DISCUSSION: Keen 1 level design

Discussion and analysis of graphics, story, levels, and so on.
Vatnos
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Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2014 6:29 pm

Post by Vatnos »

Regarding the second level in Keen 1: I love this style of level. Short little level that presents you with a thing and then leaves you on your merry way. Gorgeous stylized design. I loved the lighting, the blocks, the statues with messages (especially the one garg statue later).

The issue with this one is that the message it gives you is useless. It should be a message that you either need to get, or that helps you a great deal. Perhaps giving you a codex for the standard galactic alphabet, rather than saying "oh well too bad you can't read it".

Were it up to me, this is where you would've gotten the pogo stick. Jump up the steps, collect the pogo, and then the statue can say "use alt to pogo jump, ctrl+alt to fire, ctrl while holding alt to boost your jump", and then it would be a purposeful level.
Benvolio
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Post by Benvolio »

Hi Vatnos!! Welcome to K:M!! Now, I agree with you with regards the design of level 2. It provides some stark contrast with the action-packed first level. (We might now think of Level 1 as trivial, but I can still remember how chaotic and challenging I found it when I first played Keen1. After all, all video games I previously had on my Amstrad were much simpler mid-80s versions of Q-bert, pong or pacman - I had literally never played anything as advanced as Keen1). The simplicity and emptiness of level two adds a sense of mystery to the game.

I disagree with you regarding the message. I think that it adds a huge layer of excitement - it suggests to the player that there is a significant voyage of discovery ahead. For me, this heralded to me that I was about to play a game with a level of depth previously unknown to me. (I had played some Java clones of Keen online before that but they were so one-dimensionally shallow next to Keen). I think it would be much cruder to simply reveal the SGA alphabet at that stage. If anything, I wish they had made more of the process of decoding it - akin to the Runes in Lord of the Rings which I am proud to say I decoded back when I was 11 based on the frequency of letters in the text.
levellass
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Post by levellass »

Agreed; level 1 is daunting for the newcomer as it should be. It introduces us to the game and you can figure out nearly every game mechanic in it.

I also agree on the level 2 message; this is a level you might well bypass (as are all message levels) and it's obvious that the messages themselves were a last minute addition (The beta has different messages, the Garg statue's message is pointless but amusing...) This message not only informs you that there IS a meaning behind all these signs but that it may be important later (It's not really, but still.)

For me, this heralded to me that I was about to play a game with a level of depth previously unknown to me. (I had played some Java clones of Keen online before that but they were so one-dimensionally shallow next to Keen).
That depends; some of us managed to decode the alphabet in part based exactly on frequency and the signs. ('This is neat' was a good starting point, how many two letter words are there that are also part of four letter words? This is' that at and so on, it doesn't take long.)
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Ceilick
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Post by Ceilick »

Benvolio wrote:I disagree with you regarding the message. I think that it adds a huge layer of excitement - it suggests to the player that there is a significant voyage of discovery ahead. For me, this heralded to me that I was about to play a game with a level of depth previously unknown to me.
Beautifully stated and I couldn't agree more. It's an incredible atmospheric element, a diamond in the rough of an otherwise barren level (the level being barren is also HUGE positive as an atmospheric element), suggestive of being on the edge of a new universe full of it's own wonders awaiting.

Do any other episodes of Keen accomplish, or even aim to establish this? They're certainly full of their own little wonders, but is there anything so introductory and deliberate?
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