1 00:00:01,530 --> 00:00:05,240 Hey. I’m Mark Brown, and this is Game Maker’s Toolkit. 2 00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:09,830 I’ve done a bunch of videos on my channel about platformer level design, but it has 3 00:00:09,830 --> 00:00:14,910 almost always been through the lens of Nintendo games - which have a pretty reliable formula 4 00:00:14,910 --> 00:00:16,309 at this point. 5 00:00:16,309 --> 00:00:21,040 Each stage introduces a new gameplay mechanic - and that idea is explored through a series 6 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:22,890 of escalating challenges. 7 00:00:22,890 --> 00:00:26,800 And then, the mechanic is thrown away - never to be seen again. 8 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:29,110 And that’s certainly one way to do it. 9 00:00:29,110 --> 00:00:30,580 But, it’s not the only approach. 10 00:00:30,580 --> 00:00:34,480 So, let’s take a look at a platformer that does things quite differently: 11 00:00:34,480 --> 00:00:38,640 Ubisoft’s Rayman Legends. 12 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:41,289 So this game has plenty of unique ideas. 13 00:00:41,289 --> 00:00:44,820 But the game’s standout mechanics aren’t ditched as soon as they’re developed 14 00:00:44,820 --> 00:00:49,539 - instead, they’re often carried through an entire world’s worth of levels. 15 00:00:49,539 --> 00:00:54,770 In world two, Toad Story, practically every level is about updrafts that you can fly in. 16 00:00:54,770 --> 00:00:59,679 And in world three, Fiesta de los Muertos, a bunch of the levels are about digging through 17 00:00:59,679 --> 00:01:00,729 big chunks of cake. 18 00:01:00,729 --> 00:01:09,180 But if you ask me, the best example is from world four: 20,000 Lums Under the Sea. 19 00:01:09,180 --> 00:01:15,100 This world is a sneaky spy thriller, with James Bond style music, and stealthy gameplay 20 00:01:15,100 --> 00:01:18,560 that’s maybe closer to Splinter Cell than Rayman. 21 00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:23,939 The main mechanic for this world is the sentry, which is a sort of mechanised security system 22 00:01:23,939 --> 00:01:28,100 that casts a green light - or red, if Rayman gets too close. 23 00:01:28,100 --> 00:01:32,110 And if Rayman stays in the red light for too long, he’ll be zapped. 24 00:01:32,110 --> 00:01:36,230 So it’s all about sneaking past the sentry at the right moment. 25 00:01:36,230 --> 00:01:38,190 There are ones that flicker on and off. 26 00:01:38,190 --> 00:01:42,700 And ones that move, so you need to hide behind bits of the level that cut off the sentry’s 27 00:01:42,700 --> 00:01:43,700 light. 28 00:01:43,700 --> 00:01:47,719 They appear in almost every stage in this world, but each level has a unique twist on 29 00:01:47,719 --> 00:01:48,719 the idea. 30 00:01:48,719 --> 00:01:53,670 They’re introduced in level one, The Mysterious Inflatable Island, where you avoid the lights 31 00:01:53,670 --> 00:01:56,289 by swimming past them. 32 00:01:56,289 --> 00:02:01,500 Then in stage two, The Deadly Lights, we use this tiny green guy called Murphy to press 33 00:02:01,500 --> 00:02:05,460 buttons and pop up barriers to obstruct the sentry’s lights. 34 00:02:05,460 --> 00:02:08,770 (This makes more sense if you’re playing on a console like the Wii U where you can 35 00:02:08,770 --> 00:02:11,670 physically poke, grab and move stuff with the touchscreen. 36 00:02:11,670 --> 00:02:14,909 It’s a bit janky on the other consoles where you just press a button.) 37 00:02:14,909 --> 00:02:16,099 Anyway. 38 00:02:16,099 --> 00:02:19,280 Stage three, The Mansion of the Deep, is different again. 39 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:23,819 The level starts with no sentries, but then you hit a power button and must go back through 40 00:02:23,819 --> 00:02:27,590 the same rooms but now thinking about stealth. 41 00:02:27,590 --> 00:02:32,360 Level four, Infiltration Station, brings back Murphy, but now you have full control over 42 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:36,880 the level as you move bits of the stage to create cover, or even move the sentries themselves. 