平台游戏的关卡设计过程编辑本段回目录
我们曾分享平台游戏设计的11项技巧及要点，本文主要谈论平台游戏的关卡设计过程。整个过程就个设计指南，包含从起初的构思到最终的成形关卡的所有步骤。
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本文不涉及项目时间安排，但开发者在设计关卡时需将时间牢记于心。关卡规模和资源数量取决于成员数量及手头时间。
1. 选择图像主题
选择关卡的视觉主题。你可以从预先确定的广泛主题着手，例如“森林”、“冰雪”、“火山岩”或“城堡”，或者基于其更具创造性的内容，如“蒸汽庞克的克隆设备”、“心理学家的恶梦”或者“丘比特的冰淇淋客厅”。记住要向团队成员征求意见。
2. 罗列清单
罗列所有玩家将在关卡中体验到的内容，包括玩家的所做、所见、所学、所听内容及遭遇事件。此列表应包含特殊事件和常规事件。
* 特殊事件通常只在关卡中出现一次
* 常规事件会出现不止一次
文章中的“事项”是指列表呈现的内容。这些事件不仅包括游戏道具（补充能量、钥匙和门），还包括活动事件（寻找首个加锁的门）、敌人和游戏机制（连跳技能）。
写下各常规事件出现的频率。这些数据是估算值，它们能够帮你判断关卡的难易程度。例如，关卡1中也许出现2个Tough Troll，但关卡2则有4个Tough Troll。让各团队成员发表自己的看法。
如下内容也会体现在后面的图像中。
特殊事项：
1. 遇见首个敌人
2. 找到首个补充能量
3. 学习连跳技能
4. 把握可破坏的空间
5. 找到首个加锁门
6. 找到首把开启门的钥匙
7. 启动杠杆激活移动的平台
常规事项：
1. 步兵敌人（x30）
2. 炮塔敌人（x10）
3. 补充能量（x30）
4. 移动平台（x3）
5. 加锁门（x2）
6. 钥匙（x2）
3. 制作粗略设计图
绘制整个关卡的粗略设计图。此概要应呈现玩家在关卡中的体验路线。将这看作设计城市街道的图纸，忽略其中建筑。
你也许要在制作出众多设计方案后方能最终找到自己满意的模式。下列是常见的设计图调整理由：
* 有些地方过大或过小
* 有些路径过于直接或过冗长（游戏邦注：出现乏味感觉）
* 整体布局过于简单或复杂
* 整体布局枯燥乏味
An example of the rough layout of an entire level from devmag.org.za
4. 制作特定事项的草图
玩家需在关卡中找到步骤 2罗列的所有内容。他们也许会在相同区域发现某些内容。设计师需基于玩家发现各特殊事项的空间制作草图。
运用符号辨别关卡中的各物件。例如，E代表“敌人”，P代表“补充能量”，K代表“钥匙”。同时要在草图上做标记。
设计师在制作草图时要明确区分负面和积极空间。负面空间（在草图中呈现白色）是供玩家移动的空间，积极空间（草图中以斜线标记）是地板、墙壁和平台等玩家无法移动的物件。
这些草图能够帮你锁定各小区域的布局，无需担心它们在整个关卡中的适当位置。这就像只设计建筑，不考虑建筑在城市中的位置。
你也许会给某些或所有常规事项制作草图，但这完全没有必要。常规元素通常会在你设计具体布局或测试关卡时移动，所以它们最终所处的位置也许和原本完全不同。
草图范例：
遇见首个敌人 from devmag.org.za
找到首个补充能量 from devmag.org.za
学习连跳技能 from devmag.org.za
把握可破环的空间 from devmag
找到首个加锁门from devmag.org.za
找到首把开启门的钥匙 from devmag.org.za
启动杠杆激活移动的平台 from devmag.org.za
5. 制作具体设计图
绘制关卡的具体设计图。具体布局以粗略设计图（游戏邦注：步骤3中的内容）为蓝本，包含所有特殊元素和常规元素。当你复制特殊元素的草图时，也许需要做出细微调整。
在具体设计图中放置尽可能多的常规元素。在以关卡编辑器创建关卡时，你可以添加剩余的常规元素。
当你放置内容时，牢记玩家会在游戏中采取的路线。某些道具需要以一定顺序放置，例如将武器置于玩家遇到首个敌人之前。
An example of a detailed layout from devmag.org.za
The locations of the specific items on the detailed layout from devmag.org.za
6. 创建初期布局
通过关卡编辑器创建关卡的初期布局，将具体布局当作蓝本。在创建关卡的过程中，你也许需要调整某些空间的大小，会出现这种情况是因为设计草图的绘制通常不是非常精确。设计师同时还将通过编辑器将所有杰出常规元素添加至关卡中。例如，你的列表也许包含20个敌人，但具体设计图只有15个敌人，那么你就要在此阶段添加剩余的5个元素。
设计师要在添加视觉细节内容前创建初期设计图。换而言之，就是在初期设计图中采用有限图像内容，方便必要时候进行修改。例如，若你有5个草图，那么只在最初设计图中应用一个。你可以在步骤8的装饰阶段添加剩余的4点内容。
此时关卡的最终图像也许不是很完整，在这种情况下你可以采用图像通配符。若图像通配符和最终图像颜色相似，这不失为一个好办法，因为颜色会影响关卡的感觉。
7. 体验关卡
初期设计图针对关卡体验，所以你能够判断内容是否富有趣味以及会耗费多久时间。设计师应体验关卡，调整设计图，直到其变得富有趣味且具有平衡性。同时要让他人也进行体验。
设计图的调整通常包含如下内容：
1. 移动、添加或删除平台，让跳跃变得更简单或更具挑战性
2. 移动、添加或删除补充能量，平衡供给数量
