The concept behind a sidecroller / platformer type game?

News & General Discussion
1

What is the idea behind creating a proper side scroller / platformer game? I can’t understand how to make a proper side scroller. Is there specific features that I would need to stick with?

My idea is too make an adventure side scroller. I want the player to be able to feel as if they are alone in the vast 2D world.

2

Hmmm… ok this is a big big question with a perhaps simple answer but let me start by saying that a side scroller/platformer is a very different thing from a side scroller/adventure.

Best way to get it would be to play iconic games on either franchize. Feel free to break the law and use an emulator :wink:

An iconic example of a side-scroller platformer game would be Super Mario World. Play it a bit, play a few levels. If you have a Wii (or strong enough a machine to run a wii emulator) give Super Mario Wii a try too.

  • Features for this, I guess, are:
  • Make a large collection of short levels (beatable in under 3 minutes)
  • Give each level a few hidden collectibles to add replay value (3 hidden super coins for example) but these MUST be optional.
  • Although levels should mostly be horizontal, flat levels are a big No-no. You should be required to jump very frequently (even if not to avoid death.)
  • Exploration in platformer should not be required. Players should very rarely ponder “where I go next” although it’s ok for them to ask themselves “how the hell I jump all the way up there?”
  • Power ups tend to be loved. You don’t need many just enough to spice things up.
  • You should have a few boss fights but definitively not on every level.

Nintendo’s Miyamoto has made a science out of platformer design, and all side scrolling Mario games are perfect study cases on how to make a great platformer.

Now, for a side scroller adventure you should look more to Metroid or the Game Boy Advance Castlevania series (and PS1 Symphony of the Night.) This genre has been called Metroidvania for a reason.

  • Side scrolling adventures are extremely heavily based on exploration. Before you even sit down to write a line of code it would be darn useful if you have a full map of your world laid out.
  • Features list?
  • Huge, complex map to explore.
  • Full of “gates” that prevent you from accessing the area until you acquire certain tool or skill.
  • RPG progression is optional but very helpful (gives player some form of gratification even when they are lost with no clue where to go next.) This means both, stat equipment (as drops and hidden treasure) and leveling up.
  • Puzzles tend to be great ways to lock power ups and skills, but battles serve as a great alternative. A mix of both are ideal.
  • Story or atmosphere (or both) are extremely important. Metroid has little story but its VERY atmospheric. The Castlevania games are heavy in both, story and atmosphere. The player must feel immersed in this kind of game world. This also means mood setting music is extremely important.
  • These games can be both, smaller but also much harder to create than a side scroller platformer game.

One more note: platformers tend to be happier and the music should reflect that (they don’t have to but tend to) while adventure scrollers should keep a bit of a mystery to them. This is important because the exploration feeling tends to be psychologically stronger when you are intrigued. The right music can easily set the required mood.

I’m sure there is a lot more that you can add to those lists. My biggest tip is to play Mario games and Castlevania games, depending what tipe of side scroller you are looking to create.

3

Good answer but side note, it is possible to make procedurally generated worlds and something as linear as a side scroller should make it easier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procedural_generation

4

Wow I didn’t realize there was such a massive difference between the two. ill play some mario and castlevania and see what comes to mind for ideas. If you don’t mind id like to save your post to a txt file and use it when I forget what to “do” while making the game. Your answer was beyond perfect. This is very clear and 100% understanding. Thanks for the help! :smile:

5

A procedrual world tends to be better fit for a platformer game than an adventure game, though. An adventure game requires a bit of intelligent design to create a smart puzzling world.

6

Hey, the minute I hit post it became public domain :stuck_out_tongue:

BTW, many may say Sonic is another classic to look at. I personally never found their level design to be as memorable as Mario and certainly did not survive the test of time as flawlessly as Mario did but it may be worthwhile to look at it too.

There are many more side scrolling sub-genres, especially in the NES era where it was either that or top-down a-la Zelda, but the two big survivors of that time ended up being the Mario and the Metroidvania models. Note Castlevania 1 and 3 for NES, or Castlevania IV for SNES were more of a platformer game than adventure games, very slow passed ones but still more about jumping and powerups than about exploration. Castlevania 2 was more about exploration, and they took it all the way with Symphony of the Night. Unfortunately in the jump to 3D they nearly annihilated the series, thanks to the Game Boy Advance, though, we still got great memorable adventure games in the line of Symphony of the Night. Many would argue even way better ones.

7

Dwarf fortress, Torchlight, Diablo, Diablo II.

8

No clue what Dwarf Fortress is but if you are refering to them as examples of “adventure games” that use random design… well I would not entirely agree they fit the category. Torchlight and Diablo are mostly action games, other than “i have not killed stuff down this hallway yet” they have little in the line of figuring out where to go next.

A metroidvania game requires a lot more thought than that. It may be possible still, by sub-dividing the sectors, manually setting gates and then randomizing huge chunks in-between, though.

9

Don’t forget about megaman, I think that’ll fall on adventure/platformer.