[off-topic] To be honest I thought Galaxy 2's level design was limited and small as well. Yes, it looked huge, but in most levels there was only one place you could go to. It felt SO linear.[/off-topic] This is going to take me a LONG time. In fact I may not be able to do more than one level...so...we'll see.
If you like, I can attempt to help you out. The story's going slow so I see no other way I can really do anything productive. I wanted to try to draw some small concept art for a level idea I have but I can't find my sketch pad. =( It'll turn up eventually... (If I keep tearing the house apart. :v
I can design level segments, but there's no way I'd be able to do a full level. If any of the current designers have an area that needs 'filling', I can manage that.
^ That new avatar looks so cool. :D -headdesk- I found my sketch pad on the keyboard shelf below my desk where I usually keep my mouse. I just never look there for anything. I'll skech up a concept for a few levels I have this idea for, but first, are you guys looking for realistic level designs or abstract ones? Because the few that I have are a bit crazy.
Think of Sonic CD layouts and Mario 64 stages (except with an obvious path towards the end), and go for it.
You know Azu, I was thinking. You ever think of regardless of how many multiple paths you have they all still converge at the same point? Volpino and I we're thinking, to get rid of that obscure linearity, what if instead of having only one exit that belonged to one path, but possibly one or two other exits? Having this slick little feature would make would give a little reward for exploration, instead of the plain old item box or life. Now I don't mean a single split off the main path leading to an alternate exit. But instead a path that must be reached by taking other paths. Volp and I think this would be great to have, but its up to you.
yeah, I think vertical exploration would be natural, since all most all of the original Sonic games has it.
Or maybe alternate exits could lead to pieces of other levels where you could find other items. But there wouldn't be much of a satisfaction point to it unless other items were added. Edit: Also the level I'm working on is pretty much based around the concept of vertical exploration but it might be a bit linear... There are alternate paths to the exit though for each character.
@DigitalDuck: if you're willing to do some layout designs then cool, send me some stuff you can make. But yes, vertical design and lots of routes can be done. Alternate routes would be good too I suppose, but that would require extra work on the layout. We'll see.
I wouldn't worry about drawing the entire level too much, it is hard to draw an entire stage while maintaining any sort of detail; If you can draw some detailed portions of the stage like Azukara did, that would be just fine. Alternatively, just draw a top-down view of the general path and layout of gimmicks/badniks/scenery. Speaking of stages, Azukara will be pleased to hear that I have (for the mean time) fixed the issues I was having with too many objects in the stage. I made the mistake of loading the stage mesh as 'mesh', and not 'animmesh' in the stage.xml; Apparently, there is an appreciable difference when there are many objects in the scene. In addition to this, I have begun to divide the stage into layers, which will hopefully prevent this from happening again, as there is a lot more stage to fill in.
Great news to hear 8BD. Hopefully (and most likely) we will be getting a build in time for SAGE. In the meantime stay patient with this project.
Except I can't. I can't draw anything. Perhaps I didn't make it clear that I meant layout as opposed to aesthetics. Before posting, I tried drawing the layout in my head, and couldn't even understand what I'd drawn myself. The best I can do is describe the layout as I imagine it, and hope someone else catches what I mean.
So I gave my best shot at designing a level. However, currently, its only the beginning of the level. If any of you would want to add to it, feel free to do so. It took me a fair amount of time to do, so I might not be able to get the rest done very quickly. Criticisms are welcome, and I'll try improve on it for next time around.
The only problem is that there are quite a bit of areas where it seems to be thin strips of land with sharp curves to it. Unless if those are really very wide terrain and Sonic is small in comparison to the stage? If that's the case then that's a good thing. Also another problem seen is that there's alot of uphill terrain and not so much downhill, but I'm sure there is more to be done with that later to balance it out. Make sure not to make everything like a racetrack; and try to make these peices of land (especially the soil/grass areas, which in fact I want much more than sandy beach areas) much wider and make some of the places up there just as open and nice for jumping around and running freely in (keep on taking some of that inspiration from the Genesis titles; especially Sonic CD). Include lots of areas where Sonic can start a wall run too. What I mean by that is also include slopes and ramps attached to walls that will allow running up and moving across it. Think of skateparks for that inspiration. But still this is incredibly neat level layout, and a great start. I love it; can't wait to see more of this.
What if, continuing on from the very top path, the path started to rotate, eventually doing a long half-corkscrew, ending in a 3D S-tube of sorts. Should Sonic/Tails/Knuckles not be running fast enough to stay on the track, they fall onto the lower path. The S-tube, as well as increasing your speed, allows you to take a shortcut through the level and/or puts you on an alternative route.
That level concept is awesome. Now mine looks like shit. ;_; Screw it, I'll just post a wacky picture of an overview, fill it in with some notes and drew detailed props separately. I suck at anything but aesthetics anyway...
I have an idea for a part of a level that I'm playing around with. The key word that I'll give you is this : Vertical. More on this as I work on it.
Actually Scartillery, after looking at your concept art more, it looks more fitting to our Robotropolis stage; considering the very "highway/racetrack" feeling the layout has.
Cool. I made the "Racetracks" in order to make the alternate routes more apparent. You don't actually need there to be narrow strips of "road", you can disguise them into the level layout. Eveything you see there is traversible. The roads with arrows just indicate the main paths, but you can indeed go in between those "roads" to find even more alternate routes. You are not confined to those tracks, is basically what I'm trying to get at. Also, the level is supposed to be huge. The spring you see behing the starting point, should be out of veiw, so that when you start the level, you can't see it. People who explore will eventually find it. It takes the player to the area you see on the far right hadd side. It should contain an electric sheild and a fuckton of rings. At least thats what I intended it to be. You can put whatever you want over there. Also, you can use what ever you want to block of certain routes. I just used bushes and spikes and fences, because I figured this level layout could apply to any level. You guys just have to fill it with the appropriate props. It'll take me some time, but I'll try and get some more. (BTW, drawing downhill sections in an isometric veiw is REALLY hard, When I do that, it would have to be in the veiw of looking backwards. You'll see it when I do it)
