How YOU can make a GOOD LEVEL in 1 hour for Your Indie Game | Devlog #9
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- Опубліковано 19 чер 2024
- ::: Steam Page :::
store.steampowered.com/app/13...
::: Twitter :::
/ anderssonkev
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/ anderssonkev
I feel like I've really upgraded my tools and workflow to achieve a very fast iteration process. I hope this inspires you to improve on your own indie game!
Thumbnail is inspired by Game Maker's Toolkit, an inspiration for us all!
My friend Rigby's video that you should watch: • Indie Game Devlog #7 -...
::: Chapters :::
00:00 - Introduction
00:37 - Preparation
01:51 - Set the tone
04:09 - What makes a good level
06:50 - The book level
08:02 - Outfits
08:21 - Conclusion
#madewithunity #gamedev #indiegame #gamedevelopment #unity3d #indiedev #devlog - Ігри
I honestly have no idea why you don't get way more exposure. The game looks absolutely gorgeous, and the game devlog is organized really well
If you feel that way then eventually more people will as well in the future. I'll just have more time to perfect my videos before the big exposure arrives :)
@@WhyKev UA-cam is a progressive and exponential journey I think. The more videos you make, the more you learn. That does make it take quite a bit of time though. If I post a video once a month, that's 12 videos a year. The videos to learn from is far shorter than if I posted every other week. Making videos for gamedev is challenging to package in something people would want to see imo. I'm a perfectionist, and that's my random thoughts, but yeah. :)
@@WhyKev I think you're right 👍
Excited to see the future
@@Reditect Yeah I need to find the balance between making progress enough to show it. I'd rather have fewer videos that are interesting than once every week where it's forced.
@@WhyKev Totally agree. I'd like to make videos, but I find balancing school, gamedev, UA-cam, etc. to be near impossible. I don't want to work all the time, even when enjoying the craft. Do you have any tips for balancing things? A schedule and lists helps, but yeah.
thats really interesting, its simillar to the approach of kaze, a guy making a mario 64 rom hack and before he designs a new level, he would model a small thing to test the visuals before the level design
I'm glad you made so much progress on PaperKlay and i'm happy to see the dynamic rotating level parts idea :)
Many thanks Newemka!
I love your technique of simply using splines and planes to make great looking stage platforms! This is why I love watching other creators, so much knowledge to be gained! Subbed and waiting for more :D
I think no eyes on the scissors feels more mysterious and unsettling. Depends on what tone you want
I think the dark Level with a glowing thing is, reminds me glow in the dark stars toys we have at a young age.
haha yeah right! I should have one of those that you carry around, that's a good idea!
Creating dope tools may take a while, but they are so invaluable!!! Love to see this 🔥
Thanks a lot Graham! :)
This whole game from basic concept to visuals looks absolutely stunning! Really interesting your thought process on the creative side of the game, definitely interesting to see all those cool ideas! Really looking forward to this game! It’s gonna be a success! Keep up the good work! 🚀
I really appreciate that! I'll save this comment for my folder with motivating words! :)
I love the book level it's very whimsical and I like the feel of the dark snowy level I know you want it to be playable by children but I really like the idea of some sort of spooky level! Probably not scary since we don't want to scar the children but maybe just an eerie or playfully spooky level would be an interesting break from the jovial chill vibe! Keep up the great work!
I'd love a spooky level, I mean Nintendo is able to pull it off so I might look there for inspiration! Thanks Plabs!
It's been absolutely amazing to seeing you progress from what was the 3D walk cycle animation, and a rough prototype for a puzzle game with some pre-existing style ideas to something that's now really starting to get its own identity and begins to look like a real game. Keep it up Kev!
Truly Achi, thank you so freaking much. It's wild when you think of the journey and growth.
This has Mario Galaxy meets Billy Hatcher vibes and I am here for it!!!
ooh that's a good combo! I live for it :D
I loved how you explained everything so easily, i wish you lots of success on this project
Thank you for saying that, for the first time I went back and re-recorded some early parts because it wasn't clear enough!
Outfits! I love that. You should lock/hide them in-game so they symbolize an achievement. Completing a hard jumping puzzle, exploring the environment or speeding through a level.
Some ideas for costumes/hats;
- A gnome hat
- A purple/pink beanee
Just to name a few 😉
Love the updates man! Keep em' coming!
