quick thing on our jump bias/ghost jump - dont make it a frame based delay, but rather a time based one set to very few MS. if its frame based, those running at higher framerates wont get the same effect on a 144hz monitor vs 60hz
Yeah sonic games are that way, run them at 50hz they are terrible games. Run then at 60hz and suddenly they are enjoyable! So Sonic gets faster the higher that frame rate goes. At 144hz you would be running and landing jumps in under half the time!
4:26 this is mostly due to a lot of languages reading left to right, top to bottom from what I've gathered. It makes our brains used to interpreting things in that way, such as in photography. Your eye is drawn first to the most important part of the game scene (where your player is), then second to where they need to go.
6:35 THANK YOU for acknowledging Yoshi's Island as a 2D Mario game, and a really freaking good one at that. So many people nowadays write off that game as nothing more than a mere spinoff because of later Yoshi games or just flat-out seem to forget that masterpiece's existence, which is a crying shame because it really is a masterpiece and the Mario Team at the time put all their heart and soul into it and it shows. I recently did a marathon playthrough of all the classic SMB games from SMB1 to Yoshi's Island (including Lost Levels) in a single go and it definitely deserves to be considered a 2D Mario game and a major one at that; it's not at all the same as a game like Yoshi's Crafted World which is undeniably a spinoff. Funnily enough, there's a level in Yoshi's Island that breaks that "don't design a level to go to the left" rule that just has you go to the left at the very beginning of the level and keeps that up for a significant portion of the stage, I think for the entire first area.
I've been struggling to think of a type of game to make, but after watching this series I think I'm going to create a platformer. Congrats on 1k! You deserve it!
That last clip of that “ultra hard” level was amazing! Idk how many levels you are putting in but I’d certainly be looking forward to playing that level 😁 talks a lot about my inability to design things for other people to play - always waaay too hard
Thank you! And you're one to talk about "inspiring" with your sick looking 3D rocket jumper. Incredibly envious of the progress with that. Looks better every time I see a new video
This is awesome! I just discovered this devlog today, and it just so happens another episode (and the one I was hoping for, like many others) was about level design!? how lucky. also, congrats on 1k subs! I was your 977th :D Also, have you considered adding slopes like in N++? Those were always a super fun mechanic
The left to right direction is simply based on our reading direction. Japanese game makers got inspired by western games and just took over that habit, eventhough their reading direction is right to left
I loved this video. Thinking of doing a platformer one of my biggest questions was how to make good levels for my game is essential to making it feel awesome!
Ghost mode looks very slick now! The non-level at the end, while you say it won't be in the final game, is not far off what I would expect in the most challenging levels of a platformer. With the other mechanics you have in the game, I'm sure you could use it as the basis for some truly tricky & fear-inducing levels.
I skipped this one so I've just gotten back round to it. The playground looks like a great solution to my old comment. I do think hub worlds are awesome although usually underutilised in 2D games
One thing to notice here is that unlike with a single jump and wall jump, once you have double jump, it's inevitable that the player can use it and wall jump to scale a single wall without needing the other one, as you display on multiple points throughout the video. You obviously need to take this into account when designing your levels.
Yep. Which is where the point came from about how adding a single mechanic can alter everything about how you design levels. You're on point with that, definitely. Will be designing around it, don't worry.
So I've been working on my first 2D platformer on and off for 2 years now. Problem is, my dumb behind decided to make it a metroidvania with deep lore... I've restarted with more experience and I decided to temporarily turn it into a normal 2D platformer. Your level design talk is helping a lot! Also, I just watched a really good GDC talk on the level design of Celeste.
Loving this series. Really interesting seeing the process, and your analysis of the evolution is really insightful. Curious whether (my personal favourite platformer) 140 is a direct (or indirect) influence on the game? I can see some real similarities from an aesthetic perspective.
One thing about never moving left - there's an old game I can't remember of where you started on the right and moved left, because you were the bad guy and bad guys always come from the right.
Really awesome job on the game! I think that maybe the trail the player leaves behind should evaporate after some time? If you want to make levels that go back, the screen might become too convoluted with all the trails left behind.
