In preparing for GIGABUSTER's level designs, I spent a good amount of time dissecting the structure and pacing of older Megaman and Megaman X titles, going so far as to measure the amount of time between enemy encounters, the distance traveled, the amount of space given for movement, etc.
I combined all of these observations with nuggets from old interviews with Megaman developers, and came up with a "formula" of sorts for building out levels. This formula involves a few rules that I wanted to write about.
1: No more than 3 elements on screen at once
This was something from a Megaman 1 interview you can find [here]. Not only would more than 3 interactive elements on screen be taxing on NES hardware, but it was also difficult to parse a scene quickly for the average player. You could also build from this with the idea of "focus," having the elements you'll need to pay attention to grab the player's eye in a specific order (similar to focal points, where your eye will immediately center on a specific point before wandering elsewhere).
(An example of 3 enemies at once from Cut Manās stage. In early Megaman it was also rare to have more than 1 enemy type mixed in.)
To make sure I wasn't putting more than 3 elements on screen at once, I tile a 1920x1080 square in the background of every level in GIGABUSTER. That way, I can measure the distance between elements and the amount of them within the game's screen size.
On top of this, GIGABUSTER uses a ton of custom camera regions, which will hover the camera to certain points when walked into. Enemies will only activate when they're on screen, so this not only helps to keep elements in focus, but also makes sure enemies will activate predictably.
This is something you can learn more about [here].
Four-step is also something written about by early Megaman developers, though their versions of it differed slightly. Early Megaman games only introduced mechanics in "sets." For example, a screen that introduces a Met would be followed by two to three more Met screens. This is really prominent in almost all old Megaman stages; you can almost take your pick of any of them and see this in action. Here's [Wood Man] for example. The entire stage is is 4 sets of 3-step enemy introductions, with very little crossover between the enemies being introduced.
Typically each set would focus on only one enemy type, with others only introduced to "mix up" the 3rd encounter.
Simply put, Four-step pacing usually goes like this:
First encounter: An easy introduction/tutorial to an enemy type. Low risk.
Second encounter: A slightly harder encounter with the enemy, either by putting it in a less convenient position or situation.
Third encounter: The hardest one. Ideally, this one should build on the enemy in an interesting way. Typically by combining it with other enemies or mechanics.
Fourth encounter: The wind-down, mop-up or finale. This one should be easier, usually mirroring the second encounter in a way that leaves the player feeling rewarded for overcoming the climb to the third encounter.
For an example of this in GIGABUSTER, take the Grenadier section of the Oil Rig.
In this set, you can safely drop into the first encounter whenever you like. You also get to see the enemy's attack pattern before dropping down. The drop is positioned so that you'll be standing underneath the grenade's arc, so even after dropping you're mostly safe from damage.
In the second, you no longer have the height advantage. You have to approach the Grenadier head-on, meaning you'll have to avoid his attacks normally. It's a less ideal positioning.
The third combines the second with a new enemy type. The Driller makes it difficult to sit in one spot, meaning you can't stand under the grenade's arc for too long. This one is the hardest encounter. (However, as a bonus self-imposed challenge, leaving the Driller alive lets you jump on its head to grab an HP UP.)
The fourth mixes in torches, but they're static and don't prevent you from hiding under the grenade's arc. They may make the section look difficult, but it's closer to the 2nd in challenge.
Even if these encounters are very difficult, the bookending of the first and fourth will leave the player feeling better about the situation than they otherwise would've, perhaps making them feel more likely to give the set another go if they lose.
Another great example of this bookending is in Super Meat Boy. Usually (but not always), the end of a level in Meat Boy will have a slightly easier stretch, making you feel better about the level even if the majority of it was extremely tough.
Finally, I'll add that while four-step design is a good way to lay out encounters, GIGABUSTER doesn't adhere to it 100%. There are occasional mix-ups of other encounters along the way, hopefully making the stage not feel quite as formulaic as it otherwise would've while still keeping the satisfying pacing of four-step for most encounters.
Finally, something I can't cite by any interviews or videos. Speed is very subjective from game to game (even within the Megaman series). This rule simply measures the amount of time the player spends on encounters and levels. Megaman developers have been open about how they intentionally design their games to be finishable in about an hour, so I tried to translate this into encounter length as well. Movement speed also plays into this, as games with slower-moving characters often slow down even more when played at HD/Widescreen resolutions, as the levels themselves become wider. I wanted to keep the speed and pacing of Megaman Zero games inparticular consistent, even when translated to an HD Widscreen format, which also meant speeding up the characters beyond their original inspirations.
While I don't have any direct links, I remember reading about how play sessions are best divided into time segments. In JRPG's, for example, the sweet spot for a normal encounter's length is about 3 minutes maximum, ideally ending in around 3 turns.
For GIGABUSTER, I wanted stages to be complete after roughly 10 minutes of gameplay. But for games that push longer playtimes, you may notice that these times often work in multiples of 5-10. For example, I often found that Shovel Knight stages would last between 15-30 minutes on a first playthrough, from both personal experience and from watching others.
Also noteworthy, some games are much slower paced, whether because they like a run or dash button, or because they're very puzzle and platform heavy. An important thing with a game like GIGABUSTER is making sure the momentum doesn't dip too much. There are certainly sections (like the elevator in the Oil Rig) where progress slows down, but in general I like to think most sets of encounters has a similar range of length to completion.
There are certainly other rules I havenāt mentioned here (integrating optional challenges is another big one), but these are the three that come to mind the most when designing GIGABUSTER. Thanks for reading!
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