Level Design Discussion: Difficulty

Discussion and analysis of graphics, story, levels, and so on.
Post Reply
EricMushroomWilson
Posts: 78
Joined: Mon Dec 18, 2006 9:52 pm
Location: Limbo

Level Design Discussion: Difficulty

Post by EricMushroomWilson »

Inspired by discussion in the XkyKeen 2 Level Contest thread in the Public Commander Keen Forum: is anyone interested in a discussion on level design, focusing particularly on difficulty? For instance:

- What level (no pun intended?) of difficulty are you most comfortable with or do you most enjoy in mods and/or level packs?

- What sort of difficulty do you tend to aim for and/or end up with in your own levels?

- What elements in levels do you find make them most difficult to you? For example, precision jumping or maze-like design.

- What sort of elements do you think people should use more/less of when trying to make a difficult level.

These are just some example questions, feel free to think of some more of your own if you wish.

Some of my own thoughts on the subject:

Balancing difficulty levels between being frustrating or seemingly impossible and being too easy can be very difficult, especially taking into account players' different skill levels. I find a distinction between difficulty that's challenging but fun and difficulty that's frustrating and not very enjoyable, but I think it's rather subjective and not very clear-cut. Also, even if (perhaps sometimes especially if?) attempting to achieve something in a game has been very frustrating and non-enjoyable, I often still feel a large sense of accomplishment (though often mixed with relief) upon achieving it.

Due to Keen having only one hit before having to start a level again, difficult Commander Keen levels can be very tense. There are often few points in a difficult level where the player feels safe. This sense of unease can be used well, but the flipside is that dying late in a level - often the most frustrating time to die - can be quite likely if dangers are fairly constant.

- I tend to prefer a challenging but manageable difficulty level in mods/levelpacks. Manageable, of course, being subjective, but here meaning manageable for me. I don't want it to be so easy I don't feel I've accomplished anything, but at the same time I'd like to be able to see all the levels and possibly finish them all with enough effort. Being unable to make any progress for a significant time can be rather annoying and might make me more likely to give up. Having a variety of levels to attempt at a time can alleviate this somewhat. Reaching an impasse at mandatory level more difficult than any so far is very frustrating.

- I used to aim for a very high difficulty level and seem to fail to achieve it, although it was difficult to tell as it's almost always easier to complete your own levels. Lately I've been trying more for a medium difficulty level for the most part.

- I find precision jumping difficult, especially if failing a jump means death. I find it frustrating if a level has a lot of unforgiving precision jumps. Jumps that look very difficult or impossible can psyche me out somewhat and make me more likely to fail them, in turn making them seem more difficult. A small space to maneuver can contribute to this.

- More: Puzzles and slower-paced challenges. These can be somewhat hard to add to a level with the Keen engine's relative lack of interactive tiles, though.
Less: Precision jumping. Although some is fine, I tend to get frustrated with levels that rely mostly or entirely on it.
Herry Jerry
Posts: 18
Joined: Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:54 pm

Post by Herry Jerry »

EricMushroomWilson wrote:- What level (no pun intended?) of difficulty are you most comfortable with or do you most enjoy in mods and/or level packs?
I like a level of difficulty that is not too hard, but also not too easy - if it's too hard, I eventually give up and don't get to see the rest of the level, and if it's too easy, I don't really enjoy it much, and there's too little challenge, meaning there's not much to see, especially if the whole mod's designed like that.
EricMushroomWilson wrote:- What sort of difficulty do you tend to aim for and/or end up with in your own levels?
The same difficulty level I'm comfortable with - if it's too hard I'll take away some enemies or add a few more platforms to take away some tricky jumps, and if it's too easy I'll add some enemies or take away some platforms.
EricMushroomWilson wrote:- What elements in levels do you find make them most difficult to you? For example, precision jumping or maze-like design.
Tough enemies in a small space... especially when they can jump on platforms, or even when they can jump.
EricMushroomWilson wrote:- What sort of elements do you think people should use more/less of when trying to make a difficult level.
Less blind falls - god, I hate it when you have to fall somewhere and you can't see the ground below you... There should probably be some more bridge/puzzle elements in levels, although since I normally use DOS KeenWright, I don't use bridges, cause I can't understand how to :P
EricMushroomWilson
Posts: 78
Joined: Mon Dec 18, 2006 9:52 pm
Location: Limbo

