Not sure how you don't have more subscribers. My 6yo wanted to make his own game so I purchased PlataGo for him to start with. His levels were a mess and overly difficult up front. I showed him this video so he has good guidance for doing his level design. Thanks for helping me help him. Subbed!
Aww thanks! It's most likely because I'm not uploading videos anymore but hopefully soon (within next six or so months) I'm going to re-start these but with a slight twist :) I'm glad I could of helped with this small video, I wish your kid well on their journey into video game development! :)
the one thing I would add would be to the level gimmick section, where you should use previous level gimmicks to spice up and mix up new ones, like with the dropping platforms example, maybe there could be a section where you have to use a spring to get on a dropping platform or dodge swinging spikes, something to make the player feel like they're bringing all their skills together
Fantastic idea and yeah, always spice up and say combine gimmicks together that the player are used too to change up the formulae but not too much that becomes something new is always a great way to create new tension in a stage!
Great video on 2D platformer level design! Your tips on clear layouts, avoiding tricky jumps, and sensible difficulty curves are spot-on. I appreciate the emphasis on player guidance without resorting to unfair challenges. The advice on signaling pitfalls and using rewards is practical, and your insights on stage gimmicks and set pieces add depth. The reminder to plan and test levels beforehand is invaluable. Excited to apply these tips in my own projects!
About the Leaps of faith, I'm not so sure if they're big no nos. I've seen some exceptions even in long time classics like the Mega Max X series for example. In certain levels, you'll find secrets in some of the death pits. I think the magic here is making it distinguishable in some way, even if very subtle. And also they're secrets and not the way to progress further in the level.
I find it a lot more satisfying to create fair, balanced stages instead of making them as hard and unfair as possible; it can sometimes be fun to go crazy, but I generally prefer to make stages that would actually work in an official game.
That's a great way to tackle it! I used to make hard levels just to be hard and then when I've come back many years later to replay some of my old trash, I'm like why did I do this? This isn't fun! There is a balance though, too easy and then that also becomes not fun. Although as I've gotten older, I tend to make my games a little easier just because I think then it's most assessable to all players and then possibly add a difficulty slider for those more hardened players. :)
I actually have plans for next year! I got some scripts written down, next video I'm hoping to do about level gimmicks! (Well some, maybe more to follow in a sequel video!)
I expected this sort of video from a bigger youtuber lol but that is actually quite helpful, it's really important to have some sort of a vision for your video game, level design can be very tricky, especially for a person like myself which creating a video game takes a lot of work and time, even in my game design classes they explained the flow of games and not to make them too difficult and especially in the beginning, either way great video!
Aww thanks! Yeah I also find stuff like this can't be overly taught it has to somewhat be learnt, from feedback and playing other games. I think then you sort of get a feeling of what works and what doesn't. I can assure you it took me many years of trial and error to get somewhat decent at designing levels :3
Just found this video now. Wow I really like it, seems very help full for a new dev like me who is just trying to learn the ropes of game development. I may show this to a few of the other designs I know. Great video. :)
Thanks! I'm hoping to get back into this series next year sometime! I've got a handful of scripts written and some art assets already made, just need the time and energy to get it into production :)
@@Sinclairstrange In my opinion, one important part of level design is to avoid building areas where you can fall down a very long distance - it is very annoying to climb long vertical sections and then fall far down just because you miss a jump or something, so that would be one thing that I would avoid.
@@Peter_1986 Absolutely this! I don't mind long vertical levels, but I'm on the school of thought of, after a few vertical parts, put up a shortcut in case you fall. (Like wind to push you up, little elevators you activate.) So there is still some challenge but the tedium isn't there also. Nothing worse in Elecman stage for example, falling ALL THE WAY DOWN!
@@Sinclairstrange Agreed. It is also extremely important to make sure that the player cannot get permanently stuck anywhere; there actually are a few places like that in "Mega Man 3", where you cannot get anywhere if you have run out of Rush Coil and Rush Jet (it's not very likely that this will happen, but it _can_ happen), like for example the beginning of Doc Spark Man, the beginning of the second half of Doc Gemini Man, or the beginning of the 3rd Dr. Wily stage. I have heard that that game was rushed and unfinished, so they would have probably noticed those parts if they had more time to check the game properly. But it is still an excellent game - it just has a few rushed parts here and there.
