whole gameplay in a game and failing one of them can be separate from failing the whole game.

Relations

Can Instantiate

Anticipation, Casual Gameplay, Challenging Gameplay, Exploration, Extra Chances, Game Element Insertion, Game Worlds, Goal Hierarchies, Hovering Closures, Limited Foresight, Game World Navigation, Predetermined Story Structures, Quick Travel, Smooth Learning Curves, Surprises, Traverse, Unknown Goals, Varied Gameplay

with Environmental Effects or Switches

Varying Rule Sets

with Irreversible Events

Closure Points

with Spawn Points

Tension

with Randomness

Replayability

Can Modulate

Game Worlds

Can Be Instantiated By

Backtracking Levels, Instances, Tiles

Can Be Modulated By

Alien Space Bats, Big Dumb Objects, Boss Monsters, Controllers, Clues, Enemies, Environmental Effects, Environmental Storytelling, Geospatial Game Widgets, Goal Points, Helpers, Inaccessible Areas, Installations, Invisible Walls, Irreversible Events, Line of Sight, Mini-maps, Obstacles, Quick Returns, Randomness, Resource Locations, Resource Generators, Save Points, Safe Havens, Spawn Points, Speed Runs, Switches

Possible Closure Effects

Cutscenes, Quick Travel, Save Points

Potentially Conflicting With

History

A revised version of the pattern Levels that was part of the original collection in the book Patterns in Game Design^[1].

References

1. ↑ Björk, S. & Holopainen, J. (2004) Patterns in Game Design. Charles River Media. ISBN1-58450-354-8.

Acknowledgments

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