Post by EricMushroomWilson »

Less blind falls - god, I hate it when you have to fall somewhere and you can't see the ground below you...
Yeah, blind falls with hazard tiles at the bottom where you have to move to avoid them and you don't know where to move to can be pretty annoying especially...
User avatar
XkyRauh
Posts: 1114
Joined: Sun Aug 31, 2003 9:14 pm
Location: San Diego, California

Post by XkyRauh »

I'll be contributing an image-heavy post here in the next couple days... This is a topic I'm really excited to discuss! :)
EricMushroomWilson
Posts: 78
Joined: Mon Dec 18, 2006 9:52 pm
Location: Limbo

Post by EricMushroomWilson »

XkyRauh wrote:I'll be contributing an image-heavy post here in the next couple days... This is a topic I'm really excited to discuss! :)
Sounds interesting, and I'm glad you're interested in the topic.
User avatar
grelphy
Posts: 219
Joined: Fri Sep 05, 2003 12:41 am
Location: the Armageddon Machine

Post by grelphy »

I go for almost every kind of difficulty other than perfect timing/spacing. So long as there are no inevitable deaths, no trial-and-error sections and no insane jump-on-the-tiny-platforms-suspended-over-lava sorts of areas (which I frequently characterize as trial-and-error or even just luck based), the level is difficult without being painful.

Of course, I'm guilty of all of the above, but there's lots of other tricks to make a level hard.

Example: require some thought. Most people claim to hate inventory (read:key) management and door mazes, and the original Keen didn't have anything that could be classed as such, but I find them unexpectedly engaging. Ditto for mazes--a bit of thought without the pain. (Unless it's gigantic, in which case I get bored after a while.) Other features that work--having a large room chock full of baddies and encouraging the player to pull them out and dispose of them one at a time. And the best thing to do is make the player feel like they've accomplished something extremely difficult and/or complex. Keens 4+ are better for this; the combination of poles and vertical shooting can lead to some pretty epic feeling performances that actually aren't all that difficult.
User avatar
XkyRauh
Posts: 1114
Joined: Sun Aug 31, 2003 9:14 pm
Location: San Diego, California

Post by XkyRauh »

This isn't really so image-heavy as I'd like, but there'll be time to pick apart my own mods, if we decide to apply this post... haha.

Difficulty in a level consists of three seperate but important elements: Pacing, Endurance, and Use of Space.

As an example, let's refer to the first level of Keen2.
If I were to ask the average person "How hard is this level?" the answer would almost universally be "Not very." Look at the map--there are only two things that can kill Keen: An antenna, and a small pool of acid.

But, ironically, compare your previous answer with level five of the same game!
There are three things which can kill Keen now: Two Grunts and a pool of plasma, but the plasma itself is overcome almost before it is a threat, because of the switch... leaving only two obstacles to overcome.

Level05 is definitely more difficult than Level01. What's the difference? Let's investigate!

_____

Pacing: How frequently is the player challenged in some way? This has nothing to do with how difficult each individual challenge is, only with the frequency of the challenges themselves. This includes PERCEIVED challenges, such as a ledge with no visible platforms below, or an item suspended in midair. Risk.

In Level one, the pacing is very slow. The only moving parts in the level pose no threat to Keen, other than the slight possibility of being pushed into danger. The hazards are over a screen away from each other, and they only occupy the lowest area.

In Level five, the pacing is a bit faster: aside from the already-mentioned Grunts and plasma pit, there are several stress-causing drops into the unknown! From the level's start, the player is presented with two drops, one into darkness. While there is no danger here, and it seems silly to imagine a player being concerned about dropping down to an area where there's nothing but points waiting, the truth is that there are no guarantees--the player has no choice but to trust that the level designer won't put any hazard tiles in the landing.

