Spells
3 Pillars of Level Design
Room Names
Before making a spells room I came up with the name for the room to influence its design. Even though the name was never seen by the player it provided a good structure to work off. It was fine if in the middle of making a room it deviated from the room name since the name has already done its job.
Loops
Many enemies in Spells follow the player and only attack once they get close. It was important to create main loops that the player can follow to safely train the enemies. Once this loop was created adding obstacles, traps, and other sub-loops made that room stand out from others. Loops in the goblin forest are often indicated with a dirt path so the player can get used to the motion and learn the cave loops themselves.
Traps and Choke Points
Along the loops are traps that can damage the player or enemies. They push them away from the loop and into more dangerous territory that can contain dead ends, and/or choke points. If the player successfully gets through the choke point then the enemies will either have to funnel into the same point or go around, each of these scenarios allows the player to focus on getting to a safe place or attacking the enemies as a reward.
Room Design Process
Each room in Spells is its own contained level, which meant that as long it followed the three pillars, it would work in the game. So it was easy to very quickly iterate and put levels into the game. Each room started as a simple sketch and if it had any good aspects at all it was put in the game. It would be tested until the proper feel and difficulty was achieved.
It was important for each room to be memorable in some way, so each time the player encounters it they better know how to follow the loops and use the choke points to their advantage.
Goblin Forest
The Goblin Forest is the first area that the player enters, and starts with a short tutorial where the player learns how to kill enemies, dash, and use their spellbook. It also gets them used to the loop of killing enemies and receiving a letter for their efforts.
The rest of the Goblin Forest is a random set of 7 rooms, but they can't get the same room back to back. The rooms are more forgiving then the later rooms, usually having more barrels that the player can break for extra health. They also get a shop to get a break from the intensity before going to the Crystal Cave.
Crystal Caves
This is filler text, it's not real and never has been. When our fore-fathers wanted to make some text this is not what they had in mind. Unfortunately this is what they get, so they can suck it.
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(This section is about how much more difficult the crystal caves are and such and such)
This is filler text, it's not real and never has been. When our fore-fathers wanted to make some text this is not what they had in mind. Unfortunately this is what they get, so they can suck it.
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(This section is about The Bone Bros)