Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Now you can easily see the player, the elevated track from start to finish, and the various obstacles
all together.
A map should be drawn to scale to be most effective. In this example the player is too big relative to
the obstacles and track. The player icon adds more information to the map by also designating the
player's start point (Figure
9-4
).
player
moving platform
pendulum
cannon
laser
blizzard
Figure 9-4.
Obstacle course map with player character drawn to scale
Now that the player icon on the map is scaled, take a look at the overall layout of the obstacle
course with a critical eye.
There is quite a bit of empty space along the track where the player has nothing to do but walk.
This is no good—just walking is boring. An obstacle course without very many obstacles is boring.
Boring isn't fun.
After the pendulums, the cannon, laser, and blizzard obstacles are all crammed together into a
clump. Divide the track into zones on your map and the clumping becomes even more obvious
(Figure
9-5
).
laser
blizzard
player
moving platform
pendulum
cannon
Figure 9-5.
Divide the obstacle course into zones
To fix this, first divide the track into more evenly sized zones (Figure
9-6
).