After we've stressed our player out with the drops, we give them a mobile, active foe to dispatch--for the experienced player, this is easy, because we've seen Vorticons before, and we know what to expect. But imagine if this was a mod. How many shots will it take to kill this thing? Has its AI been changed? What can it do? Does it shoot? How high can it jump? Will it charge me? That's a lot of stress for a single foe. Imagine if it was an Elite, here.

Level05 is more difficult than Level01 on Pacing, because the player encounters more stress-causing stimuli per screen.

_____

Endurance: How many dangers does the player need to be aware of at once, and for how long? This one is where most of us get caught up, and THINK a level is harder than it actually is. The answer to this may surprise you!

Look at Level01 again. Think about that first antenna. When it's approached on foot, it's got to be held in mind as something to be avoided. If the player goes for the burger, they still get the benefit of the antenna on-screen to assist them. But if they climb higher? Falling down for those candy bars can kill an unattentive player--it's a good thing that antenna is the ONLY danger in that part of the level. What if there were two of them down below? Three? What if the platforms above, where the candy bars are, were smaller? Two tiles wide? One?

The acid pit on the right is contained so effectively by the red tiles above it, it doesn't even seem like a danger. It can safely be forgotten about, because regardless of where the player is, it's all but impossible to die here.

Now look at Level05, by comparison. There is actually a lot LESS here to worry about, as far as Endurance is concerned. Each obstacle encountered is resolved permanently. The Grunts do not wake up; the bridge will never turn off by surprise. There is no need to remember any of the danger. Shoot, flip, and move on.

Level01 is more challenging than Level05 on Endurance, because the hazards are not removable.

_____

Use of Space: How much of the level is a player presented with at one time, and how busy is the screen? This is a very important part not only in managing the difficulty of your level, but also in garnishing its presentation. Check it out.

Look at Level01, and consider the use of space. Notice that the only areas which are 2 tiles tall (a "cramped" feeling) are no more than four tiles wide, and are always on the extreme perimeter of the level.

Notice, also, that when the player is grabbing the points at the very top of the screen, there is a large amount of free/empty space below, giving the red girder an isolated, suspended feeling. There is no distraction of moving parts, alternate routes, or hazard tiles to consider. The screen feels "safe" because there is such a large area to dodge about in.

Compare that to Level05, particularly the bottom right corner. Not only is the player leaping to and fro between passages scarcely as tall as Keen, but there are many moving parts, as well as a view of the danger tiles. They're not immediately threatening, but we know they can kill Keen--it's a minor stress. The use of space makes this corner feel cramped, hostile.

As the player leaps up the shaft on the right, we catch glimpses of the open area in the center of the map. This would be distracting, had we not already played through that part of the level.

Notice, in particular, the use of color to divide a player's attention. When you fall down initially, most players don't notice the slice of cake on the right side of the screen; it's in a dark area, and the player is in the light. Also, the thick blue ship walls contain the lighted area, drawing our attention. When we jump up to the right for the ammo, we're drawn to the bright green barrels, ignoring the darker red through the wall, where the VortiTeddies are.

Level05 is harder than Level01 on Use of Space, because the player is asked to process more at once.

_____

So to conclude: When crafting the difficulty for a level, keep an eye out for the following:

Low-level stresses:
  • Blind drops
    Hazard tiles on-screen (even when inaccessible)
    Monsters on-screen (even when inaccessible)
Mid-level stresses:
  • Monsters that can be killed (they do not come back)
    Gaps/pits that need to be bridged (one-time dangers)
    Anything that restricts a player's mobility (a series of one-tile platforms under a low roof)
High-level stresses:
  • Hazard tiles on an area which can be scrolled off-screen
    Monsters that shoot or require multiple shots to be defeated
    Monsters that push/stun Keen (regardless of the presence of other monsters)
Extreme stresses:
  • Hazard tiles more than a screen below small platforms littered with points
    Invincible monsters that shoot
    Jumps with more than a single obstacle to dodge in mid-flight
This isn't to say "This is too hard--don't use these!" ...it's just saying be aware of the TYPES of stress you're putting on your player, and how frequently you're doing it. I'm interested to find out what other stresses we can identify, and how they rank.

