Level Design & Minimaps

There's always something new going on with the Game Design crew.

Lately we've been discussing level design and the use of minimaps. More specifically, we've been debating whether or not our game should be open-world or if it should be more linear. And how we design our levles will play into how we implement the minimap.

We know that, since the game takes place at our college, TCNJ, the actual campus will serve as the overworld. From here the players will go into the various buildings, where they will find the missions, objectives, etc. But what we need to decide on is whether or not players will move from building to building as the game tells them to, or if they will have the freedom to visit whatever building they want. The central storyline will move in specific directions, of course, but we are debating whether or not the game should include side quests and stories.

One of the guys in the group is really pushing for a Grand Theft Auto style game. I think we've settled now on a compromise, whereby the initial stages of the game will be linear and the later stages will be a sandbox setup. Once the player starts to learn some Spanish they should be able to handle more unique scenarios that side quests can provide. This will also allow them to get more reinforcement of the material.

To handle our sandboxing, we are enlisting the help of an Interactive Storytelling class to come up with sidestories and quests.

To help us in analyzing the issues of map and level design, we used the traditional Game Design method of bringing in sample games. I brought in some GameCube games like Resident Evil 4, Metroid Prime and P.N. 03 to look at some of the best (and worst) of the industry.

Metroid Prime and Resident Evil 4 are both somewhat linear games, in terms of level design. Prime allows for a lot of exploration in gameplay, but the actual rooms are quite small and restricted. But the player never realizes how small these rooms are because of the brilliantly done graphics and level design. You really feel like you are in part of a massive canyon, you don't realize it's actually just a hallway with a cleverly designed skybox and such.

Resident Evil does the same thing, by turning a simple hallway into what looks like part of a huge forest area. The developers didn't have to actually make massive areas, but they still gave the impression of large explorable areas. Part of the success here was in the limited use of the minimaps. If players could see blatantly that they were in a hallway, they would not get the impression that they were exploring a large, vibrant world. They would know they were boxed in.

In this case, ignorance is bliss. If a developer doesn't have the time or resources to make a massive open world like in an MMO, I want to at least feel like I am in one of these. In these instances, heavy use of a minimap would be detrimental.

P.N.o3 was an example of a badly done game. The levels are all tightly made corridors that suffocate the player. And the setup of these different hallways and rooms is completely confusing and disorienting, creating the feeling that you are lost in a massive maze. In this instance, a minimap would have been very welcome.

We will probably end up using some kind of minimap in our game, but we will try to avoid ruining the open world feeling. Time will only tell if we suceed.

- Scott