Integrating Level Design and Mechanics - Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design - page 244

You can find a similar structure in the second dungeon of the game, the Goron
Mines. To gain access to this dungeon, Link must acquire the Iron Boots, an item
that he can equip to make himself very heavy, and must demonstrate how to use
it ( kihon ). The dungeon trains the player in the various applications of this item: to
sink to the bottom of bodies of water, to walk on vertical or upside-down stretches
of magnetic rock, and to fight heavy and strong creatures ( kihon-kata ). Halfway
through the dungeon, Link acquires the hero's bow and has to use it to open several
pathways by shooting at targets ( kihon, kihon-kata ). During this stage, he engages in
several fights in which the player must switch in and out of his boots quickly and
combine it with archery and sword fighting ( kata ). Finally, the player must combine
all three skills to defeat the level boss ( kumite ). In fact, this structure is repeated for
all dungeons in Twilight Princess . Figure 10.14 shows an overview of the mecha-
nisms that are introduced during each dungeon and each intermission between
dungeons. It shows that the game slowly introduces new mechanisms over its entire
course and focuses on a different combination of mechanisms for each level. It is
a very fine example of using levels to structure a smooth learning curve and create
prolonged and varied gameplay. You can use such a chart to plan the learning stages
of your own games as well as to analyze published games.
Summary
In this chapter, we examined the ways that game mechanics interact with level
design. We noted four different ways of measuring progress through a game:
through completed tasks, through advancement toward a numerical goal, through
character growth, and through growth in the player's own abilities. We showed
how it is possible to use a subset of all your core mechanics to create a specific level,
using our Lunar Colony game as an example. In the section “Missions and Game
Spaces,” we introduced an important distinction between the structure of a level's
mission, or sequence of tasks to be performed, and its physical layout. You can use
Machinations diagrams to help you design both. The chapter ended with a discus-
sion of the ways in which players learn to play games and how cleverly designed
games always prepare a player well for what is to come. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight
Princess serves as an ideal example.
In the next chapter, we will study progression mechanisms in games, especially the
lock-and-key mechanism, in more detail.