Ah good idea! Yeah some can be locked behind some form of achievement!
Purple/pink beanee, brings back memories haha
I love the idea of the level dioramas. It's a great way to test out different environment aesthetics and ensure variety. It's also useful for trailer and marketing purposes. I'll probably be doing this for my game too. Thanks for the inspiration!
That's perfect! Yeah and for me I can ensure that the visuals are "good enough" since art isn't my strongest side. To make sure I can achieve the result I want.
Man the visuals are stunning right now, especially love that book level! I want to jump right into that one right now XD Working with those splines is an absolute game changer too. I personally need to give that a try if I move away from terrain-based level designs.
Also SO excited to see outfits are possibly making it in the game!! Adding a hat that's themed around each level would be super cute. They could also be really fun rewards for side-quests that aren't really necessary in the game, and those hats could be based on the NPCs you interacted with. I'm imagining Paperklay with a pirate hat on rn and I can't stop 🤣
Thank you so much friend
I like the idea of the light guiding the player, but maybe it should be a short section for a snow level where you have to enter a cave with a lantern honestly, this is looking amazing
I like that direction! :)
Ive been following I think since the second Devlog and I cannot wait to get my hands on this game! Little Big Planet holds a very special place in my heart and this defo has similar vibes! Keep up the good work it's inspiring
hehe wow yeah the devlogs have for sure increased in quality since then :D Really appreciate those words!
got DAM this game looks pretty! I especially love how the yellow lake looks!
hahah thank you Adam! :D I'm also a big fan of that level, excited to see where it goes!
Great tips! Also, the googley eyes are perfect 👌
Thanks Kyle! They're a great fit, I might add that for more enemies!
Wow! I'm really glad I stumbled upon this channel. I'm working on creating my own game, and this looks like the perfect devlog to get inspiration from. Subscribed!
Thank you so much for taking the time to watch it! Best of luck with your own game!
Randomly got recommended your channel and am loving what I see of your project. I'm also a solo developer though my laziness is keeping me from progress. Seeing your video is really giving me a lot of ideas on how to crack through my hangups on level design. Your game looks really interesting and I'll definitely be following your channel for more updates and devlogs! A couple of suggestions just from my own observations: I think that the more stuff a switch flips, the more dramatic it should be. Maybe make it take a couple of seconds and give some slight screen shake? Secondly, I really like your approach to wanting both young kids and more experienced players to enjoy the game. One fantastic way to increase replay value and encourage skill-based play is to integrate a speedrun mode for gameplay to track completion time ingame. Speedrunners LOVE character platformers and I can guarantee a lot of people will get themselves addicted to competing to see who can finish levels the fastest.
Glad that I ended up on your recommendation! :) I really hope you get further with your level design, it can be hard sometimes when you're stuck.
Totally agree, some stuff rotating can be more dramatic and add a lot of feeling.
Have added some speedrun/timer mode in previous games so it's not impossible to do it here :)
Some amazing level design tips in this video! Storing structure visual data in a scriptable object is such a smart idea. Loved the video, keep up the good work :)
Thanks Philldev! I hope it inspires you! :)
I really like this workflow approach, good stuff
Hope it inspires you Jakob! :)
This is top tier dev logging. Fingers crossed that you get your huge breakthrough soon :)
This comment really makes my day, thank you so much Parrexion! :)
Bro this video PACKED full of good stuff.
I tried my best :D
Love the insight, definitely some cool ideas here!
Many thanks Grog, glad to see you streaming again! :)
The game looks so good! Thanks for sharing. It would also be cool to see a real time clip of you editing a level and talking about the process in a bit more detail.
Thanks Nick! ooh I wonder if I could do something about that. Will keep that in mind!
Really great devlog! Keep up the good work
Appreciate it friend
Man, this looks incredibly good! Super inspiring. I hope you get a ton more subscribers.
Thank you, let's hope so! :)
Great stuff Kev!
Big thanks John!
Suggestion:
If you like the way that books make the player feel small, and the game is targetting a younger audience a theme for levels could be around different objects. Obviously books work, but for example you could have a level where you have to climb a kitchen shelf that has enemies as silverware. This might not be the way the game is envisioned, but the way a book gives size, shelves could also achieve that effect.