Gonna come clean about the 'ghost mode' comment; my thought process was something like this "I should add [float mode] to my own game, but make it GHOST MODE [as described]... except, um, I don't want to. And desaturating an already-monochrome game is pointless anyway... HMMMM, WONDER IF ZED/ZAYNE/LTGD WANTS THIS IDEA?!?" and boom, my instant thoughts-to-Tweets interface did the rest.
Now I wanna buy the game just to go up on a wall like that. Ya know, the one you said was really satisfying. Btw thank you for teaching us design. I agree with everything here. (Not binge watching)
You should consider putting spikes on the outer side of walls since players will be able to just double walljump up the outer side of walls to skip over challenges You could also intentionally keep the outer side of walls non-spiked in some situations if you think it would lead to more challenging or interesting situations
For the game im making every boss thats defeated makes the player remember certain skills or after the 3rd boss he gets a shield after the 4th he learns simple magic etc
so I was looking at the trail that the player has and thought maybe when you beat a level it shows what you drew in like "a this was your path", or just a time trial thing where it shows your old path as you play.
yea man love the game only suggestion I'll give is for you to actually make a max length for the player's trail for in its current state I guess that it is just a little OCD enticing for some p-layers
I actually bought Mario Maker 2 not so long ago so that I had an easy and intuitive way to make levels. It's a great tool for that. And also just fun, obviously.
Love the game so far. Just want to say the the trail the player leaves looks kind of messy. If it was a consistent fluid line it might look better, but now it looks choppy and inconsistent
Why would you not add something like the last level you've shown in your game? It's litelarly what the game mechanics are for! I'm much more excited by watching the last level than by any of other levels you've shown. Please do consider adding some hard levels!
Yep! I'll go through the level obstacles, mechanics and hazards as they come up. I was originally gonna do one big video about everything in the game but I think it'd be easier to pace out in videos if I focus on a couple per episode.
It's ironic that you say a platformer shouldn't go left, and then you immediately mention Pitfall. The pro-move in Pitfall is to go left. This gives you an advantage because the enemies move away from you since they start on the left side and move right.
Maybe when you are sliding down walls you can make the player slide faster and faster and faster and faster and faster and faster and faster and faster and faster and faster by time until he gets/jumps off the wall.
Hey, have you considered adding voice-over work to your game? I have a friend who's a voice actor and he's looking to build up his resume. Can you email me if you're interested?
@@LTGD Awesome, I'll be looking forward to the story when it's done! Oh, also, I have a bit of experience writing for video games. If you want, I could help with the story and writing the dialogue and stuff.
let'stalkaboutgamedesign what if we add npc's in the game and characters and a story mode. let'stalkaboutgamedesign do you have a discord server, so you can get more suggestion from us and specially some fan arts.
@@LTGD Yes, thank you. Sadly I cant afford the game but I will be happy even just to playtest it or played a part of it and I think Im not the only one. Keep doing this great devlogs and contents, We will be always here to support you.
it's hard to tell from the video, but a possible problem could be the ability to infinitely climb a single wall with wall jump combined with double jump? im pretty tired right now so apologies if that was mentioned anywhere in the video
I know, I've done the "cut to black and whisper" joke a lot, but you have to understand, it's only because I'm a comedic genius.
A joke is only funny until the third time.
After that, it's *HILARIOUS!*
Haha funny goes _brrrrrrrrrrrr_ 😆
“Comedic genius”
I’m sorry could you reiterate that?
Justin like I thought that your channel icon was a dick joke the first time I watched it.
quick thing on our jump bias/ghost jump - dont make it a frame based delay, but rather a time based one set to very few MS. if its frame based, those running at higher framerates wont get the same effect on a 144hz monitor vs 60hz
Yeah sonic games are that way, run them at 50hz they are terrible games. Run then at 60hz and suddenly they are enjoyable! So Sonic gets faster the higher that frame rate goes. At 144hz you would be running and landing jumps in under half the time!
@@DailyCorvid now we have deltatime that's not an issue with (most) modern games :D
4:26 this is mostly due to a lot of languages reading left to right, top to bottom from what I've gathered. It makes our brains used to interpreting things in that way, such as in photography. Your eye is drawn first to the most important part of the game scene (where your player is), then second to where they need to go.
