Observing level design in Gauntlet

I’m an old school gamer and, occasionally, I like to play NES cartridges from the 80’s. One of my favorite titles from this time is Gauntlet.

Gauntlet (1985, Atari Games) is a fantasy-themed hack and slash game, originally created for arcade with versions for NES, Master System, Mega Drive and other consoles. In the NES version, players could select among four playable characters: Thor the barbarian, Merlin the Wizard, Thyra the Valkyrie, or Questor the elvish archer. Gauntlet’s levels are full of orcs, spectres, skeletons, treasure chests and other classic elements from medieval Role Playing Games.



Each character has unique abilities, powers and weaknesses. So, it’s possible to explore different ways playing the game solo or combining different powers with a friend on the second joystick.

The gameplay is set within a series of top-down, third person perspective mazes where the goal is to find and scape through the exit in every stage. The video below shows Gauntlet’s mechanics.



Despite the simple interface and limited resources of this time, Gauntlet is a good example of level design management. The game has 100 stages and each of them is unique and works with the limited boundaries of the TV screen. The game uses the player’s memory with complicated mazes and has a life meter that works as a time pressure component.

The 100 stages are divided among five worlds, each one with special technical features. In Gauntlet it’s possible to see a well-constructed difficult/learning curve by passing the stages. The game hybridises the levels with the mechanics to offer the player a positive experience.

In this context it’s possible to say, “games consist of stages, or levels. As the player progresses through a game, the levels generally increase in difficulty and the story develops. The designer must create a series of challenges for the player as he progresses through a level. This means that the design of individual levels is closely linked to the design of the game mechanics” (THOMPSON; BERBANK-GREEN; CUSWORTH: 2007: p.93).

I think it’s important to analyze ideas from the past to establish new connections today. The beginning of the 80’s is a perfect frame to observe some conditions that are patterns of today’s gaming industry.

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Reference:

THOMPSON, Jim; BERBANK-GREEN, Barnaby; CUSWORTH, Nic. Game Design: principles, practice, and tecniques - the ultimate guide for the aspiring game designer. New Jersey: Wiley, 2007

Level Design

I'm an old school gamer. I started my gaming activities in the early eighties with the Atari console and pocket electronic games. Since then, I've played a lot of games in many different platforms, and there's a common element in all these games that attracts my attention: the "level design".

From simple to complex games, level designing is an important piece and essential component for a good (and immersive) experience to the player.


(Image source: BarryHevan's Game Design Blog)

As Adams and Rollings point out, level design is the process of building the experience that will be offered directly to the player, using components provided by the game designer. Level designers create the space in which the game takes place, the initial conditions of the level, the set of challenges the player will face within the level, the termination conditions of it, the interplay between the gameplay and the game’s story and the aesthetics of the level. (2007, p.399 & 400).

As Fullerton says, games that are organized into levels will need someone to actually design and implement each level. If your project is very small, you might design all the levels yourself. On a larger project, however, the game designer often leads a team of level designers who implement their concepts for the various game levels, and sometimes come up with ideas for levels themselves. And an important point: level designers use a toolkit or “level editor” to develop new missions, scenarios, or quests for the players (2008, p.361 & 362).

The Pac Man game for Atari (1982) has only one level. The ghosts get faster as each stage ends, but the maze is still the same. On the other hand, the God of War game for Playstation (2005) has huge screens where there are multiple challenges and a more complex level design with puzzles and many enemies.

An important point to highlight is: games can have simple level design and be as good as extremely complex games. Remember: the focus is on the player and how much fun he or she gets from the game.

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References:

ADAMS, Ernest; ROLLINGS, Andrew. Fundamentals of Game Design. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009

FULLERTON, Tracy; SWAIN, Christopher; HOFFMAN, Steven. Game design workshop: a playcentric approach to creating innovative games. Burlington: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 2008.