Another level example for what I mentioned could be a level that takes place in a small school classroom or different rooms in a home. Just thought that when seeing the book level.
That's a great idea! This made me think that I should have a glass or a cup somewhere. If I would do a classroom for example then I would try to add an angle to it like a classroom but it's taking place in the desert. So different desks are open desert areas while shelves with books could be entrance to some tomb. Maybe hard to envision but I try to look at it from those angles.
Great devblog!
Thank you Fusionaquaa :D
another great devlog thanks
Many thanks!
I got a WHOLE lot of ideas for outfits! Although some of them may not be that good, i'll list them anyways :D
Dr. disrespect, mad scientist, pirate, lion, angel, devil, engineer, robot, squid, doctor, ninja, wizard, astronaut, wrestler, fancy (with like monocle and suit), viking, dinosaur, plague doctor, mummy, zombie, skeleton, and honestly i can go on and on but i'll stop here haha, hope this helps, even if it's a little bit!
(also thought of special skins for completing stuff in-game, like a diamond skin if you find all the secrets, a gold skin if you help all the NPC's etc...)
ooh I love these ideas! Some I can't use since I down "own the rights" to Dr Disrespect for example :D
But a great list otherwise!
this was such a great insight into your level design approach, I gotta learn some of those decorating tools. For the coins, I found the 0/225 counter a bit daunting. I preferred when the max total wasn't displayed. Like studs in the lego games.
I hope you find improvement in the workflow with the tools! Yeah I'm going back and forth with the counter if it's total that you have or for the individual level
The "Night" level looks awesome! Great Atmosphere! How did you manage to do that? It's not just a directional light off, I guess...
Thanks a lot! It's actually just Unity's default fog :D Don't fully remember what I did with the light in that level.
Fantastic video! Glad to see how useful your tools are being to you!
The diorama approach to level design sounds great, not something I'd considered but something I'll be doing 👀
As for outfits, definitely do them! (Maybe at the end if you have time) maybe they could be themed on the world you're in? Book world = librarian?
Hope it speeds up for you Saul :)
Great idea for outfit, would be fun :D
Excited to come back and see more work, after viewing I already have some small feedback that will help improve things, which you probably have already thought about, BUT be careful with where you place scenery, assuming players can jump on it (with it having collision) you`ll start to find that curious players will use ability's in unexpected ways as you noted or combo-ing them, but if a level is not designed in a certain manner, that could lead to players being able to escape the level boundaries completely or skip triggers for certain events (if there are any), which then breaks the immersion of the game, going to keep a very close eye on development as usual, and good luck ^_^ Cant wait for future updates.
That is a very good point! Majority of linear levels should have their story at start or end of level so the player can "freely" traverse on their own. I should make some generic boundaries to make sure the players can't reach the decorations around the levels. Thanks for watching :)
@@WhyKev No problem, I`ll keep an eye out for any tips I can give from my experience ^_^
The art of game design The book and gamemakers toolkit on youtube will help with your design bro.
This is going to be a massive hit. I'm working on my 3rd game ( 0 completed) lol so my goal for this one is to actually complete it. I use unreal engine but still good stuff
the book level looks soooooooooo goooooooooooooooooooood!!!
THANK YOUUUUU
Starting to take shape!
It really is!
Your level design approach seems really solid!! Small prototypes of creative ideas and continue the best. The game unfolds really well! See what I did there?
Appreciate it! :D haha love when wordplay is used like that!
Maybe the stacked books could also slowly move like some giand snake or mechanism?
Also, amazing devlog! Im always excited when the new one drops! Keep it up! 🎉
I actually wanted some kind of book-snake flying in the background! :D We'll see if possible to achieve at some point!
I'm so excited for you! The game looks great and I can't wait for you to finish it:) are you making all your assets in Blender? It all looks great 👌
Hey thank you so much! I'm working hard on it, still having fun which is nice :)
I am making everything in Blender yeah, works great for me!
Your most inspiring devlog so far, really interesting!
I have a question though: Do those prefabs that change based on world coordinates not cost a lot of performance? They seem to run every update tick, without exception, right?
Thanks Anbagames! I'm not 100% sure myself, but for a testing purpose it's fine. Once I've decided how everything will look I can go over the level and optimize.