Legend of Kage
That vault is gonna be rather full by the end of this process!
Lot of things need throwing away, as it turns out.
Not going to lie, that wall jump and spike level looks amazing.
6:35 THANK YOU for acknowledging Yoshi's Island as a 2D Mario game, and a really freaking good one at that. So many people nowadays write off that game as nothing more than a mere spinoff because of later Yoshi games or just flat-out seem to forget that masterpiece's existence, which is a crying shame because it really is a masterpiece and the Mario Team at the time put all their heart and soul into it and it shows.
I recently did a marathon playthrough of all the classic SMB games from SMB1 to Yoshi's Island (including Lost Levels) in a single go and it definitely deserves to be considered a 2D Mario game and a major one at that; it's not at all the same as a game like Yoshi's Crafted World which is undeniably a spinoff.
Funnily enough, there's a level in Yoshi's Island that breaks that "don't design a level to go to the left" rule that just has you go to the left at the very beginning of the level and keeps that up for a significant portion of the stage, I think for the entire first area.
3:25 Cuphead's tutorial air dash flashbacks.
the best way to play pitfall is to go left from the beginning. blew my mind when someone showed me that.
I've been struggling to think of a type of game to make, but after watching this series I think I'm going to create a platformer.
Congrats on 1k! You deserve it!
That last clip of that “ultra hard” level was amazing! Idk how many levels you are putting in but I’d certainly be looking forward to playing that level 😁 talks a lot about my inability to design things for other people to play - always waaay too hard
I'm getting more and more inspired by this series.
Congrats on 1k!
Thank you! And you're one to talk about "inspiring" with your sick looking 3D rocket jumper. Incredibly envious of the progress with that. Looks better every time I see a new video
@@LTGD Thanks so much!
Congrats to 1K subs! Also i’m EXITED!!
That was actually very helpful. I was looking for some more GMTK like game design content.
Hope your channel grows big. Keep it up
This is awesome! I just discovered this devlog today, and it just so happens another episode (and the one I was hoping for, like many others) was about level design!? how lucky. also, congrats on 1k subs! I was your 977th :D Also, have you considered adding slopes like in N++? Those were always a super fun mechanic
The left to right direction is simply based on our reading direction. Japanese game makers got inspired by western games and just took over that habit, eventhough their reading direction is right to left
Was. Now it’s usually left to right, but more traditional publications still do top to bottom, right to left.
For those newbies who wants to make a game as I am. This kind of videos are very very important and useful. TY
I loved this video. Thinking of doing a platformer one of my biggest questions was how to make good levels for my game is essential to making it feel awesome!
Dude this is awesome stuff! You deserve way more subscribers than me.
I can't wait to see how this game turns out!
This game looks really promissing, good work man !
(Also congrats for the 1K subs)
Great video! Loving your consistent upload rate! Plus, you’re only 2 subs away from 1k 🎉
I thought about waiting and then I thought "nah". I've got a little something to celebrate the milestone, probably some time in the week.
@@LTGD Nice! Looking forward to it!
Ghost mode looks very slick now!
The non-level at the end, while you say it won't be in the final game, is not far off what I would expect in the most challenging levels of a platformer.
With the other mechanics you have in the game, I'm sure you could use it as the basis for some truly tricky & fear-inducing levels.
I always *like* and _comment_ so more people can see this great content!
Game looks really fun! Hopefully we can playtest it soon! Looking forward to a demo!
just came across your channel pure gold as a game dev.just subbed
I skipped this one so I've just gotten back round to it. The playground looks like a great solution to my old comment. I do think hub worlds are awesome although usually underutilised in 2D games
Congrats on 1K subs!
One thing to notice here is that unlike with a single jump and wall jump, once you have double jump, it's inevitable that the player can use it and wall jump to scale a single wall without needing the other one, as you display on multiple points throughout the video. You obviously need to take this into account when designing your levels.
Yep. Which is where the point came from about how adding a single mechanic can alter everything about how you design levels. You're on point with that, definitely. Will be designing around it, don't worry.
Another great one!
You should add vertical wall-springs.
