Hi all,
So recently I’ve been thinking more about the structure of my game, and considering whether I want levels in the traditional sense (Like Mario, or most other platformers in the world.) or whether I want one linear long journey (similar to limbo).
Thinking about this comes up with a lot of problems most people wouldn’t dream of when considering how a game is made. I want my game to feel like the player has gone on a journey, that they’ve accomplished something, and I feel breaking the game down into levels would destroy that feeling as there’d be chunks of the journey the player never experienced. There are also disadvantages to having one long, continuous journey though; players can get very bored very quickly, especially if there isn’t much difference in the scenes.
My idea for ending the levels was that Jacob would have to board a train in the future dimension, which would carry his journey along. That’s where I came up with the snag that the player would miss out on a lot of land.
I discussed this with my friends, and one suggested I still break the game up with end of levels, but I do so in a intelligent way e.g. Jacob comes across an abandoned camp site where he can then sleep the night before transitioning to the next level. I like this idea a lot, as it means I can make levels separate and independently of one another, but can still keep a journey going, allowing players to feel like they’ve accomplished something.
This is definitely the way I want to go forwards with the game, I just now need to start thinking about level design, and actually implementing these levels.