I could see myself playing this on Steam Deck in the future. It looks like it could be a really relaxing game 👍
I'd love nothing more than for you to be able to do that :D
snow tracks might help lead players in the snow level
ooh I like that idea!
I think it'd be cool if spinning collected coins. It'd be really satisfying at 6:35 to go to the center of the coin circle and collect them all by spinning
ooh yeah that would be fun!
Great devlog :)
What spline tool are you using?
Thank Geri, I think I'm using a free one from the asset store. Name might be SplineMesh :)
i definitley think having a small area with the atmosphere, mechanics and overall look of it, as it gives you a general idea of what you´re making is a good concept in execution, it saves you a lot of time and makes your workflow a bit faster
for the costumes i think that if you want to have like a place to get cosmettics, you could have that they just wear different outfits for the level, like a fish bowl for an underwater area or that hood you showed for the winter area
i dont remember if there were any enemies in the area but there definitely werent any npcs from what ive seen, they can liven up the place
what makes a good game? i would say how you can interact with the envoirment around you, what happens if you do x on y mindset, of course it doesnt have to be every single thing but it could be something to keep in mind. players like to be in control of a game they're playing, like what they do has impact
Very good points you brought up! I love the idea of costumes that fit the environments! Will write down the fish bowl!
There are some enemies but won't be the next dark souls :D I plan to take an NPC round later on as I felt they slowed down my progress on getting started on a level. I want them talking and having their own thing that they do!
I plan that once I can run through the entire game in this short version I will go over and add "everything the player can think of". Obviously within limits but I won't forget it :)
@@WhyKev oh yeah not everything has to be interactable, just that the player doesnt feel like the game is ignoring them
enemies can make the place feel a little more populated, it would be cool if the enemies had to be defeated in ways that work with the abilities and tools you have at your disposal!
after all, we wouldnt want our little chicken friend to get sore from rolling or anything!
😅
best of wishes to your game dev journey!
i know that i personally need to scoot up mine, havent been able to work on it for like a month😔
also for an npc approach you could just make it that a text bubble pops up that the player could read if they want to, so it wont halt your progress necessarily
@@stroyosh4670 Yeah I plan to have some characters that just say things while others can be talked to. For just this purpose :)
playdough suit outfit would be funny
Loving the idea!
Where did you learn to do 3d art? (cool devlog btw ;) )
I originally learned in school back in 2009, but early 2022 I decided to freshen up my skills and here we are :) Using Blender right now, used Maya back in school.
What game engine are you using? Im trying to get into game development as a beginner and want to make a 3d platformer as my first project. (Of course something a lot more simple than this).
I'm using Unity, I'd say it's a great idea to start with something simpler, so you can get it out and hear what people think.
Your game has fucking good
haha thank you!
Realy nice visuals. How do you do it?
Thank you, well it's a broad question. A little bit of 3D work, great textures and then some post process with some shadow work.
@WhyKev well, good work then. Is there any resources that you suggest me to look into?
@@musabkara1684 I guess use Blender and look into cardboard normal maps to get the cardboard look. I'm not sure what you're trying to achieve :)
that spline placement tool... is that your own asset?
The base spline tool is an asset called "Spline Mesh" but I've build tools around it to fit my needs. It's free so check it out!
I was following u from the beginning i also watched Thomas bush video about this game, he pointed out about marketability i think u should listen to him, need awesome story mate otherwise it will be just another game.
I do appreciate him taking the time to look at my game but I don't agree with all of his suggestions. The game is still in development and I haven't started implementing story elements yet (so that's coming don't you worry). I'll take his words with me and we'll see what ends up happening :)
Great video. I wish this comment can boost your popularity 10 times😊
I really hope that as well Galin :D Thanks!
A nest hat
Great idea!
Outfits are only good if they are free no micro transactions just kills a game tbh
I don't want micro transactions in PaperKlay, don't worry.
Hey no offense but I think Chick should sound like a 10 year old kid.
I appreciate you sharing, I'll see with internal tests during the development if I change it later on. It's a big cost to re-record all lines so it wouldn't be a decision I'd make lightly.
maybe a spinning animation when changing outfits could be cool with a spinning sprite effect around the character. or maybe outfits that are different for certain levels, cold environments, hot environments etc.
hahaha I think there's a kids show from Sweden where they spun around when changing outfits! I love that idea!