Hi Peter,
Yeah, side-scrollers are easier to navigate, but at the expense of more
elaborate level designs. Since side-scrollers are only 2 dimmensional in
nature there is only four directions to choose from: left, right, up,
and down. As a developer I find that pretty limiting when it comes down
to creating new and possibly different level layouts.
For example, one common problem I noticed with classic side-scrollers is
sooner or later the levels would repete one another. In a game like
Super Mario Brothers you would start in an above ground level, then go
to an underground level, have an underwater level here and there, and a
castle level. Then, the entire sequence would repete over again. After a
while the sequence would all be the same, and I found it sort of boring
to be playing the same basic levels over and over again. I'm trying not
to do this in Mysteries of the Ancients.
Although, one game that wasn't afflicted with this problem was Megaman.
The developers did a good job on verying each level so that it didn't
feel like the same old content being tossed at you over and over again.
Each world had different enemies, different traps, and every boss was
different. This is where Super Liam shines because it uses the same
basic format or formula that Megaman did.
As for myself I've been doing lots of research on level layouts, been
reading classic side-scroller walkthroughs trying to get ideas for new
and interesting levels for the game. Like Megaman I don't want to loop
the same level and same content over and over again until the final boss
battle. I want each level to be somewhat unique and stand on its own.
Smile.
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