Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
LEVEL EXITS, LEVEL WARPS, AND TELEPORTERS
Many action games that require the player to explore the layout of each level desig-
nate a particular location as the normal transition point to the next level—the
level
exit
or
dungeon exit
. A level exit may be guarded by enemies, be well hidden, or both.
Finding and passing through the level exit is usually the primary goal of the level.
Game designers often provide more than one exit from a level: the standard exit,
which takes the player to the next level, and one or more special exits that jump
the player ahead several levels or take the player to an otherwise secret level. These
are known as
level warps
. Level warps are usually hidden or particularly difficult to
reach, and the reward is proportional to the level of sacrifice required to get to them.
Games from
Stargate
to
Luigi's Mansion
and the
Super Mario
series use level warps. If
you provide a hidden exit, you may want to give the player a subtle clue. For exam-
ple, in
Super Mario World
, the world overview map shows levels with secret exits as
flashing red dots, rather than flashing yellow dots. The red dots are a signal to the
player (without telling him explicitly) that the level contains a secret exit.
A
teleporter
is a transition point that causes the player's avatar to jump someplace
else within the
same
level. These points may be marked by a sign or object that tells
the player he has found a teleporter, or they may be unmarked, giving the player
no warning that he is about to be teleported and no explanation for why he is sud-
denly somewhere else. Teleporters often become available at the end of a long
period of exploration, so the player can simply jump back to a previous location
(such as a home base or camp) without having to walk all the way back.
Challenges
Action games have more different kinds of challenges than just about any other
genre, although almost all of these challenges test physical skills—speed and reac-
tion time, steering and shooting, timing and rhythm, and the ability to execute
combo moves in fighting games. Other common types of challenges include pat-
tern recognition (recognizing the attack and patrol behaviors of enemies) and
exploration (learning your way around a space). A few action games, such as
Tet r is
and
Portal
, include puzzle-solving elements. The complexity of the puzzles should
be inversely proportional to the amount of time pressure the player feels.
This section looks at the way pure action games characteristically present and
organize their challenges. Action-adventure hybrid games frequently incorporate
challenges from the adventure game genre, such as locked doors and mazes. See
the “Challenges” section of Chapter 19 for more information.
OBSTACLES AND DANGERS
In a game that requires navigation through a space, the player's avatar is typically
faced with three types of problems: passive obstacles, stationary dangers, and active
dangers or enemies.