43 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:42,810 And then level five, Elevator Ambush, the sentries are still present but the stealth 44 00:02:42,810 --> 00:02:47,720 gameplay takes a bit of a backseat to a more action-packed fist fight against these new 45 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:49,170 frogmen enemies. 46 00:02:49,170 --> 00:02:53,780 Because, obviously, there’s more to this world than just one mechanic. 47 00:02:53,780 --> 00:03:00,140 Level one also introduces us to spiky navel mines, and frogmen who fire electrical blasts. 48 00:03:00,140 --> 00:03:05,860 Level three adds laser tripwires, giant crushing pipes, and two extra underwater creatures: 49 00:03:05,860 --> 00:03:08,910 jellyfish and these freaky worm things. 50 00:03:08,910 --> 00:03:11,760 And level five adds another enemy type. 51 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:15,200 Plus weird shark guys who throw objects across the room. 52 00:03:15,200 --> 00:03:19,280 And missiles, which were briefly seen in the boss fight from Toad Story. 53 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:24,190 What’s clever is that most of these mechanics are introduced on their own, but then go on 54 00:03:24,190 --> 00:03:27,500 to appear in tandem with the sentries. 55 00:03:27,500 --> 00:03:30,180 Enemies pop up in areas guarded by the sentries. 56 00:03:30,180 --> 00:03:34,150 The nightmare worms create fast-moving, and oddly-shaped cover. 57 00:03:34,150 --> 00:03:35,480 And so on. 58 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:40,590 And then, after five stages of build up, all of these ideas come together in the sixth 59 00:03:40,590 --> 00:03:46,069 stage, There’s Always a Bigger Fish, which is a manic, fast-paced chase sequence that 60 00:03:46,069 --> 00:03:48,590 uses almost every mechanic we’ve seen so far. 61 00:03:48,590 --> 00:03:52,610 There are navel mines, sentries, missiles, frogmen, shark dudes, and 62 00:03:52,610 --> 00:03:53,620 laser tripwires. 63 00:03:53,620 --> 00:03:59,150 And yet, it’s totally doable - simply because, the game has spent a lot of time carefully 64 00:03:59,150 --> 00:04:02,329 building up this vocabulary of different mechanics. 65 00:04:02,329 --> 00:04:07,050 The player has learned what these things look like, what they do, and how to deal with them 66 00:04:07,050 --> 00:04:09,280 - even at great speed. 67 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:15,540 Because, if you don’t do the necessary prep work, the player won’t have the skills to 68 00:04:15,540 --> 00:04:18,430 deal with these mechanics when put under pressure. 69 00:04:18,430 --> 00:04:22,840 And as an example of this happening, you need look no further than Rayman Legends itself. 70 00:04:22,840 --> 00:04:27,870 The game’s got these brilliant musical stages at the end of each world, but, for whatever 71 00:04:27,870 --> 00:04:32,840 reason, they often have slightly different mechanics to the rest of the levels - mechanics 72 00:04:32,840 --> 00:04:35,340 which haven’t always been fully established. 73 00:04:35,340 --> 00:04:39,389 So in Mariachi Madness, you’ll be running through the level at breakneck speed and suddenly 74 00:04:39,389 --> 00:04:43,690 see a creature that you’ve never seen before and need to figure out what that is and what 75 00:04:43,690 --> 00:04:47,930 you need to do in a split second and, yeah, I didn’t react quickly enough. 76 00:04:47,930 --> 00:04:49,460 And that didn’t feel good. 77 00:04:49,460 --> 00:04:53,690 So introducing mechanics early isn’t just responsible level design - but it also gives 78 00:04:53,690 --> 00:04:58,820 players an opportunity feel a sense of flow, and mastery - that isn’t halted by trial 79 00:04:58,820 --> 00:05:00,500 and error deaths. 80 00:05:00,500 --> 00:05:04,870 That stage in 20,000 Lums feels amazing because you’re going really fast and nailing all 81 00:05:04,870 --> 00:05:08,710 of these challenges - but that’s only possible because you’re familiar with everything 82 00:05:08,710 --> 00:05:10,610 the level has to throw at you. 83 00:05:10,610 --> 00:05:15,310 That level is then followed by a boss fight, and then a swim back to the surface for the musical 84 00:05:15,310 --> 00:05:20,780 number - taking you full circle, to the island you started on in level one. 85 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:26,620 Now. Not every world is like this in Rayman Legends. 