3. 移动、添加或删除敌人，让关卡变得更简单或更具挑战性
注意事项：在设计首个关卡前，你应该基于临时测试关卡完成玩法机制的建模及确定最终方案。若你的玩法此时还未最终定案，那么当玩法出现变化时关卡内容也会跟着发生变化。例如，若你决定让玩家跳得更高，那么你就需要移动平台，以适应新高度（游戏邦注：改变根本玩法通常会带来连锁反应）。
8. 装饰关卡
只要你对关卡的设计感到满意，内容富有趣味，那么你就可以开始添加细节内容。这包括添加所有最终图像和声音。然后再次体验关卡内容，确保在添加完图像后内容依然呈现相同感觉。有时关卡会呈现不同感觉。通常，在融入最终图像后，关卡应感觉更好，但有时内容所呈现的感觉会更糟。例如，通配符背景通常呈现单一颜色，但最终背景则是复杂图像，让玩家很难发现敌人，在这种情况下，设计师需要调整背景或改变敌人，看哪种方式更快捷。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，作者：Diorgo Jonkers）
How to design levels for a platformer
by Diorgo Jonkers
In a previous article, I gave you 11 Tips for making a fun platformer. That article had general tips that covered a wide range of game design tasks. This article looks specifically at the process of designing levels for a platformer. The process is a guideline and covers the steps from the initial idea to the final playable level.
The article does not focus on scheduling. However, you do need to keep scheduling in mind when designing levels. The size of a level and the amount of resources it contains depend on the number of people working on it, and the time available to complete it.
1. Choose a visual theme
Choose a visual theme for the level. You can go with a predetermined, game-wide theme, such as ‘Forest’, ‘Ice’, ‘Lava’, or ‘Castle’. Or go for something more creative, such as ‘Steampunk Cloning Facility’, ‘Psychologist’s Nightmare’, or ‘Cupid’s Ice cream Parlour’. Ask everyone in the team for theme ideas.
2. Make a list
Make a list of everything you want the player to experience in the level. This includes what the player does, sees, learns, hears, and encounters. The list should include specific items and general items.
* Specific items usually occur once in a level.
* General items occur more than once in a level.
Throughout the article the term ‘item’ is used to refer to the items of a list. These items not only include game items (power-ups, keys, and doors), but also events (finding the first locked door), enemies, and game mechanics (double-jumping).
Write down how many times each general item occurs (for example, there could be 50 coins to collect in the level, or the player might need to defeat 10 swordsmen). These numbers are estimates, and they help you to determine the level’s difficulty. For example, there could be two Tough Trolls in level 1, but four Tough Trolls in level 2. Let everyone in the team contribute to the list.
