By 'dabble', I mean 'really struggle with it' and 'try hard yet I don't get too far with it', often because I 'over-complicate designs to the point where I don't finish it'. I say this because I really haven't really released anything interesting until I participated in a contest last year.
http://www.planetphillip.com/posts/chaseville-half-life-2-ep2/
You may or may not have seen this site if you're a fan of Half-life 2 or any of the series, but I think this contest probably has one of the coolest things I've done in a long long time.
This one... right here...
Or maybe you'd like a closer look... it is a little dark...
 |
| Too close... |
Okay... so the achievement is a little unimpressive, but it wasn't really the contest itself that I cared directly for, it was the kick in the pants I needed to challenge myself by working to a deadline.
I'm speaking to this maybe a year too late, but I think now that the contest is done (There is another set of competitions happening this year, but things are way too stressful at my current job to participate and do anything on time), I want to actually speak to the level itself and maybe some lessons I learned from the whole experience.
It was a long week
The 6x10 part of the contest has a purpose: it represented the total number of contests that'd happen that year (6), and the number of days you got to make a level (10 days).
Yes... ten days. You get... ten days! That's a lot less time than I'm used to, that's for sure.
Of course, it wasn't really ten days either... more like eighteen. The site went down around the time of the contest due to the owner starting to become rather displeased with it. Personal reasons that I could understand, as I'd been there before (maybe I'll talk about that project in another blog). After a bit of cheering up, eventually the fans brought him back up and he brought the site up. There was a bit of a delay... and man did it help!
Not to put down the guy. I'm very glad he brought the contest back, but the delay had a huge impact on the the map overall. But how best can I describe what I mean...?
Put quality first, then the deadline...
One of the nicest things I gained from this contest was time... unfortunately, I probably didn't make the most effective use of it...
One of the coolest things I liked about the Source engine is all the added toys they put with the level editor. I really should get up to date with what other developer's tools have to them, but there's something really fun about having a bunch of logical relays, integer comparison, parenting, and even random events in your level editor. The developers at Valve have a real knack at making their mod community happy.
And boy, this was probably one of the coolest (and dirtiest) hacks I made: effectively building an enemy AI entirely out of level editor components.
And then a deadline was announced...
There was a lot to be had with the new mechanic I made, and lots of planning and deciding to do... (let's see, should it be set in a space ship filled with the monsters, should I do an alternate universe with low gravity? How do I make a lawnmower in Hammer?), but then the site was back up and the owner (Phillip) announced that the contest was back up with a couple of days, with a deadline of about a week...
Much planning and panic ensued.
Ultimately, I decided on an apartment and started to build it from almost scratch. I know it's probably against the rules, but the room that the player starts in was actually ripped from an unreleased map I was working on a long time ago. Perfectly dark for the situation... (but it makes for an awful website background image)
In Darkness...
The setting and evil entity established, I began to build the level that would house it. If I had my list of things to do, I would share it. The level was actually more complex and longer in my head than what I could finish in time. However, my goals were pretty set:
1. The creature is in darkness and the player has a very hard time seeing him.
2. The creature is trying to outsmart the player, and sometimes does so rather easily.
3. There MUST be ways to fail, so sayeth the rules of the contest.
4. There has to be a way for the player to win. (quote unquote)
After that was just the question of how 'clever' I could be with it.
Spoiler Alert... the monster is out to kill you.
Planning the theatrics of the monster killing you, the basement with the flares, and even the elevator cutscene were very time consuming, admittedly. It's a shame too, because I wanted to add more obvious traps for the player toHowever, here's a small piece that some people missed.
Go in the elevator after calling it and wait for a little while (literally seconds)
This is probably one of the biggest missed parts, really. Oh well...
Quality Assurance (I get by with a little help from my friends)
The best thing I did was also the most difficult. I wrapped up a day early. One overhauled night from hell and I did it, 7 o-clock in the morning, I was done, and it was ready... for the hands of some rather relentless friends.
Mind you. I've got some good friends, but they are relentless bastards at breaking games... especially when you ask them to. I won't go into much detail about what they broke (because I don't remember all of it), but things like breaking the death scene, breaking the elevator, jumping up on tables and hiding in all kinds of locations effectively keeping the thing from getting them. Oh how this map would have been without playtesters.
Yet out of that, I gained insight into how this map worked. It was very fun watching them run from the thing, actually scared and having no idea how to avoid the thing proper. There were some minor frustration areas they pointed out, and I massaged those parts of the level to try to improve the logic. Ultimately though, some parts like the crank and the chase up the stairwell still weren't perfect, but at that point, my friends were trained experts at beating (and no longer abusing) the map.
Once it was released, how was it received by others?