Remember: Use space kindly, pace the danger reasonably, and don't drain your players' endurance too much! :)
shikadi314
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Feb 17, 2008 9:24 am
Location: The Universe,Milky Way,Solar System, Earth,Europe,United Kingdom,England

Re: Level Design Discussion: Difficulty

Post by shikadi314 »

EricMushroomWilson wrote:

- What level (no pun intended?) of difficulty are you most comfortable with or do you most enjoy in mods and/or level packs?
Any-as long as it's not too hard (almost impossible to complete)
- What sort of difficulty do you tend to aim for and/or end up with in your own levels?
Usually about the same as I can cope with.
User avatar
CommanderSpleen
Posts: 1017
Joined: Sun Aug 31, 2003 12:11 pm
Location: The Land of Sparkly Things
Contact:

Post by CommanderSpleen »

Alrighty, time for me to tackle this thread.

I don't particularly mind high difficulty challenges. The problem is when a whole bunch of them are laced in a series, and failing one means having to start over the entire sequence again. And of course my skill diminishes as my frustration mounts, and I die more and more frequently. That's when I give up.

Perfect timing and agility puzzles are a prime example of one of these challenges, and generally they actually add up to several traps compressed into a small area. i.e. five jumps in a row, each from within a two-tile high passageway, with a pit of spikes at the bottom. Not only is failing that part of the level an instant death, but the same goes for each step along the way!

I'm not sure whether this fits into Pacing or Endurance. Certainly it is part of the frequency of the challenges, but it effectively compounds the number of challenges the player must overcome every time he/she dies.

As most of you've seen in the Essence of Mayhem beta, my design theory at that point was "punish the player". My levels were designed to scare the player into submission, simply for the joy of seeing other people squirm. The same used to go for my Jetpack level style. Dangers would be placed everywhere I could fit them. Of course, the player was generally rewarded richly, but was it worth it?

Since playing a wide range of mods by people *coughlevellordcough* who seem to have a similar mindset, I've found that just isn't fun. So I've been aiming for a more pleasant atmosphere since then, using hazards more sparingly. But this has also produced levels which are simply too easy--domelike, as was the general consensus in the recent level pack. So next I will concentrate on mixing the atmospheric nature of my designs with a higher degree and frequency of challenge.

I quite enjoy mazelike puzzles, but they've got to be done in aesthetically interesting way if they're not to become boring. Long Hallway Syndrome combined with maximum backtracking and bare walls is a recipe for nausea.

Oh, and trial-and-error traps just bug me. Not only in terms of the 80% probability of death and the challenge-compounding restart, but also because it causes things to become more a matter of chance than skill.

The main thing I want to communicate is that high difficulty areas can be quite a lot of fun (as long as they're not stupidly over the top), and create quite a sense of accomplishment, but become unplayable, as far as I'm concerned, when strung together into a gauntlet of evilness. Two traps with a >50% chance of death is more than enough for one level, especially if there are other more minor challenges laced between them.

And if you're going to use a series of perfect jumps, please don't put kill tiles at the bottom, unless the rest of the level is fairly straightforward! Having to restart that part of the level would be challenging enough, but going through a bunch of similarly difficult traps leading up to it for a second, fifth and tenth time... sucks.
User avatar
XkyRauh
Posts: 1114
Joined: Sun Aug 31, 2003 9:14 pm
Location: San Diego, California

Post by XkyRauh »