So I've been working on my first 2D platformer on and off for 2 years now. Problem is, my dumb behind decided to make it a metroidvania with deep lore...
I've restarted with more experience and I decided to temporarily turn it into a normal 2D platformer. Your level design talk is helping a lot!
Also, I just watched a really good GDC talk on the level design of Celeste.
Yay! Love this channel!
love this series so much!
Wait. It’s IDoZ
Learned a lot from this - thanks for sharing your insights!
Loving this series. Really interesting seeing the process, and your analysis of the evolution is really insightful.
Curious whether (my personal favourite platformer) 140 is a direct (or indirect) influence on the game? I can see some real similarities from an aesthetic perspective.
that spike level at the end honestly looks like your most interesting level thus far
6:30
broooo you had me at "after yoshi's island". My all-time favorite platformer (3d included, i think)
One thing about never moving left - there's an old game I can't remember of where you started on the right and moved left, because you were the bad guy and bad guys always come from the right.
Helped a lot :) thnks man
I actually liked that level a lot, the one at the end. It kinda reminds me of one of my favourite mobile games, called wall kicker
Wait, that wall jump only level actually looks fun. I wanna try it.
Very nice. The progress of the game is very good. Maybe ypu could add some enemies/npc to make the game more alive. Maybe also a boss
Really awesome job on the game! I think that maybe the trail the player leaves behind should evaporate after some time? If you want to make levels that go back, the screen might become too convoluted with all the trails left behind.
Also I googled this for science and incredibly Hello Kitty World - Famicom does seem to be right to left scrolling.
Who knew.
th-cam.com/video/G8gFhhKZaBc/w-d-xo.html it's true!
You can add %3-%5 slowing effect when you are in water btw nice video underrated channel
I wonder how many things are in that vault! ahahahah jk, amazing devlog!
Gonna come clean about the 'ghost mode' comment; my thought process was something like this "I should add [float mode] to my own game, but make it GHOST MODE [as described]... except, um, I don't want to. And desaturating an already-monochrome game is pointless anyway... HMMMM, WONDER IF ZED/ZAYNE/LTGD WANTS THIS IDEA?!?" and boom, my instant thoughts-to-Tweets interface did the rest.
Now I wanna buy the game just to go up on a wall like that. Ya know, the one you said was really satisfying. Btw thank you for teaching us design. I agree with everything here. (Not binge
watching)
GOOOOD SHIT! KEEP IT UP!
You should consider putting spikes on the outer side of walls since players will be able to just double walljump up the outer side of walls to skip over challenges
You could also intentionally keep the outer side of walls non-spiked in some situations if you think it would lead to more challenging or interesting situations
For the game im making every boss thats defeated makes the player remember certain skills or after the 3rd boss he gets a shield after the 4th he learns simple magic etc
so I was looking at the trail that the player has and thought maybe when you beat a level it shows what you drew in like "a this was your path",
or just a time trial thing where it shows your old path as you play.
When you go into the finish, the trail point stays there in a solid color.
yea man love the game only suggestion I'll give is for you to actually make a max length for the player's trail for in its current state I guess that it is just a little OCD enticing for some p-layers
Have you thought of making a grappling gun? It's always a fun game mechanic.
Thanks, I'm getting into mario maker and stumbled upon this video haha
I actually bought Mario Maker 2 not so long ago so that I had an easy and intuitive way to make levels. It's a great tool for that. And also just fun, obviously.
Can you please make the trail behind the player fade out over time (maybe 2 seconds) so the trail doesn't clutter up the screen so much?
Do you think about add some enemies or guided missiles just like in N++ ??
Love the game so far. Just want to say the the trail the player leaves looks kind of messy. If it was a consistent fluid line it might look better, but now it looks choppy and inconsistent
I wanna speedrun this game sooo bad
it seems like the player’s trail doesn’t appear when in freefall which kinda breaks the immersion
Platformers don't follow a path to the left because we 'generally speaking' read from left to right
you should make a steam page so i can wishlist it
please make the line following you fade away so it doesnt take up the entire screen (edit: and it will look cool)
4:57 Instead of Mechanical Breakdown I read Mental Breakdown and was like what???
pronouncing kvistbro like that is a sin that will never be forgiven
best regards- me a swede
what game engnine/software are you using for making your games?
