This game is a student project made to pass one of our classes. For the project, we decided to make a 2D platformer where the main character takes a journey to hell. The hell in the world is frozen for unknown reasons. The focus was put upon beating the levels as fast as possible or with as many kills as possible. The player character, besides running and jumping, can dash to dodge or close the gap, perform melee attacks, shoot and reload his weapon, charge more powerful shots to shoot, and heal. We had hours worth of discussions about which directions the player will be able to shoot and how they will aim the weapon. In the end, we decided to allow the player to shoot to the left and right of them and up. This had an impact on the level design as there was an added challenge when the enemies were not on the same level.
At the beginning, there was a plan for three distinct zones with three levels each, but it was quickly cut down to two distinct zones with generally the same amount of levels. In each of those levels, the goal of the player was to find and go to the exit. It ended with the first zone having a tutorial level and three others. The second zone had four levels, with one being a puzzle and the other being a combat pit. There are two levels left. The last one is just a bossfight and the former is an exploration challenge where the player needed to find three keys around the map to unlock the exit.
Start of the game
Most of those levels started as drawings, later being translated to the game using tilemaps. But there was a problem which required redesigning some of them. That problem was that the path through it went from left to right, which caused monotony. The next major redesign of most of them fixed this. At some point, there was an issue with them being too similar to each other, but with time and the addition of environmental assets, it changed for the better. The player can find the golden path through the level by following lanterns or torches. If they were lost, they might want to take a look at a map which shows the whole level. Most of the levels had other paths to the goal besides the golden path. Most of the levels have some amount of enemies, but not all enemies appear in all levels, and are semi-exclusive to the zone they first appear in.
Second zone with some enemies
As there are ten levels, each one has a unique idea for itself. Below you can find three levels which showcase something else. The general level has an entrance point from which the marked path leads to the exit. Some paths have more enemies, some less. Generally, some paths are safer but longer, some shorter but have more enemies. The enemy placement is made with premeditation. Some enemies are quite obvious for the player to spot and react to. Some are placed to surprise them. Some placement is inspired by Dark Souls 2.
Map/layout of the tutorial level
The tutorial level is the simplest in terms of the challenge of the bunch. This is the level where the player learns to control the character. It starts with a simple safe space where the player can learn the basics. After compiling the obstacles, the player will find themselves on the edge of the pit. The player can jump across it if they mastered the control, which will grant the player a shortcut. If the player does not make the jump, they will fall down, but the fall won’t kill them and will allow the player to continue forward. Which will connect the path with the shortcut. This makes the player learn some things, like that jumping down the hole is safe and may open some paths, exploring and taking a challenge may provide a reward, and failure to do something may lead to progress. After paths connect, the player will find their first enemy, which does not need to be killed to complete the level. The one issue with the level is that it does not have button prompts when appropriate. In general, I tried to imitate the design philosophy from the first level of Super Mario Bros.
Map/layout of the puzzle level
The next interesting level is a puzzle. Its second level of the second zone. The level itself is split into three sections: entrance, main section, and exit. The main section contains the puzzle. The puzzle is quite simple; in the main section, the most obvious doors that might be used as an exit will teleport the player to the start of the main section. To leave the main section, the player will need to go the opposite way from the exit. This puzzle was inspired by one of the first puzzles of Antichamber, but without the choice of different colored stairs. In the main sections, there are some enemies which won't respawn when the players loop in the main section.
Map/layout of the second to last level
The second-to-last level is the most open one. Near the start, there are crossroads; the way forward leads to a locked door which needs to be opened by three keys. These keys can be found across the level and collected by the player. Each key is located in a different part of the level. The first is located on the top left, the second is located on the bottom left, and the third is located on the bottom right. Each third of the level around each key has a different style. The bottom left is more sewer-like, while the bottom right is like an open hall with buildings inside. The other “roads” from the crossroads lead to the top and to the bottom. Each third of the level is connected with the other third one way or the other. There is a faster way to collect all the keys, and finding it is crucial for mastering this level. The fault of this level is that, besides the UI element, there is no information about the keys for the player.
The game can be downloaded from Its itch.io page