CommanderSpleen wrote:I'm not sure whether this fits into Pacing or Endurance. Certainly it is part of the frequency of the challenges, but it effectively compounds the number of challenges the player must overcome every time he/she dies.
The number of jumps would be Endurance, as the jumps over the pit can be considered a single obstacle. Pacing would involve the presence of other dangers before and after the pit. :)
CommanderSpleen wrote:I quite enjoy mazelike puzzles, but they've got to be done in aesthetically interesting way if they're not to become boring. Long Hallway Syndrome combined with maximum backtracking and bare walls is a recipe for nausea.
"LHS." Hehe--been a while since I read that! :D I'm happy to say that I don't think ANY of the levels in our most recent pack had any signs of LHS! We've grown as a community!
I agree that mazes can be fun--particlularly if they're designed to intentionally LOOK like mazes or look as un-mazelike as possible. For example, I'd consider most of the domestic homes in Keen3 to be maze-like, but they were frequently adorned with furniture and larger rooms, to mask their true purpose. Hal's Kitchen does not count, as it is pure evil. :)
CommanderSpleen wrote:Oh, and trial-and-error traps just bug me. Not only in terms of the 80% probability of death and the challenge-compounding restart, but also because it causes things to become more a matter of chance than skill.
Any points that lead to death, switches that pull the rug out from under the player, or arrows purposefully pointing in the wrong direction without contextual reason to ignore their guidance really irk me. :) Anything that gets me killed for no reason other than the level designer wanted me to die once there, and never be fooled again, is ridiculous and cruel.

Either way I think the bottom line is: We're definitely making better levels now than we were 5 years ago. :)
levellass
Posts: 3001
Joined: Wed Oct 11, 2006 12:03 pm
Location: Ngaruawahia New Zealand

Post by levellass »

Hmmmn, this is a thought provoker...

-Difficulty level: I'm a softy; I prefer my levels as easy as possible, for I have a morbid fear of computer game death.

-Levelpack difficulty: I like to make my levels well balanced, or at least not impossible. I prefer to put all my difficulty in puzzles or hidden extras.

-What I find hard: Precision jumping for sure, I'm terrible at it.

-What should be used more: Hmmmnnn.... hidden things I think, I'm a big fan of those.
User avatar
shikadi
Posts: 147
Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2008 9:11 pm
Location: belgium

Post by shikadi »

- What level (no pun intended?) of difficulty are you most comfortable with or do you most enjoy in mods and/or level packs?
medium to hard , i want that when i know the level very good, that there's still a possibillity to die (say keen 5 levels)

- What sort of difficulty do you tend to aim for and/or end up with in your own levels?
(the starting levels easy , other levels that needed to complete medium ,and other levels i make a little more easier or harder )

- What elements in levels do you find make them most difficult to you? For example, precision jumping or maze-like design.
that i need to keep going to the same hazardous area or more(then 2)monsters that require more shots or are immortal in the same in a (rather small) area

- What sort of elements do you think people should use more/less of when trying to make a difficult level.

no comments , everybody has his own way , i don't want that everybody use the same things to make something difficult (thats rather boring)
User avatar
Tulip
Posts: 394
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2008 2:40 pm
Location: Heidelberg, Germany
Contact:

Post by Tulip »

Well as this topic is bumped up again I decided to write something here:

- What level (no pun intended?) of difficulty are you most comfortable with or do you most enjoy in mods and/or level packs?

After I released my first two mods, I found out you can't really say what difficulty you like. It seems that most people would think medium difficulty is best, but at the same time everyone has a different idea of what's medium difficulty. It is especially hard to tell how difficult levels really are if you build them yourself: You'll be knowing everything and therefore the level will seem less difficult. The thing is everyone building levels will build them in a way that he thinks they will be doable and fun to play. As for example Keenrush's Keening abilities seem to be from out of space it is predictable that his mods will be too hard for most players (for me too). Therefore I guess the best thing would be to have many different builders of different abilities, and as a result many mods or levelpacks with different difficulty levels.

- What sort of difficulty do you tend to aim for and/or end up with in your own levels?

As I said, I aimed for medium difficulty, but some tend to be hard or quite annoying for other players.

- What elements in levels do you find make them most difficult to you?

Well, precision jumping as seen in Episode: Smile or a New Dope is nearly impossible, but somehow plannable. If you keep trying you might one day make it, but the thing is, I usually haven't got enough patience to do this.
Second some monsters render games nearly impossible. As their movements are random, you cannot plan what to do, you just have to act quick. Like the vorticon elite in Keen 2 and some of its modded equals. The most difficult foe for me seems to be the Shikadi Warrior of "Zapping the Zot", if you shoot it it will always be able to shoot you with its shot height being slightly different than yours.