Is this game out yet? I cant find it on steam.
Why would you not add something like the last level you've shown in your game? It's litelarly what the game mechanics are for! I'm much more excited by watching the last level than by any of other levels you've shown. Please do consider adding some hard levels!
Why not make the main menu the playground? The player has to know how to wall jump to get to New Game or something.
Ghost mode = Little Big Planet flying
Change my mind
Why not make that bubbly grayish circle background you use a background in your game?
Oh wow, you are making a game about scott cawton :D
Hi awsom
Nice video. I’m wondering, are you going to add more obstacles?
Yep! I'll go through the level obstacles, mechanics and hazards as they come up. I was originally gonna do one big video about everything in the game but I think it'd be easier to pace out in videos if I focus on a couple per episode.
@@LTGD nice! Looking forward to what you will add as obstacles and your upcoming videos 👍
I'm just saying im here before 1mil subs
You'll be here a long time, I think!
👍
how much will ReIterate(); cost?
It's ironic that you say a platformer shouldn't go left, and then you immediately mention Pitfall. The pro-move in Pitfall is to go left. This gives you an advantage because the enemies move away from you since they start on the left side and move right.
maybe change up the background on vertical levels
For me personally the levels feel very BIG. Like the ceiling is a bit too big. Just my opinion but it could be fixed.
Maybe when you are sliding down walls you can make the player slide faster and faster and faster and faster and faster and faster and faster and faster and faster
and faster by time until he gets/jumps off the wall.
And faster?
@@LTGD doesn't understand but he got the spirit.
Memes aside: YES
Hey, have you considered adding voice-over work to your game? I have a friend who's a voice actor and he's looking to build up his resume. Can you email me if you're interested?
I hadn't got that far yet, if I'm honest. I haven't even written the story yet. But I can certainly consider it!
@@LTGD Awesome, I'll be looking forward to the story when it's done!
Oh, also, I have a bit of experience writing for video games. If you want, I could help with the story and writing the dialogue and stuff.
let'stalkaboutgamedesign what if we add npc's in the game and characters and a story mode. let'stalkaboutgamedesign do you have a discord server, so you can get more suggestion from us and specially some fan arts.
I can’t tell if this is sarcastic or not. But I am all for npcs and a story mode.
I’ve always assumed that platformers move from right to left because we write from right to left.
You meant *Left-to-right,* as it is in English. Right-to-left would be reverse, like Arabic or Hebrew
@@nathancosta36I did indeed mean that! Apparently I’m still learning my lefts and rights. 😅
Add a drawing sandbox optional level
Do you have a discord?
Sorry for last time but are there gonna be any enemies or turrets?
Yes to both! Well, sort of.
@@LTGD what do you mean sort of?
There will be moving things you need to avoid, and things that shoot at you. They're not sentient, but they're hazardous.
One Simple Addition: Speedrun Timer
Don't worry, there's going to be an entire dedicated speedrun mode at launch.
@@LTGD Yes, thank you. Sadly I cant afford the game but I will be happy even just to playtest it or played a part of it and I think Im not the only one. Keep doing this great devlogs and contents, We will be always here to support you.
you should play celeste
ikea got 2 shoutouts
This video sponsored by IKEA (not really)
make the path behind the player disappear it is distracting when trying to platform
You are going to add "wasd" support, right?
Sure! There will be a wealth of control options. Possibly remappable, if I can figure that out.
@@LTGD nice, I think you just got 1k subs btw
WATCHING IN 2020?!
Is it just me or do you sound like mumbo jumbo
3:20 you like introdusing ads, dont you?
Crouch Slide It Will Be Cool
it's hard to tell from the video, but a possible problem could be the ability to infinitely climb a single wall with wall jump combined with double jump?
im pretty tired right now so apologies if that was mentioned anywhere in the video
You're not wrong! Don't worry, I'll be addressing this in the level design itself. Overhangs, spikes etc.
err you didn't make up a jump grace period
Excuse me, why is the trail turning "off and on"?
10:49 well done you made a celeste b side
but worse