The whole thing with 'barely possible' jumps kinda makes me want to implement inverse coyote time in a platformer. Essentially close to the edge you'll always jump at the last possible coyote time moment, therefore you'll always get the maximum possible jump length from an edge provided you jump at what feels like the last second and continue holding jump and the direction.
I weirdly had a game based around that mechanic, like a party game where you'd need to jump/stop right at the edge. And then the next player would try and nudge it a litter further, and if you was at the end you could try and jump at the last second to get extra points. It's actually a really neat mechanic!
Haha, I rarely use the channel and I wanted to go through all the comments left and heart them! I'd love to get back to doing these one day! I'm hoping maybe to have a step by step on how to create 2D platformer level :)
This video is underrated
Many thanks! I'm planning to return to this soon. I got some ideas for enemies, hazards etc. :)
@@Sinclairstrange Please make more of this!!
@@Rin-ms7nm I will! I've got some stuff planned, hopefully going to get starting on them at the end of March! :D
Yes!!!! YES!!!
exactly
This needs more views
Not sure how you don't have more subscribers. My 6yo wanted to make his own game so I purchased PlataGo for him to start with. His levels were a mess and overly difficult up front. I showed him this video so he has good guidance for doing his level design. Thanks for helping me help him.
Subbed!
Aww thanks! It's most likely because I'm not uploading videos anymore but hopefully soon (within next six or so months) I'm going to re-start these but with a slight twist :) I'm glad I could of helped with this small video, I wish your kid well on their journey into video game development! :)
5 yrs later and i love you sm for making this video
5 years later, thank you for the tips! Great video :)
awesoome
the one thing I would add would be to the level gimmick section, where you should use previous level gimmicks to spice up and mix up new ones, like with the dropping platforms example, maybe there could be a section where you have to use a spring to get on a dropping platform or dodge swinging spikes, something to make the player feel like they're bringing all their skills together
Fantastic idea and yeah, always spice up and say combine gimmicks together that the player are used too to change up the formulae but not too much that becomes something new is always a great way to create new tension in a stage!
Honestly, thanks for this. Really easy to understand and put into practice.
Great video on 2D platformer level design! Your tips on clear layouts, avoiding tricky jumps, and sensible difficulty curves are spot-on. I appreciate the emphasis on player guidance without resorting to unfair challenges. The advice on signaling pitfalls and using rewards is practical, and your insights on stage gimmicks and set pieces add depth. The reminder to plan and test levels beforehand is invaluable. Excited to apply these tips in my own projects!
Aww I'm glad you found this advice useful! Hope your game projects go well ^-^
About the Leaps of faith, I'm not so sure if they're big no nos. I've seen some exceptions even in long time classics like the Mega Max X series for example. In certain levels, you'll find secrets in some of the death pits. I think the magic here is making it distinguishable in some way, even if very subtle. And also they're secrets and not the way to progress further in the level.
I love your style! Videos are also short and sweet. Why aren't you more popular?! Great accent, by the way! =P
These tips are so underrated and well edited!
Aww thankies! I hope one day I can get back to doing more of these!
I find it a lot more satisfying to create fair, balanced stages instead of making them as hard and unfair as possible;
it can sometimes be fun to go crazy, but I generally prefer to make stages that would actually work in an official game.
That's a great way to tackle it! I used to make hard levels just to be hard and then when I've come back many years later to replay some of my old trash, I'm like why did I do this? This isn't fun! There is a balance though, too easy and then that also becomes not fun. Although as I've gotten older, I tend to make my games a little easier just because I think then it's most assessable to all players and then possibly add a difficulty slider for those more hardened players. :)
Very helpful tips!
its been 4 yrs and we still waiting for a new video on this series
I actually have plans for next year! I got some scripts written down, next video I'm hoping to do about level gimmicks! (Well some, maybe more to follow in a sequel video!)
hes alive!!!!!!! omg, i actually thought you never read comments or that this series was left abandoned. im so glad its not@@Sinclairstrange
many thanks!
really cool !
Pls get back and continue this series! Its very helpful for us all and its just sad to see that this series is not being touched for two years now :(
I am hoping after this new year I will jump back into the series :) Last couple of years were extremely busy and tough!
These tutorials are great! Im waiting for more
This was very useful! I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to tackle level design and this was a good breakdown of tips & tricks. Thank you!
great video!
Super clean video, this is really nice
Thankies! Hoping to get some more uploaded next year! Got some scripts written down, so look out for some more videos soon!
Thank you!
Very solid ideas and advice, cheers!