- What sort of elements do you think people should use more/less of when trying to make a difficult level.

I personally hate some of the extra long levels of Levellords mods. Sometimes it's so annoying if you have to collect about twenty keys, through a maze with secret passages (I don't like them much either) just to find out after playing half an hour that you used the wrong key.
Or get eaten by any monster you couldn't possibly see coming.
So long maze levels should be easy because it's too annoying if you have to start all over several times. Short levels, I think, could be very hard and still be fun, it's like a short adrenaline kick.

Most important I say is that people building their levels should be able to complete them themselves without cheating, and when they afterwards decide the leveldifficulty is adequate I'm ok with it. I hate it when you see a level and you know the builder never ever played it himself.
LJH
Posts: 12
Joined: Sun Aug 17, 2008 2:47 am

Post by LJH »

- What level (no pun intended?) of difficulty are you most comfortable with or do you most enjoy in mods and/or level packs?

Hard, but not /too/ hard (at least not regularly too hard, but a really hard level here and there can be good, especially for final levels). This is more of an issue in Keen 1-3. In Keen 4-6, I see nothing wrong with levels being insanely hard on the Hard difficulty, if they're a bit more reasonable on lower difficulties. For an example of what I mean, download my level pack (check Other Keen Stuff on PCKF), play the left-most level in the second area on Easy, then play it again on Hard. You'll notice that while the level is quite reasonable on Easy, it's fucking insane when you play it on hard. Because of the difficulty selection, I consider this to be valid.

- What sort of difficulty do you tend to aim for and/or end up with in your own levels?

I mostly just design the level and let the difficulty tune itself, I usually end up with levels that are fairly hard. In the above mentioned pack, you'll notice that while the defence tunnel on the way to the leftmost level is quite easy (even on hard), the leftmost level itself is quite hard (even on easy, but especially so on Hard). This is because I find it difficult to design to a specific standard of difficulty, and always end up instead just designing the level and letting the difficulty choose itself. I can always fine tune it at the end if nessecary. (for example, I had to remove a few spindreds on level 2 because it was *too* hard with them there)

- What elements in levels do you find make them most difficult to you? For example, precision jumping or maze-like design.

Precision jumping is annoying, and mazes are even worse... I prefer a level that has good, simple puzzles, or difficult enemy avoiding. One example of this is in a yet unreleased level from my pack, where (on Hard) you have to impossible pogo over a Robo Red to get to the exit door (on Easy and Normal, the robo red is absent). Another one cleverly uses goplats to give the level a time limit, and thus, you have to solve it as quickly as possible.

- What sort of elements do you think people should use more/less of when trying to make a difficult level.

Less unexpected surprises. I prefer levels where you can see what's there, rather than having to guess it. One example, in the unreleased level mentioned above, is a gem holder and a switch in the same place - for those of you who don't know, when putting the gem away in a holder with a switch above it, you're forced to hit the switch at the same time. And hitting this switch removes one of those blue floors, which causes either one, three, or five (depending on difficulty level) spindred to gain access to your current location. Of course, you can switch it off again if you're fast enough... or run away. The challenge is that you have to work out how you're going to deal with these - however, you can clearly see them, and due to the type of switch combined with that blue floor being the only one in the level, you can quite easily deduce that hitting that switch will release the spindred, so it's not much of a surprise element.
Most important I say is that people building their levels should be able to complete them themselves without cheating, and when they afterwards decide the leveldifficulty is adequate I'm ok with it. I hate it when you see a level and you know the builder never ever played it himself.
Very much so. I make sure to playtest all my levels, on Hard, before I start making the next. And I do this without cheats (although I may save and reload). I then also test on Easy if I think there's anywhere that the higher jumps may either make it impossible, or allow an unintended solution. I don't usually test them on Normal, though.

(Note: The levels are no longer unreleased... you can get them here. Only the first two levels, and the levels to the left or the bottom in the second area work, the rest will just crash the game)
Post Reply