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  • Subject: The simplification of level design in shooters and adventure games
Subject: The simplification of level design in shooters and adventure games

"Apparently people don't like the truth, but I do like it; I like it because it upsets a lot of people. If you show them enough times that their arguments are bull-blam!-, then maybe just once, one of them will say, 'Oh! Wait a minute I was wrong.' I live for that happening. Rare, I assure you."-Lemmy of Motorhead

i belive shhave funzes suppos

Yes, I'm the guy who had the Flood admit to being furries.

I've been thinking for a while, almost all the new shooters these days are linear, there's no thought on how or where to progress to finish the level. Just keep slicing bad guys down a very guided route (possibly filled with waypoints) and you win. All buttons you push are marked and require no thought or alternative ways to finish the level (Gow only does this to an extent, the left/right path choices lead to the same path eventually and don't deviate much in how they play).

Linearity isn't always bad, it keeps up the tension when there's always opposition in front of you, which is nice, but it gets old and some games get the idea it needs to be a line and very closed in, so there's little options in flanking, just shoot forward.

Compare them to older shooters like DOOM, Marathon, Duke Nukem 3D, Turok 1 and 2, Blood and to an extent Bioshock(yes, Bioshock is pretty old now :P) and these shooters had a map button or display to help you find your way around, because the level design was not only complex, but realisitc in it's derivative pathways. A spaceship isn't one long twisting corridor, it's multiple rooms, levels, bulkheads, elevators, all interlinked in some fashion. They felt real because you COULD get lost, easily at that. Making it immersive and memorable due to the exploration and pathfinding needed.

I think one of the best and clearcut examples is MAP13 of DOOM II; Downtown. DOOM has very antiqueted graphics, but even with the basic geometry and 16 bit textures, that level almost felt like a real city because it had a realistic layout, not a straight line of buildings you'd see in GoW or CoD. Anyone who's played Marathon knows the levels have an incredible amount of hidden doors, floors, corridors and rooms that took some time to get to and figure out, some of the first levels of Marathon were tiny, but took a good amount of time to get through because of how labyrinthine they were.

And parts of levels didn't get closed off like they always are in modern shooters, you could traverse and backtrack the level if you miss anything, you can't now, which is why people rely on guides now so often, because if they miss that secret, then they need to start the level all over again (and sometimes, the game).

I'm not using nostalgia goggles here, It was clearly more invigorating and thought provoking to have these more open levels that made the user think and figure out how to navigate a world.

I hope the recent rise of retro style shooters and HD/source port projects of older titles make the market think "Hey, let's make a more in depth world, even if this isn't an RPG." People play longer and REMEMBER that world more, making them have that feeling of homeliness(almost, demons don't tend to compliment that well!)

This video illustrates exactly what happened to level design: here (Nice main menu back round though :P)

It's no wonder story/campaign/single player is so throw away these days, it's just a tutorial for the multiplayer or a half baked attempt at story, with mediocre gameplay. Looking at you Halo 4. Though the Broadsword mission was fun. It would have been amazing if we could fly somewhere outside of a trench...

  • 12.25.2012 4:32 PM PDT
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For all questions with answers unknown to you, the proper procedure is to assume the answer is peanut butter.

While that may be true, I'm just going to pretend otherwise.

TL; DR, but I agree with the title.

Games these days are starting to blur together. They're linear, and seem almost hollow. It seems as though the devs have lost their passion for creating games, so they just pump out whatever seems to be selling well, and the publishers certainly aren't inspiring creativity.

  • 12.25.2012 4:38 PM PDT

Agreed. The developer who decides to be innovative will be te next activision.

  • 12.25.2012 4:40 PM PDT

There are still good games out there its just not really the most popular ones. Far Cry 3 though is brilliant and very open, although it is kind of rpgish.

[Edited on 12.25.2012 4:47 PM PST]

  • 12.25.2012 4:47 PM PDT
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  • Noble Legendary Member

The most dangerous gunslinger in the west.

Hand Holding in modern shooters is not a new issue.

Or forcing them through narrow corridors.

Man, modern shooters suck.

  • 12.25.2012 4:48 PM PDT

"Apparently people don't like the truth, but I do like it; I like it because it upsets a lot of people. If you show them enough times that their arguments are bull-blam!-, then maybe just once, one of them will say, 'Oh! Wait a minute I was wrong.' I live for that happening. Rare, I assure you."-Lemmy of Motorhead

i belive shhave funzes suppos

Yes, I'm the guy who had the Flood admit to being furries.


Posted by: Atom Bomb Tom
There are still good games out there its just not really the most popular ones. Far Cry 3 though is brilliant and very open, although it is kind of rpgish.
Oh I know don't worry, Far Cry 3 is a perfect example of single player done RIGHT (maybe not the story, but the gameplay is amazing).

  • 12.25.2012 4:51 PM PDT

Signatures are for little kids.

Agree. I can't believe anyone still buys FPS games for the linear boring campaigns.

I buy FPS games for multiplayer only. If I want a single player experience I'll play a RPG or a FPS hybrid like Borderlands2.

I don't think they've all lost their passion, they're just all trapped doing something that's been done to death. When you have 'gamers' who can be satisfied with a few flashy cut-scenes why bother doing anything new?

  • 12.25.2012 4:56 PM PDT

I like the level design of Hitman Absolution levels.

And Quake 1. Duke Nukem 3D is bonkers complicated. I had to use a walkthrough... I strongly appreciate that...

[Edited on 12.25.2012 5:03 PM PST]

  • 12.25.2012 5:00 PM PDT
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This is especially evident in Spartan Ops. Enemies spawn in the most obvious places and are spammed like crazy. There's no map layout in consideration. It's just "flanking" a.k.a always knowing where you are. I.e. on The Didact's Gift, don't even try to sneak up on those last 3 Knights

Easily exploitable though. Hacksaw Solo Legendary, your marines get screwed, you're on your own against an army of Elites. You hide in a certain spot, they come to you... 1 at a time for easy assassinations.

Bleh!

The campaign was just as disappointing. Midnight rally point bravo really resembles The Library.

[Edited on 12.25.2012 5:22 PM PST]

  • 12.25.2012 5:17 PM PDT
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"The one who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd. The one who walks alone, is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been."
-Albert Einstein

"To live is the rarest thing in the word. Most people exist, that is all"
-Oscar Wilde

Steam


Posted by: HaI0Fighter92
and to an extent Bioshock(yes, Bioshock is pretty old now :P)


BioShock was pretty damn linear dude. At least in comparison to how Infinite looks.
Sure, you had the open areas, but there was usually only one corridor leading off that you were supposed to go down.

[Edited on 12.25.2012 5:22 PM PST]

  • 12.25.2012 5:21 PM PDT
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KiLo SiErRa 13

Bioshock

  • 12.25.2012 5:24 PM PDT