Hey. I’m Mark Brown, and this is Game Maker’s Toolkit.
I’ve done a bunch of videos on my channel about platformer level design, but it has
almost always been through the lens of Nintendo games - which have a pretty reliable formula
at this point.
Each stage introduces a new gameplay mechanic - and that idea is explored through a series
of escalating challenges.
And then, the mechanic is thrown away - never to be seen again.
And that’s certainly one way to do it.
But, it’s not the only approach.
So, let’s take a look at a platformer that does things quite differently:
Ubisoft’s Rayman Legends.
So this game has plenty of unique ideas.
But the game’s standout mechanics aren’t ditched as soon as they’re developed
- instead, they’re often carried through an entire world’s worth of levels.
In world two, Toad Story, practically every level is about updrafts that you can fly in.
And in world three, Fiesta de los Muertos, a bunch of the levels are about digging through
big chunks of cake.
But if you ask me, the best example is from world four: 20,000 Lums Under the Sea.
This world is a sneaky spy thriller, with James Bond style music, and stealthy gameplay
that’s maybe closer to Splinter Cell than Rayman.
The main mechanic for this world is the sentry, which is a sort of mechanised security system
that casts a green light - or red, if Rayman gets too close.
And if Rayman stays in the red light for too long, he’ll be zapped.
So it’s all about sneaking past the sentry at the right moment.
There are ones that flicker on and off.
And ones that move, so you need to hide behind bits of the level that cut off the sentry’s
light.
They appear in almost every stage in this world, but each level has a unique twist on
the idea.
They’re introduced in level one, The Mysterious Inflatable Island, where you avoid the lights
by swimming past them.
Then in stage two, The Deadly Lights, we use this tiny green guy called Murphy to press
buttons and pop up barriers to obstruct the sentry’s lights.
(This makes more sense if you’re playing on a console like the Wii U where you can
physically poke, grab and move stuff with the touchscreen.
It’s a bit janky on the other consoles where you just press a button.)
Anyway.
Stage three, The Mansion of the Deep, is different again.
The level starts with no sentries, but then you hit a power button and must go back through
the same rooms but now thinking about stealth.
Level four, Infiltration Station, brings back Murphy, but now you have full control over
the level as you move bits of the stage to create cover, or even move the sentries themselves.
And then level five, Elevator Ambush, the sentries are still present but the stealth
gameplay takes a bit of a backseat to a more action-packed fist fight against these new
frogmen enemies.
Because, obviously, there’s more to this world than just one mechanic.
Level one also introduces us to spiky navel mines, and frogmen who fire electrical blasts.
Level three adds laser tripwires, giant crushing pipes, and two extra underwater creatures:
jellyfish and these freaky worm things.
And level five adds another enemy type.
Plus weird shark guys who throw objects across the room.
And missiles, which were briefly seen in the boss fight from Toad Story.
What’s clever is that most of these mechanics are introduced on their own, but then go on
to appear in tandem with the sentries.
Enemies pop up in areas guarded by the sentries.
The nightmare worms create fast-moving, and oddly-shaped cover.
And so on.
And then, after five stages of build up, all of these ideas come together in the sixth
stage, There’s Always a Bigger Fish, which is a manic, fast-paced chase sequence that
uses almost every mechanic we’ve seen so far.
There are navel mines, sentries, missiles, frogmen, shark dudes, and
laser tripwires.
And yet, it’s totally doable - simply because, the game has spent a lot of time carefully
building up this vocabulary of different mechanics.
The player has learned what these things look like, what they do, and how to deal with them
- even at great speed.
Because, if you don’t do the necessary prep work, the player won’t have the skills to
deal with these mechanics when put under pressure.
And as an example of this happening, you need look no further than Rayman Legends itself.
The game’s got these brilliant musical stages at the end of each world, but, for whatever
reason, they often have slightly different mechanics to the rest of the levels - mechanics
which haven’t always been fully established.
So in Mariachi Madness, you’ll be running through the level at breakneck speed and suddenly
see a creature that you’ve never seen before and need to figure out what that is and what
you need to do in a split second and, yeah, I didn’t react quickly enough.
And that didn’t feel good.
So introducing mechanics early isn’t just responsible level design - but it also gives
players an opportunity feel a sense of flow, and mastery - that isn’t halted by trial
and error deaths.
That stage in 20,000 Lums feels amazing because you’re going really fast and nailing all
of these challenges - but that’s only possible because you’re familiar with everything
the level has to throw at you.
That level is then followed by a boss fight, and then a swim back to the surface for the musical
number - taking you full circle, to the island you started on in level one.
Now. Not every world is like this in Rayman Legends.
Some worlds are linked by a theme, like world one’s castle, rather than a game mechanic.
And there are plenty of one-off ideas, like a level about spreading guacamole, and a twisting
labyrinth stage, that are thrown away at the end of the level - just like a Mario mechanic.
But 20,000 Lums demonstrates some real benefits to keeping a mechanic around for longer than
just one level.
It means that idea can be explored exhaustively.
The sentries are seen in endless variations, and they slowly ramp up in difficulty.
They start to move more quickly.
The cover gets smaller.
They appear in pairs, or mix with other mechanics.
And instead of just waiting for an opportunity to proceed, you have to move in lockstep with
the cover to stay hidden.
You’ll see even more variants in the world’s secret rooms.
And if you want to go for bonus pick-ups like coins and kidnapped Teensies, you’ll have
to put yourself at risk and deal with even more challenging sentries.
Keeping a mechanic around also means it can appear in much more difficult scenarios - and
the player will be able to deal with it - in masterful fashion.
In Mario, you’ve got to wait until the end-game bonus stages to ever face a mechanic in a
more tricky set-up.
A mechanic can also be a thread to create a wider narrative progression for the world.
The sentries are prominent at the start of 20,000 Lums Under the Sea, where Rayman is
using stealth to get around - but they disappear towards the end as - in classic spy movie
fashion - all hell breaks lose for the action-packed finale.
And finally.
And this one might be handy for any indie developers watching.
It’s also surely a tad more economical to keep an idea around for more than one level
- than developing 100 different game mechanics.
We can’t all be Nintendo, can we?
Hey, thanks for watching.
I also want to say thanks to Rayman level designer Chris McEntee who chatted to me about
the creation of this world.
I asked him whether the mechanic informed the theme, or if the theme lead to the mechanic
- and he told me that it was kind of a mix of the two.
The gameplay team was prototyping the sentry and the art team did some Jules Verne style
underwater artwork - and these came together for a world about sneaking through an underwater base.
Apparently there was a real back and forth of art and gameplay inspiring each other throughout
the creation of Rayman Legends.
Chris is now working on the Ori and the Blind Forest sequel, meaning I’m even more excited
about that game.