Chex Quest - Project Bazoik [Screenshot Leaks!!!!]

[SSF156]

Per my previous post regarding Chex Quest - Project Bazoik here are some screenshots!

http://www.chexquest.org/index.php?topic=5815.msg199011#msg199011


Screenshots https://photos.app.goo.gl/1iEnU9Bb2yFdhEH18

[Replica]

Glad to see people still modding Chex Quest. 

Is this your first time making a mod? If so, would you like some level design tips?

[SSF156]

Glad to see people still modding Chex Quest. 

Is this your first time making a mod? If so, would you like some level design tips?

Of course! I am not that great at level designing but I am getting the hang of it all.

[Replica]

Alright, cool. Just making certain I didn't discourage you by hurling a bunch of tips your way. If you keep at it, I'm sure your levels will be great!

Here are some of the mistakes I made when I started out that you should definitely avoid:

• Very long and empty hallways, or short empty rooms. As a player, these are not fun to go through. Try to break them up. Add stairs or rooms.
• Endless elevators. Unless you really need to, waiting for an elevator isn't fun for the player. Unless you absolutely need to do otherwise, you should make elevators shorter, to only a few seconds.
• Doors that raise into the sky. If you have a door in a room with a sky textured ceiling, the door will raise and disappear. You'll want to have your door indented into the wall, and the ceiling raised so that their is the wall texture above the door. Here's an example of a door in a wall: https://eev.ee/media/2016-10-10-doom-metrics/door-ingame.png
• If you have a pit (say, a pool of slime), give the player a way out of it.

Think about what kind of level the player will enjoy playing through. That means making rooms interesting to navigate. Don't overwhelm them with too many enemies or options. Think about how you want the players navigate the map. They haven't made the map, so they don't know anything about it from the start. Getting lost can cause frustration leading them to quit. Here are some ways to do this is. Be aware that you don't have to follow these. It depends on the situation/theme of the map.

• Vary the size and shapes of rooms. Rooms don't need to be one size or shape either. You can have raised platforms, slime pits you need to climb out of, stairs, etc.
• Same as above, but as a whole. You want contrast in your map. So if you have a small claustrophobic hallway, make the room it leads to big and tall. Do this with lighting too. Make sure you have dark rooms and light rooms. Be careful though, this can be over done. It can be as simple as making a room bright, and the next having average lighting. Just make sure every room doesn't have the same height and lighting as every other in the map.
• Keep your level as a whole condensed, and have the player enter rooms multiple times. So if you have a big room with, say a canyon in the center. Later in the level, have the player enter the room on the other side of the canyon. This helps the player understand the map better.
• Make landmarks that the player can easily recognize. You know how your driving and you know where to turn because there's a McDonalds at the intersection? It helps the player know where they are. This could be anything really. That canyon in the previous example. A building in the center of an outdoors map.
• Try to make your levels fit their theme. As an example, your using a cave theme. Try to make your level cave like. Caves don't follow the grid, they can be pretty unpredictable. Play through the last level of Chex Quest, and look at how the rooms are designed.
• Tease the player with areas they can't get to yet. This could be the other side of the canyon mentioned earlier. This can be a key door they don't yet have a key to. You should always show the door before they get the key. this way the player knows where to go once they get that key. There's that "Yes! Now I can explore that area!" effect. Same with secrets. Having a window to peak at an item you get when you find the secret. Or just an area, maybe the other side of that canyon, that is the secret. The first episode of Doom does this a lot. Have the player ask "how do I get there?" will cause them to explore more and keep them engaged.
• If there is backtracking, change the rooms when entered the second time. Maybe have a door open that contains more enemies.
• Too many paths/Doors can be overwhelming. You don't want your map to be Maze like. Mazes are not fun. This isn't a must follow rule, but do try to be mindful of how many areas the player can go to at a time. If you start off with ten different doors that lead to different areas in the first room, the player will have a difficult time remembering where they've been. Key doors can help remedy this! Same with landmarks. I can't think of and point in Chexquest or Doom (Episode 1, there rest are not as good) where there was more than 3 areas you can explore at a time.

Here's a good resources about level design. https://www.helldoradoteam.com/2018/12/19/john-romeros-level-design-tips/ It's by the lead level designer on Doom (the game Chex Quest is a reskin of). He has rules he made for himself when making the game. I highly recommend playing through the first episode, and look at each era. Think about what levels are fun and why. What areas look interesting and why. Playing through Chex Quest 3 and The Ultimate Chex Quest are really good ways to find inspiration as well. I also recommend playing Arch's the Lost Quest. Check out his lighting and decoration.

That turned out to be a lot more than I intended haha. Hopefully it helps!

[xbolt]

Here are some of the mistakes I made when I started out that you should definitely avoid:

• Endless elevators. Unless you really need to, waiting for an elevator isn't fun for the player. Unless you absolutely need to do otherwise, you should make elevators shorter, to only a few seconds.

hes right though dadgummit

[Replica]

haha, was talking about myself actually. I really loved those endless elevators.

[SSF156]

Thanks guys!

I have three partial levels completed in episode I. I'm hoping to have a beta release before Christmas.

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