Last Thursday we gathered again at Rose and Jason’s warehouse apartment for our second session of the Artsy Games Incubator.

Last week our fearless leader Jim asked us each to create a level for the game N using its included level editor.  So this week’s session was all about playing and critiquing each others N levels.   After a short discussion of how we found the editing tool we got down to business passing Jim’s laptop around the room and suiciding our little geometric ninjas.

I’ve labeled each of the levels with red letters to point out interesting points that came up during our discussions. The images should be clickable if you want to see a full sized version.

Ben’s Level – “The Road Less Travelled”

Ben’s level was a tribute to Metroid with a layout based on a section of the classic game Super Metroid.

Almost all the ledges in this level were created at an angle.  Ben said he found this sort of geometry the most frustrating to interact with when playing but also the most rewarding once mastered.

The large stalactites on the ceiling (A) are not only aesthetically pleasing they also serve as useful cover from the missiles on either side.

Ben was concerned that the player have choice in how they approached the level and so created 3 potential paths to the exit.

We quickly learned that the easy looking wiggly path along the bottom (B) was actually very difficult to navigate since the slopes combined with N’s physics causing the ninja to bounce around hitting nearby mines.

The other route up the first vertical shaft was much easier since the player could wall jump all the way to the top.  However a last minute change in a single tile that was made for aesthetic reasons (red circle) made the first jump a lot more difficult then intended.

Finally there was some discussion about whether the room full of wandering enemies (C) could be made more attractive to players since there was little incentive to take that path.

Davin’s Level – “Iceberg”

Davin’s level “Iceberg” resembles an ant hill with a maze of tunnels beneath.  Ben mentioned that it reminded him of the game Out of This World with it’s stark alien landscapes.  Several of us enjoyed running around the top section and encouraged Davin to lower the map slightly so that players could jump over the mountain.

When we first tried the level we quickly found that it was unwinnable.  A stray half tile near the end of the level (red circle where it was) made the passage slightly to thin for our svelte ninja to fit through.  Like Ben’s last minute change, Davin had added the tile for aesthetic reasons just before saving and had assumed the path was big enough.  These two examples really made it clear to all of us how important testing was, even after a small cosmetic change.

The level was easy and fun to navigate through, but suddenly ramped up at the end.  The jump at (A) to open the exit is tricky and requires precise timing and ninja control to complete.   A few of us spent several jumps trying to make it and then had to dash for the exit before the time ran out.

Several of us went out our way to get at the bits of gold scattered off the main path, even the single one down a long tunnel at (D).  Unfortunately the gold at (B).  Was impossible to get at since the enemy AI refused to leave the room.

Finally one of us found out the hard way that the floating block at (C) wouldn’t save our ninja from long drops.  N’s physics make it difficult to tell exactly how an object will react, since a slight change in force can have a dramatically different outcome. Maybe a second floating block would help?

Jason’s Level – “Gold Depository Explosion”

Jason’s awesomely named “Gold Depository Explosion” resembles a bank that’s suffered a terrible explosion.   It also has a ton of gold.  But that gold obscured a lot of hidden mines (D), many games ended with a empty line through the gold marking the ninja’s path and ending with a bunch of blown up ninja bits.

We all found that the alternating section along the top (A) was a lot of fun to run along since it caused the ninja to skip around in an entertaining way.

The path down the right side (C) is also tricky but for different reasons.  Not only  is it blocked by several laser shooting enemies but the door at the bottom can’t be opened (circled in red) from that side making that whole section a dead end.  This brought up a short discussion on whether it would be better to open up that section and make the path useful or  to to keep this area as a trap for un-observent players.

We also discussed whether the white space in (B) should be kept for aesthetics or altered to make it a useful play element.

Jim’s Level – “Don’t Frak it Up”

Jim’s level is deceptively simple.  It requires that the player make a perfect long jump across the entire level to a small trampoline set between two landmines (B), hitting the switch at (A) along the way.  Failing to hit either of those on the first try is fatal.  If the fall or mines don’t kill the player the machine gun (C) will make short work of them.  The jump back to the exit is also tricky, it’s possible to make it while suiciding, but using the wall to slow the ninja’s fall allows the player to complete the level and live.

Ben said the final jump was a metaphor for believing in yourself.  ParRappa agreed.

Jim said he created the level this way because he found long jumps to be the most fun aspect of N’s gameplay and he wanted to emphasize that.

Before Jim’s level we were usually passing the laptop after 3 tries, but because the level was so short and punishment for failure so swift we each took several more turns, throwing our ninja to his/her doom till we succeeded in that one perfect jump.

After we had all tried his level Jim loaded up “Don’t Frak it Up: Gold Edition” which has training wheels made of gold.

Miguel’s Level – “Untitled”

Next came my level, shaped like a pagoda with clouds and lots of hidden traps.  Like Ben I was concerned with giving the player multiple routes through the level and placed two exits to help achieve this: The obvious one is (A), but there’s also an exit in the “guard house” at (B).

Because of there are lots of interactive objects and traps some aspects of the level aren’t clear in the screen shot.  The puffy clouds contain lightning blocks that will dive down on the player as they run across the level (and can be ridden into the clouds by clever players).   The birds in the sky (C) are made of a series of switches.  The large ones trigger missile launcher doors to open on the tower and bridge.  the small ones create platforms underneath them saving the player from falling.  In fact it’s possible to make a leap of faith from the top of the tower (D) across all the birds to the cloud just by holding left.

We discussed whether it would be good to remove the exit at (B) and force the players to go for the top exit where some of the more interesting gimmicks in the level are.

Rose’s Level

Unfortunately Rose’s level was corrupted and we couldn’t play through it.  Hopefully we’ll get a chance this week.

Next Assignment!

Before we left Jim gave us our next assignment.  Download the kid’s programming language Scratch and modify one of the included games with our own graphics and gameplay.