Featured on Gamasutra, level design director Josh Bridge describes key elements of creating memorable gameplay based upon solid level design:

Usually in a shooter, the core gameplay revolves around living long enough to kill what is threatening you or impeding your progress.

The challenge is to present this small amount of gameplay in new and exciting ways so that the player is compelled to sit through and play all the way to the end… and hopefully want to play the sequel.

What follows is a very detailed approach to understanding an integral part of the player experience: The Combat Zone. Behind all of this, there is a physiological thought process I wish more designers would apply.

Play Your Way

Players should be able to play the way THEY want to. Why? It allows for a more creative experience, something that players will likely want to come back to again. Limiting the player to one path and play style over and over again gets tiresome; variety is key to keeping the player engaged.

Further more is an immersion factor of letting the player sink into the role of the main character seeing the entire virtual world not just “the game”.

Everything has to make sense. When designing a Combat Zone, it is critical to use the fiction of the area to inspire what objects will be placed on the play floor, and how they can be used as cover. This needs to be a part of your napkin sketch plan, as it is symbiotic to the environment your level is within.

This is a must read for modders. It illustrates common pitfalls of poor design and helps layout basic rules in creating a functional level and fun experience.

Summing it All Up

Ask yourself: “What will players remember about this battle that is different than others?”

[GAMASUTRA]

At times many aspects of an original design are lost in the final product. Creating an enemy the player not only understands, but one that generates an emotional response is a lengthy process of trial and error. Through PlatinumGames development blog you begin to see the emotional attachment felt by the designers for their monsters and their efforts to get it “just right”.

One animator likens Bayonetta’s enemies as his children, secretly rooting for them during battles. However he still maintains the necessity for balance,

“As an enemy animator, I want everyone to be able to enjoy anxiety-packed, exhilarating battles; however, that doesn’t mean I can just go around making enemy attacks super-hard as a prank. If you have an enemy that has nothing going for it other than powerful attacks, all that enemy will do is cause stress.”

Going further back to the concept phase of an enemy, producer Yusuke Hashimoto speaks about his initial idea of having the enemy monsters as divine angels, wanting to incorporate two solid things in his designs: You should be able to visually see an enemy’s vitality. The internals of the enemy must make them seem to be incredibly strange beasts.

On the company development blog, Platinum allows individual team members to write their experience in designing the game. Even if you have no interest in the game, I encourage everyone to read at least one of their posts. It adds a personal element to Bayonetta, giving you insight into the overall process in creating the game.

After the jump I included a before and after of enemy concept art and a couple of “precursor” enemy animations.

[PlatinumGames]

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