I expected this sort of video from a bigger youtuber lol but that is actually quite helpful, it's really important to have some sort of a vision for your video game, level design can be very tricky, especially for a person like myself which creating a video game takes a lot of work and time, even in my game design classes they explained the flow of games and not to make them too difficult and especially in the beginning, either way great video!
Aww thanks! Yeah I also find stuff like this can't be overly taught it has to somewhat be learnt, from feedback and playing other games. I think then you sort of get a feeling of what works and what doesn't. I can assure you it took me many years of trial and error to get somewhat decent at designing levels :3
great tips!
Just found this video now. Wow I really like it, seems very help full for a new dev like me who is just trying to learn the ropes of game development. I may show this to a few of the other designs I know. Great video. :)
Thanks! I'm hoping to get back into this series next year sometime! I've got a handful of scripts written and some art assets already made, just need the time and energy to get it into production :)
@@Sinclairstrange In my opinion, one important part of level design is to avoid building areas where you can fall down a very long distance - it is very annoying to climb long vertical sections and then fall far down just because you miss a jump or something, so that would be one thing that I would avoid.
@@Peter_1986 Absolutely this! I don't mind long vertical levels, but I'm on the school of thought of, after a few vertical parts, put up a shortcut in case you fall. (Like wind to push you up, little elevators you activate.) So there is still some challenge but the tedium isn't there also.
Nothing worse in Elecman stage for example, falling ALL THE WAY DOWN!
@@Sinclairstrange Agreed. It is also extremely important to make sure that the player cannot get permanently stuck anywhere;
there actually are a few places like that in "Mega Man 3", where you cannot get anywhere if you have run out of Rush Coil and Rush Jet (it's not very likely that this will happen, but it _can_ happen), like for example the beginning of Doc Spark Man, the beginning of the second half of Doc Gemini Man, or the beginning of the 3rd Dr. Wily stage.
I have heard that that game was rushed and unfinished, so they would have probably noticed those parts if they had more time to check the game properly.
But it is still an excellent game - it just has a few rushed parts here and there.
this was the best level design video ever
Aww thanks!
Awesome vid, keep up the great work!
I love how you explain!!
SEVERELY underrated
Thankies! I really need to get back into this series! Hoping to maybe next year! :)
Nobody:
The thumbnail: Lets level make design ames tips
The whole thing with 'barely possible' jumps kinda makes me want to implement inverse coyote time in a platformer. Essentially close to the edge you'll always jump at the last possible coyote time moment, therefore you'll always get the maximum possible jump length from an edge provided you jump at what feels like the last second and continue holding jump and the direction.
I weirdly had a game based around that mechanic, like a party game where you'd need to jump/stop right at the edge. And then the next player would try and nudge it a litter further, and if you was at the end you could try and jump at the last second to get extra points. It's actually a really neat mechanic!
Man what a masterpiece of a video
Thanks!
Damn Joel, are you good at everything? LOL You're a natural at this. Keep it up, you could be the next "Brackeys".
I might be going back to these short videos soon ;) I'm not that good, I just had a lot of free time haha :D
How do u only have 300 subscribers, you deserve wayyyyyyyy more
how tf do you have less than 1K subs
underrated af u deserve more subs this helped out a lot
Can you make video about block design that is not pixel? I would like to see it : )
Great info again
Someone get this guy more subs!
good advice
I though you had like a lot of subs bcz of the quality of the video im fucking impressed!
THANK YOU
Yessss more of this plis
perfect
wtf found this vid and thought it was like a million sub youtuber
yes, cool video. And awesome accent, btw
HOW DOES THIS GUY HAVE LESS THAN 1k SUBS
I sadly had to stop working on the series due to work commitments! But I'll be back hopefully next year with new stuff :)
Satisfying
this is pog
This video was ripped off by another channel called warlock studios, same tips in same order
Aww thanks for letting me know, although there isn't much I can do!
Technically, any dead-end is _pointless_ if you don't give them _points_ for doing it! * badum-ching *
Wow! My comment got hearted one year later? How did you even find it among all the newer ones? Thank you!
Haha, I rarely use the channel and I wanted to go through all the comments left and heart them! I'd love to get back to doing these one day! I'm hoping maybe to have a step by step on how to create 2D platformer level :)
Please don't ever use trippy backgrounds like that again... I feel so dizzy... @w@"""
Amazing video in everything else tho', I loved it! 💙
Yeah next time I promise I won't! :)