The following examples are also used in the images later in this article:
Specific items:
1. Meet first enemy.
2. Find first power-up.
3. Learn about double-jumping.
4. Learn about destructible environments.
5. Find first locked door.
6. Find first key to open the locked door.
7. Pull lever to activate the moving platform.
General items:
1. Foot soldier enemies (x30)
2. Gun turret enemies (x10)
3. Power-ups (x30)
4. Moving platforms (x3)
5. Locked doors (x2)
6. Keys (x2)
3. Make a rough layout
Draw a very rough layout of the entire level. This layout should show the path that the player will take through the level. Think of it as designing the street layout of a city, but ignoring the buildings.
You may end up doing several layouts before you have one that you’re happy with. Usually, the reason for changing the layout is one or more of these:
* Some areas are too big or small.
* Some lines are too straight and too long (i.e. boring).
* The overall layout is too simple or too complex.
* The overall layout looks uninteresting.
4. Make rough sketches for the specific items
Players will need to find each item in the list that you created in step 2 somewhere in the level. They might also find some items in the same area. Make rough sketches of each area in which the player will find the specific items in the list.
Use symbols to identify the various objects in the level, for example, E for ‘Enemy’, P for `Power-up’, and K for ‘Key’. Also make notes on the sketches.
Distinguish clearly between negative and positive space when you do the sketches. The negative spaces (white in the sketches) are the areas where the player can move, and the positive spaces (diagonal lines in the sketches) are things like floors, walls and platforms where the player cannot move.
These sketches help you focus on the layout of each small area, without having to worry about where they fit in the overall layout of the level. Think of it as focusing on designing a building and ignoring its location in the city.
You may make sketches for some or all of the general items, but it is not necessary. The general items are usually moved around when you design the detailed layout or play test the level, so they may end up in completely different areas than you originally planned.
Examples of rough sketches
5. Make a detailed layout
Draw a detailed layout of the level. The detailed layout uses the rough layout (from step 3) as a guideline. It includes all the specific items (copying the rough sketches from the previous step) and the general items. When you copy the rough sketches of the specific items, you may need to change them slightly (for example, change the size, flip it horizontally).
Place as many of the general items in the detailed layout as you can. You can add the remaining general items when you build the level using a level editor.
When you place the items, keep in mind the path that the player will take through the level. Certain items may need to be placed in a specific order, such as a weapon being placed somewhere before the player encounters the first enemy.
6. Build the initial layout
Use a level editor to build the level’s initial layout, using the detailed layout (from the previous step) as a blueprint. You may need to change the sizes of some areas when you build the level. This happens because the layout sketch is usually not drawn exactly to scale. Also use the editor to add all the outstanding general items to the level. For example, your list might contain 20 enemies, but the detailed layout has only 15 enemies. Add the remaining 5 at this stage.
First build the initial layout before you add the visual details. In other words, use limited graphics for the initial layout, to make it easy to change things if you need to. For example, if you have five grass images, use only one for the initial layout. You can add the other four in step 8 when you decorate the level.
At this point the final graphics for the level may be incomplete, in which case you can use placeholder graphics. It is a good idea if the placeholder graphics have similar colours to those of the final graphics, because the colours affect the feel of the level.
7. Play the level
The initial layout is for playing the level, so that you can determine if it is fun and how long it will take to play through the level. Play the level and change the layout until is it fun and balanced. Let other people play it as well.
Changing the layout may include the following:
1. Move, add. or delete platforms to make jumps easier or more challenging.
2. Move, add, or delete power-ups to balance the amount available.
3. Move, add, or delete enemies to make the level easier or more challenging.
Important note: By the time you design and build your first level, you should already have prototyped and finalized the gameplay mechanics using temporary test levels. If your gameplay has not been finalised by this time, then you risk having to change your levels when the gameplay changes. For example, if you decide to make the player jump higher, then you will have to move many platforms to accommodate the new jump height. Changing fundamental gameplay usually has a ripple effect.
8. Decorate the level
Once you’re happy with the level’s layout and once it’s fun to play, then add the details. This includes adding all the final graphics and audio. Play the level again to make sure that it still feels the same – or better – after all the graphics have been added. There’s a good chance that the level will feel different. It should feel better with the final graphics, but sometimes it may feel worse. For example, the placeholder background might have been a single colour, but the final background might be a detailed image that makes it difficult to see the enemies, in which case you will have to tone down the background or change the enemies, whichever will be quicker.（Source：devmag）
