Level Design Patterns in 2D Games

Videogame designers use tips and tricks and tools of the trade to design levels. Some of these tips are based on their gut feeling and others have been known in the game industry for the last 30 years. In this work, we discuss six of common level design patterns present in 2D videogames. The patterns under discussion are the product of an exploratory analysis of over thirty 2D games. We choose to focus on patterns that are both common and impactful for the overall player experience. We discuss in detail the rationale for and advantages of each pattern, showing examples of games that make use of such. We conclude with a discussion of the usage and understanding of these patterns from the perspective of level design and how other technical approaches can benefit from them.

[1]  Andrew Schartmann.  Super Mario Bros. , 2015 .

[2]  Julian Togelius,et al.  Procedural Content Generation via Machine Learning (PCGML) , 2017, IEEE Transactions on Games.

[3]  Bernd Kreimeier,et al.  The Case For Game Design Patterns , 2002 .

[4]  Staffan Björk,et al.  Patterns in Game Design (Game Development Series) , 2004 .

[5]  Julian Togelius,et al.  Patterns, Dungeons and Generators , 2015, FDG.

[6]  Julian Togelius,et al.  General Video Game Level Generation , 2016, GECCO.

[7]  Julian Togelius,et al.  Patterns and procedural content generation: revisiting Mario in world 1 level 1 , 2012, DPG '12.

[8]  Matthew Guzdial,et al.  Explainable PCGML via Game Design Patterns , 2018, AIIDE Workshops.

[9]  David Milam,et al.  Design patterns to guide player movement in 3D games , 2010, Sandbox '10.

[10]  Rockstar games.  Red dead redemption : jeu vidéo , 2010 .

[11]  Julian Togelius,et al.  Search-Based Procedural Content Generation: A Taxonomy and Survey , 2011, IEEE Transactions on Computational Intelligence and AI in Games.

[12]  Ryan Anderson,et al.  Situating Quests: Design Patterns for Quest and Level Design in Role-Playing Games , 2011, ICIDS.

[13]  Справочники Киннематограф Общее.  Super Mario Land , 2010 .

[14]  Umran Ali,et al.  An Architectural Approach to Level Design , 2017, The Computer Games Journal.

[15]  Julian Togelius,et al.  Patterns as Objectives for Level Generation , 2013 .

[16]  Dorothea Wender.  The Final Fight , 1978 .

[17]  Max Jacobson,et al.  A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction , 1981 .

[18]  Michael Mateas,et al.  Launchpad: A Rhythm-Based Level Generator for 2-D Platformers , 2011, IEEE Transactions on Computational Intelligence and AI in Games.

[19]  Julian Togelius,et al.  General video game rule generation , 2017, 2017 IEEE Conference on Computational Intelligence and Games (CIG).

[20]  Gillian Smith,et al.  A framework for analysis of 2D platformer levels , 2008, Sandbox '08.

[21]  Jichen Zhu,et al.  Guiding players through structural composition patterns in 3D adventure games , 2014, FDG.

[22]  Locomalito.  L'Abbaye des Morts , 2010 .

[23]  Adeel Zafar,et al.  Design Patterns and General Video Game Level Generation , 2017 .

[24]  Steve Swink.  Super Mario 64 , 2008 .

[25]  Frances Muecke,et al.  Foreshadowing and Dramatic Irony in the Story of Dido , 1983 .

[26]  Rudolf Kremers.  Level Design: Concept, Theory, and Practice , 2009 .

[27]  Michael Mateas,et al.  Procedural Level Design for Platform Games , 2006, AIIDE.

[28]  E. James Whitehead,et al.  Design patterns in FPS levels , 2010, FDG.

[29]  Ralph Johnson,et al.  design patterns elements of reusable object oriented software , 2019 .

[30]  Steve Dahlskog,et al.  Mixed-initiative procedural generation of dungeons using game design patterns , 2017, 2017 IEEE Conference on Computational Intelligence and Games (CIG).

[31]  Anna Anthropy,et al.  A Game Design Vocabulary: Exploring the Foundational Principles Behind Good Game Design , 2014 .

[32]  Julian Togelius,et al.  General Video Game Evaluation Using Relative Algorithm Performance Profiles , 2015, EvoApplications.

[33]  Fletcher Black,et al.  Sonic the Hedgehog , 2006 .

[34]  Julian Togelius,et al.  Linear levels through n-grams , 2014, MindTrek.

[35]  Biruté Ciplijauskaité.  Foreshadowing as Technique and Theme in "One Hundred Years of Solitude" , 1973 .

[36]  Robert Michael Young,et al.  A Use of Flashback and Foreshadowing for Surprise Arousal in Narrative Using a Plan-Based Approach , 2008, ICIDS.

[37]  Corbeil-Essonnes.  The Legend of Zelda , 2011 .

[38]  H. Heussler,et al.  Sonic hedgehog , 2003, Molecular pathology : MP.

[39]  Ahmed Khalifa,et al.  Automatic Puzzle Level Generation: A General Approach using a Description Language , 2015 .