86 00:05:26,630 --> 00:05:31,970 Some worlds are linked by a theme, like world one’s castle, rather than a game mechanic. 87 00:05:31,970 --> 00:05:36,900 And there are plenty of one-off ideas, like a level about spreading guacamole, and a twisting 88 00:05:36,900 --> 00:05:41,850 labyrinth stage, that are thrown away at the end of the level - just like a Mario mechanic. 89 00:05:41,850 --> 00:05:47,170 But 20,000 Lums demonstrates some real benefits to keeping a mechanic around for longer than 90 00:05:47,170 --> 00:05:48,540 just one level. 91 00:05:48,540 --> 00:05:51,669 It means that idea can be explored exhaustively. 92 00:05:51,669 --> 00:05:56,150 The sentries are seen in endless variations, and they slowly ramp up in difficulty. 93 00:05:56,150 --> 00:05:58,230 They start to move more quickly. 94 00:05:58,230 --> 00:05:59,660 The cover gets smaller. 95 00:05:59,660 --> 00:06:02,430 They appear in pairs, or mix with other mechanics. 96 00:06:02,430 --> 00:06:06,530 And instead of just waiting for an opportunity to proceed, you have to move in lockstep with 97 00:06:06,530 --> 00:06:08,200 the cover to stay hidden. 98 00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:11,789 You’ll see even more variants in the world’s secret rooms. 99 00:06:11,789 --> 00:06:15,930 And if you want to go for bonus pick-ups like coins and kidnapped Teensies, you’ll have 100 00:06:15,930 --> 00:06:19,949 to put yourself at risk and deal with even more challenging sentries. 101 00:06:19,949 --> 00:06:23,860 Keeping a mechanic around also means it can appear in much more difficult scenarios - and 102 00:06:23,860 --> 00:06:27,070 the player will be able to deal with it - in masterful fashion. 103 00:06:27,070 --> 00:06:31,290 In Mario, you’ve got to wait until the end-game bonus stages to ever face a mechanic in a 104 00:06:31,290 --> 00:06:32,290 more tricky set-up. 105 00:06:32,290 --> 00:06:38,110 A mechanic can also be a thread to create a wider narrative progression for the world. 106 00:06:38,110 --> 00:06:42,419 The sentries are prominent at the start of 20,000 Lums Under the Sea, where Rayman is 107 00:06:42,419 --> 00:06:47,300 using stealth to get around - but they disappear towards the end as - in classic spy movie 108 00:06:47,300 --> 00:06:51,349 fashion - all hell breaks lose for the action-packed finale. 109 00:06:51,349 --> 00:06:52,349 And finally. 110 00:06:52,349 --> 00:06:55,000 And this one might be handy for any indie developers watching. 111 00:06:55,000 --> 00:07:00,099 It’s also surely a tad more economical to keep an idea around for more than one level 112 00:07:00,099 --> 00:07:02,930 - than developing 100 different game mechanics. 113 00:07:02,930 --> 00:07:06,020 We can’t all be Nintendo, can we? 114 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:08,740 Hey, thanks for watching. 115 00:07:08,750 --> 00:07:13,699 I also want to say thanks to Rayman level designer Chris McEntee who chatted to me about 116 00:07:13,699 --> 00:07:15,660 the creation of this world. 117 00:07:15,660 --> 00:07:20,919 I asked him whether the mechanic informed the theme, or if the theme lead to the mechanic 118 00:07:20,919 --> 00:07:23,770 - and he told me that it was kind of a mix of the two. 119 00:07:23,770 --> 00:07:28,729 The gameplay team was prototyping the sentry and the art team did some Jules Verne style 120 00:07:28,729 --> 00:07:34,820 underwater artwork - and these came together for a world about sneaking through an underwater base. 121 00:07:34,820 --> 00:07:39,979 Apparently there was a real back and forth of art and gameplay inspiring each other throughout 122 00:07:39,979 --> 00:07:42,580 the creation of Rayman Legends. 123 00:07:42,580 --> 00:07:47,180 Chris is now working on the Ori and the Blind Forest sequel, meaning I’m even more excited 124 00:07:47,180 --> 00:07:48,860 about that game.