The steps that I had taken while designing my tutorial were very simple and straight forward, I established open explorable locations, and connected them to have a general direction while still being tied to the general themes for each level, being an isolated grove, as well as a volcanic cavern.
This also includes the circulation patterns and pathways, which allow for areas to load and unload since each segment will not be visible between paths to ensure optimization along with the overall player engagement.
My first level's color palette wasn’t too broad, however in comparison to my original design it has more of a variety implemented, and though my second level is very dark, It introduced a high contrast in comparison with a vibrant red and orange, as well as a darker purple.
- The color palette for each level was essentially just the terrain, most of the elements that were interactive or environmental did not have much contrast or clarity.
My original annotated map had absolutely no reference material, which is why in many respects it was extremely lacking compared to my second draft, which now as some visual direction invisioned:
To ensure level progression utilized the introduction of core mechanics I used obstacles such as destructables and other means of blocked paths that encourage the player to experiment (For this tutorial that included jumping & punching).
Additionally the level design essentially forces the player to learn core mechanics at some point, for example blocked off paths that need debris broken, and jumping over a small stream/river.
The specific environments that I chose for my levels were essentially going more along the lines of exploreability, with open regions giving the player the ability to freely move around, while still being given a general direction after each portion of the level.The gameplay introduced within the levels is mostly movement based, with a little bit of combat-based elements with the intention of exploration and looting.
In my first Annotated map there was absolutely no Color palette or goal displayed, putting the player in a bland open area with no dedicated goal, from that I completely redesigned The first level, and re-oriented the direction of the second level to have a contrasting theme.
This feedback drastically helped me realize just how easily negligent I was with the instructions and allowed for me to improve on what I had envisioned to a presentable state of design.
Old:
New:
Within the tutorial level I designed, both Level 1 and Level 2 have POIs, However I did not make them as clear/contrasting as I should have, which led to the design and mechanics having a lot of flaws (being that visually it is difficult to know where they are introduced, as well as if they are even necessary)
In an attempt to give a visual representation of the potential paths, I ended up adding a lot of useless visual representation overlapped on POIs that have no contrast to the level/background provided.
I wouldn’t change the mechanics initially selected for the tutorial, however I would change how they are introduced because even though I revamped the tutorial, I still failed in some respects to the logic behind the mechanics and did not do well in giving visual representation of where they would be introduced.
My perspective on level design has definitely broadened because I never really considered the depth of various parts of level design in general because I never expected it to have as much depth as it does, let alone making annotated map drafts rather than doing an actual 3D layout in a game engine.
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