It's a love-hate relationship
From the perspective of the players that commented on this particular contest, while it shared the win of the contest, it got some very mixed feelings. Some people didn't really like it (and some people really really didn't like it!) Given their opinions about each map, it was clear that the popular winner was not the one I so painstakingly struggled with.
I read each comment after the release and gained a lot of notes and feedback about it. I learned a lot of the real pain points with this map, and that it was nowhere near a perfect gem. I didn't expect it to be, but I also learned how one simple mistake could lead a person's opinion from positive to vehement hatred almost immediately (something I'd experienced before in even professional games).
Still, some people got what I was going for, and even thought it was a great effort. A lot of complaints were that it was too short, and I agree with that sentiment. It wasn't the full map, and the ending that I ultimately used was supposed to be a way to die anyways. If I had more time or a better concept of time, I would have made a more concise and well-polished map, and maybe would have made the ending something better.
So what did we learn...?
I learned a lot about the art and craft to level design and general gameplay design. I felt I used the SDK to its potential with each map I did after this contest, and gained a lot of positive and negative feedback which helped shape later maps. I think I carried a few things though...
Always experiment
It's important to make small prototypes and get them tested often before working on a large piece. It's much less devastating to find out someone doesn't like your one week of work, verses someone doesn't like your masterpiece of several years.
Polish makes the difference sometimes
I never really got the chance to polish any of my maps to give it a shine and it shows. I wouldn't recommend trying to make something perfect in a week, but sometimes putting off releasing something to give it a coat of shine really makes the difference in some player's eyes.
Don't be afraid to hurt the player. You can pull back later if it's too harsh.
Some of the biggest laugh out loud moments and fun experiences in testing was when one of my friends did something extremely stupid and got righteously punished for it. I was worried about it in some cases, particularly when I intentionally put something in just to punish the player. However, some of those moments were the best in the game, and if I held back on those, the testing wouldn't have been nearly as rewarding.
On the other side of this, there were moments in testing where it was clear that my tester friends were not having fun, and in those moments, little bits and improvements had to be added beforehand to make it easier. These things aren't obvious when designing the level, but these are the things that ruin an experience.
When in doubt, err on the harsher side of player experience, then give it to someone and see how they react to it. You never praise a game for how easy it is and how few ways you can die in it.
What about the monster? What will happen to this thing?
I was really pleased with how my first level went in this contest, and I really like the character. I may have been a bit overzealous with how awesome I think the vortigaunt model is in the interview, but I think the whole concept of the chase and whole approach to it has some merit.
I can't make promises yet, because I don't know. If things go well, we might even have a mod about this thing. Look, it even has fan art! (self-drawn)
But don't look at it too long...
I'm speaking to this maybe a year too late, but I think now that the contest is done (There is another set of competitions happening this year, but things are way too stressful at my current job to participate and do anything on time), I want to actually speak to the level itself and maybe some lessons I learned from the whole experience.
It was a long week
The 6x10 part of the contest has a purpose: it represented the total number of contests that'd happen that year (6), and the number of days you got to make a level (10 days).
Yes... ten days. You get... ten days! That's a lot less time than I'm used to, that's for sure.
Of course, it wasn't really ten days either... more like eighteen. The site went down around the time of the contest due to the owner starting to become rather displeased with it. Personal reasons that I could understand, as I'd been there before (maybe I'll talk about that project in another blog). After a bit of cheering up, eventually the fans brought him back up and he brought the site up. There was a bit of a delay... and man did it help!
Not to put down the guy. I'm very glad he brought the contest back, but the delay had a huge impact on the the map overall. But how best can I describe what I mean...?
Put quality first, then the deadline...
One of the nicest things I gained from this contest was time... unfortunately, I probably didn't make the most effective use of it...
 |
| A dev-test map. Sure, why not? |
One of the coolest things I liked about the Source engine is all the added toys they put with the level editor. I really should get up to date with what other developer's tools have to them, but there's something really fun about having a bunch of logical relays, integer comparison, parenting, and even random events in your level editor. The developers at Valve have a real knack at making their mod community happy.
And boy, this was probably one of the coolest (and dirtiest) hacks I made: effectively building an enemy AI entirely out of level editor components.
And then a deadline was announced...
There was a lot to be had with the new mechanic I made, and lots of planning and deciding to do... (let's see, should it be set in a space ship filled with the monsters, should I do an alternate universe with low gravity? How do I make a lawnmower in Hammer?), but then the site was back up and the owner (Phillip) announced that the contest was back up with a couple of days, with a deadline of about a week...
Much planning and panic ensued.
Ultimately, I decided on an apartment and started to build it from almost scratch. I know it's probably against the rules, but the room that the player starts in was actually ripped from an unreleased map I was working on a long time ago. Perfectly dark for the situation... (but it makes for an awful website background image)
In Darkness...
