RE-DESIGNING THE TEMPLE LEVEL BY MELODY WANG
Melody is a level designer for Fat Loot. Here, she describes the process of re-designing or re-thinking the new Temple level.
Design is all about iteration and communication.
Through play testing and feedback from fellow team members, I concluded that there were several flaws with the map: 1) the size was too big for our tiny little character 2) the open space was too large when without grass 3) the player can get the treasure easily just by going up the stairs, and then jumping down 4) once the player got the treasure, it was hard to chase her down. To add to all that, the art progress for this map is slow, as the art team has to create completely new assets. This is an outdoor level, so the assets are completely different from our other, indoor levels.
So I’ve made a lot of changes to the map. First, I shrunk the map and simplified the design by removing the four fancy corner stages and the stages where the player spawns. Second, I staggered the position of the central top platforms so that the player won’t be able to go straight forward to the treasure place. Third, considering the factor that it was too easy for the player to get the treasure and then just jump away, the lead designer, Pat, proposed an idea that I could make the top platforms inverted. I thought it was brilliant and I did that. But later in the play testing, I realized I didn’t like that layout change very much and to prevent the jumping issue, I could just add a small wall on the edge of the platforms. So I decided to stick my original design and put the walls on. Finally, I painted grass, the key of the level, on the ground.
After so many changes, I still stick to my original concept – open, large view, outdoor scene. That’s how it looks now: