Design of Level 1¶
The first level of any game might be the single most important one, since it needs to at the same time hook the player to the game as well as teach them the mechanics of the game. Unfortunately, we do not have any way to teach the controls and power ups. However, I can still do my best to teach the player about the waves and the two available enemies.
Basic Intro¶
The first wave only has 3 enemies. All of the enemies are not touching the default position of the player, so they do not have the pressure to move. The timer is fairly long to make sure the player has time to understand how to kill the enemies. Since it is a very easy wave to defeat and survive, the score values are low.
Multiple patterns¶
To inform the player that there can be multiple patterns in a single wave, I make two columns of enemies in relatively quick succession, moving up and down. This also introduces the player to the fact that enemies can go anywhere on screen, and not just at the top. Score on clear is higher because there are more enemies for the same amount of time. The player still does not get touched on its default position, but has a lot less space to move around.
First aggressive pattern¶
This time, I have two diagonal patterns that cross at the center, meaning the player is forced to move. I increased the score on survival because there is an actual challenge to surviving here. I also increased the time because there are more enemies.
The shooting enemy¶
The shooting enemy is the first enemy to pose a more dynamic challenge, as it fires directly at the player, meaning they have to constantly move to not get hit. Therefore, I only put two of them very spaced out in time, to give the player time to understand this particular enemy.
Closing the level¶
I’ve introduced everything there is to know about waves, so it is time to put it all together in a fusion of the 3rd and 4th pattern. This time not only does the player have to deal with enemy projectiles, they also have to deal with the cross pattern from level 3 that limits their movement quite a lot. The score on survival has been doubled and the score on clear is much higher than any of the previous waves due to the relatively high difficulty of the wave. The timer was shortened compared to wave 3 because if the player is struggling, I do not want the wave to last too long.
End thoughts¶
The player does not know how to use power ups, but at least they should have an understanding of the enemies by the end of the first level, so they are ready to tackle the next challenges.