The setting and evil entity established, I began to build the level that would house it. If I had my list of things to do, I would share it. The level was actually more complex and longer in my head than what I could finish in time. However, my goals were pretty set:
1. The creature is in darkness and the player has a very hard time seeing him.
2. The creature is trying to outsmart the player, and sometimes does so rather easily.
3. There MUST be ways to fail, so sayeth the rules of the contest.
4. There has to be a way for the player to win. (quote unquote)
After that was just the question of how 'clever' I could be with it.
Spoiler Alert... the monster is out to kill you.
Planning the theatrics of the monster killing you, the basement with the flares, and even the elevator cutscene were very time consuming, admittedly. It's a shame too, because I wanted to add more obvious traps for the player toHowever, here's a small piece that some people missed.
Go in the elevator after calling it and wait for a little while (literally seconds)
 |
| "I believe this is your floor..." *boop* |
 |
| "How very kind of you to wait... the stairs are such a bother..." |
|
| Dead. |
This is probably one of the biggest missed parts, really. Oh well...
Quality Assurance (I get by with a little help from my friends)
The best thing I did was also the most difficult. I wrapped up a day early. One overhauled night from hell and I did it, 7 o-clock in the morning, I was done, and it was ready... for the hands of some rather relentless friends.
Mind you. I've got some good friends, but they are relentless bastards at breaking games... especially when you ask them to. I won't go into much detail about what they broke (because I don't remember all of it), but things like breaking the death scene, breaking the elevator, jumping up on tables and hiding in all kinds of locations effectively keeping the thing from getting them. Oh how this map would have been without playtesters.
Yet out of that, I gained insight into how this map worked. It was very fun watching them run from the thing, actually scared and having no idea how to avoid the thing proper. There were some minor frustration areas they pointed out, and I massaged those parts of the level to try to improve the logic. Ultimately though, some parts like the crank and the chase up the stairwell still weren't perfect, but at that point, my friends were trained experts at beating (and no longer abusing) the map.
Once it was released, how was it received by others?
It's a love-hate relationship
From the perspective of the players that commented on this particular contest, while it shared the win of the contest, it got some very mixed feelings. Some people didn't really like it (and some people really really didn't like it!) Given their opinions about each map, it was clear that the popular winner was not the one I so painstakingly struggled with.
I read each comment after the release and gained a lot of notes and feedback about it. I learned a lot of the real pain points with this map, and that it was nowhere near a perfect gem. I didn't expect it to be, but I also learned how one simple mistake could lead a person's opinion from positive to vehement hatred almost immediately (something I'd experienced before in even professional games).
Still, some people got what I was going for, and even thought it was a great effort. A lot of complaints were that it was too short, and I agree with that sentiment. It wasn't the full map, and the ending that I ultimately used was supposed to be a way to die anyways. If I had more time or a better concept of time, I would have made a more concise and well-polished map, and maybe would have made the ending something better.
So what did we learn...?
I learned a lot about the art and craft to level design and general gameplay design. I felt I used the SDK to its potential with each map I did after this contest, and gained a lot of positive and negative feedback which helped shape later maps. I think I carried a few things though...
Always experiment
It's important to make small prototypes and get them tested often before working on a large piece. It's much less devastating to find out someone doesn't like your one week of work, verses someone doesn't like your masterpiece of several years.
Polish makes the difference sometimes
I never really got the chance to polish any of my maps to give it a shine and it shows. I wouldn't recommend trying to make something perfect in a week, but sometimes putting off releasing something to give it a coat of shine really makes the difference in some player's eyes.
Don't be afraid to hurt the player. You can pull back later if it's too harsh.
Some of the biggest laugh out loud moments and fun experiences in testing was when one of my friends did something extremely stupid and got righteously punished for it. I was worried about it in some cases, particularly when I intentionally put something in just to punish the player. However, some of those moments were the best in the game, and if I held back on those, the testing wouldn't have been nearly as rewarding.
On the other side of this, there were moments in testing where it was clear that my tester friends were not having fun, and in those moments, little bits and improvements had to be added beforehand to make it easier. These things aren't obvious when designing the level, but these are the things that ruin an experience.
When in doubt, err on the harsher side of player experience, then give it to someone and see how they react to it. You never praise a game for how easy it is and how few ways you can die in it.
What about the monster? What will happen to this thing?
I was really pleased with how my first level went in this contest, and I really like the character. I may have been a bit overzealous with how awesome I think the vortigaunt model is in the interview, but I think the whole concept of the chase and whole approach to it has some merit.
I can't make promises yet, because I don't know. If things go well, we might even have a mod about this thing. Look, it even has fan art! (self-drawn)
 |
| Art by David Newel, terrible as it may be. Vortigaunt belongs to Valve. |
|
| Dead. |
