Been working on level 2-3 these past few weeks. And it’s a large one: 4,720 by 2,928 units. There are longer levels but those tend to be quite horizontal, unlike this one which feels like a mixture of the two:

Auto-generated description: A pixel art depiction of a pyramid interior displayed within a game development software interface.

Reached a milestone this evening: the critical path has been built. And yeah, it ended up pretty much being a standard key-hunt. I did have an idea for having more puzzle elements, but given the length one has to travel to get the necessary keys, it felt like requiring the player to work out combinations would slow the pacing down. I figured it would be more interesting to vary the mechanics in the zones the keys are located. They’re not complicated mechanics, but they did reach the limit of what I had in my toolbox. It got to the point where I started adding the classics, like dart shooters which fired projectiles.

Auto-generated description: A pixelated video game scene features a knight character standing on a wooden crate within a brick-walled level, avoiding swinging spiked traps. Auto-generated description: A pixel art video game scene features a knight character on a brick platform navigating a level with ladders and a pickaxe-like object. Auto-generated description: A pixel art-style video game features a small knight character on green platforms above a wavy brown surface with obstacles and coins on the screen. Auto-generated description: A pixelated video game scene features a knight character navigating platforms and obstacles made of spikes and bricks.

There are a few mechanics I wanted the player to learn. Trying to telegraph that via gameplay is not easy, but I’m hoping it will comes through. Some approaches I’m trying are slight cues in colour and making sure interaction indicators are clear. And also level geometry, such as moving the player through one-way gates and making it obvious that all they have to proceed is right in front of them.

I’ve also decided to move away from paid checkpoints, where you need to pay 5 coins to save your progress. I’ve replaced these with hidden checkpoints, of which this level has a few. I think given the size, and that some backtracking is involved, it makes more sense being quite generous with checkpoints in this level. I think I’ll keep the 5 coin toll gates though for other things.

Work remaining on this level is prettying it up (it’s still rather barebones) plus adding pickups and maybe some bonuses. Painting in the brick tiles will take a while, but could be a nice exercise in calming work when one can switch off their brain somewhat. I also need to make the background tiles and (ugh) the actual level backdrop. Not quite sure what that will be. Something deserty no doubt.