Elements of Game Design part 4- Environment

Level design is incredibly important in leading the player through the game in an exciting way. Most games that feature a predominant story are essentially linear, but the way the game’s world is designed can be used to generate a sense of exploration and discovery. That is not to say that games that don’t try and make things into one big adventure are bad- there is more to level design than telling the player where to go. However those other things, such as enemy placement, aren’t what this entry is about. Rather, I’m going to focus on the environment. No ranting about that one car park level in No More Heroes 2 with the over-abundance of enemies today!

I've killed at least 50 of you, can I go yet?

At the beginning of a game, the most important part of a level’s design is to show the player what they can do with their character. Sometimes this is done as a tutorial, sometimes the level will be specifically set up to imply what the character can do to encourage the player to experiment with the controls. This, of course, isn’t always completely successful but it does help the player to get immersed in the game.

Immersion is the biggest payoff for great environment design. Things like incorporating level boundaries into the environmental topology rather than the use of invisible walls and making beautiful scenes that the player has incentive to interact with will aid in engrossing the player in the game’s experience.

If only looking around this place wouldn't lead to my death.

Believable, realistic environments and unrealistic, crazy environments both have their place in level design, though it’s important to try and keep things consistent. Things like floating platforms would fit perfectly in a Sonic the Hedgehog title as said series doesn’t strive for a feeling of realism. If you wanted to have suspended platforms in something like Assassin’s Creed they’d have to be supported by something else the player would immediately notice something out of place.

One of my favourite game environments (and I’m sorry to bring up this franchise yet again but it really does make a great example) is the Chozo Ruins in Metroid Prime- particularly the main plaza. The area is navigable by the interesting scenery, with a bridge made of rock and trees intertwined (a consistent architectural feature, re-enforcing the culture of the former residents and subsequently aiding in world-building). 

Although the room is not exactly huge, there are many power-ups that can be found here. Some can be seen but cannot be reached when you first arrive, and you can make a guess what kind of equipment you’ll have access to later in the game by observing this. For example there is a half-pipe structure that leads to a morph-ball sized indentation in the wall, hinting at the boost ball upgrade. When it comes down to it, the area is just beautifully designed with much thought put into the colour palette and good use of textures making every element fit perfectly. The influences of various established settings such as those of Alien (a well-known influence of the series since it began), studies of real-life ruins, and the well thought out artistic direction of Android Jones and the rest of the art team would have built up to this.