"Delineation"

[StevenC21]

A new word I made up. Basically, I want to "Delineate" my levels. They're too linear. Can you guys give me any quick tips as to how I can delineate my levels?

[Pegleg]

On 2/4/2018 at 1:45 AM, StevenC21 said:

A new word I made up. Basically, I want to "Delineate" my levels. They're too linear. Can you guys give me any quick tips as to how I can delineate my levels?

Not really a new word at all. Possibly a new usage of an existing word (which usually means to define something precisely), but that is neither here nor there.

 

This is also not the first time this has come up in this forum. Two threads for you to look at:

 

 

My thoughts (which may or may not be duplicative of the above thoughts):

 

The simplest way to make your levels less linear is to create alternate paths for the player to explore and optional content that the player can get but doesn't have to get. If the player has a reason to go somewhere else other than a single path, then it will at least provide the illusion that the player has some freedom.

 

To take things one step further, you could provide multiple paths and have other ones (at least partially) close off after you choose one. This could limit exploration, to a degree, and you'd have to be careful about how to do it so as to avoid upsetting the crowd that wants every level to be max-able. But if you had two, or more, different paths that have different monsters, encounters, traps, terrain, etc., that would add

 

Provide multiple avenues of entry and exit for most of your rooms. This dovetails with the aforementioned statement regarding multiple paths.

 

Differentiate between different rooms (textures, heights, etc.). If your map is entirely composed of (to borrow a phrase from "Colossal Cave Adventure" and "Zork") a maze of twisty passages that all look alike, it is likely that no number of multiple exits or multiple paths will make your map more interesting to play for most players.

[StevenC21]

@Pegleg Thanks so much for your input! And I thought it was in fact a new word...