level building for stealth gameplay randy smith [email protected] (see slide notes)
TRANSCRIPT
Who Am I?
Thief series of games Freelance Designer
Might & Magic: Dark Messiah, Arkane Studios
<edited out>
Roles
Level Builder Designer Project Director
Level Building for Stealth Gameplay Talking about:
Moment to moment gameplay
Sneaking around undetected
NOT: Story /
Objectives Level Editors Game Systems Process
Combat
What Stealth Games?
Splinter Cell, Metal Gear Solid, Thief Zelda Wind Waker, Deus Ex, Beyond
Good and Evil
What Stealth Games?
Splinter Cell, Metal Gear Solid, Thief Zelda Wind Waker, Deus Ex, Beyond
Good and Evil Sniper Games
What Stealth Games?
Splinter Cell, Metal Gear Solid, Thief Zelda Wind Waker, Deus Ex, Beyond
Good and Evil Sniper Games Submarine Games
What Stealth Games?
Splinter Cell, Metal Gear Solid, Thief Zelda Wind Waker, Deus Ex, Beyond
Good and Evil Sniper Games Submarine Games
(levels tend to be a little boring)
What Stealth Games?
Any game that emphasizes a model of player hiding / discovery
Content Must Match Game Systems
Game Systems = toys Levels = the
playground How do you design a
playground without knowing which toys?
Are the lights extinguishable?
Content Must Support Aesthetic Vision What play experience are you trying
to create? More than genre or fiction How does it feel to play the game? The aesthetic of the interaction
Slow, Thoughtful pacing
Faster pace, Think on your feet
The MDA Framework
Staggered Alcoves,Patrol Paths
Carefully Timed Moving and Waiting
Slow, thoughtful pacing
Common Stealth Game Mechanics Guards Patrol Routes Light / Darkness Sound and hearing Sneaking up on guys
Common Stealth Aesthetic
Create the illusion of a securely guarded area that the player can sneak through by virtue of leveraging their unique abilities and tools to create and exploit security flaws
Common Stealth Aesthetic Success
Stealth makes player powerful Someone less stealthy would get caught Creating/exploiting security flaws
Failure Stealth is unnecessary
Area isn’t well guarded A non-stealthy solution is easier and/or more
fun Stealth doesn’t work
Get caught too often
The Low Threshold The Low Threshold for Failurefor Failure
Challenge of the Aesthetic Goal “Create the illusion of a securely
guarded area that the player can sneak through” Make the player feel like they are
special enough to do the impossible
Combat = High Threshold For Failure You get shot repeatedly but don’t fail
Stealth = Low Threshold for Failure If guards see you, you get caught quickly
Implications for Level Building In a combat game, it’s valid to
create a challenging room and assume all players will experience some degree of failure.
To support stealth gameplay, you can’t assume players will fail.
The Balancing Act
For every stealth encounter, you must… Provide a means for the player to
experience little or no failure
The Balancing Act
For every stealth encounter, you must… Provide a means for the player to
experience little or no failure “zero failure”
The Balancing Act
For every stealth encounter, you must… Provide a means for the player to
experience zero failure Communicate those means
The Balancing Act
For every stealth encounter, you must… Provide a means for the player to
experience zero failure Communicate those means Don’t be too obvious about it
The Balancing Act
Not enough help,
Player feels incapable
Too much help,
Player doesn’t feel stealthy
What’s on the scales?
Challenges vs. Advantages
Guards
Loud Flooring
Dead Ends
Scouting Locations
Connectivity
Shadows
Design ToolsDesign Tools
These are all Design Tools
Guards
Loud Flooring
Dead Ends
Scouting Locations
Connectivity
Shadows
Not…
…player tools Hiding in shadows Radar jammer Lock picks
….level editor / software
Design Tools
Mechanics you add to the level to manage the player’s experience EG - Shadowy Alcove
Dynamics you understand to predict the player’s experience EG - Players are drawn to shadowy
alcoves
Useful for Managing Challenge Level
Guards
Loud Flooring
Dead Ends
Scouting Locations
Connectivity
Shadows
Manage the Experience Towards Other Goals, Too “Players are drawn to shadowy
alcoves” tool for controlling pacing
Environmental ToolsEnvironmental Tools
Build A Combat Encounter
Add Enemies…
Then Add Power-Ups!
But it’s also the level layout Advantages
Hard cover Sniping Locations Low wall for cover
Challenges Blind corners Tight passages Low wall that restricts movement
Environmental Tools!
Advantages Hard cover Sniping Locations Low wall for cover
Challenges Blind corners Tight passages Low wall that restricts movement
Advantages Darkness …more to come…
Disadvantages Light …more to come…
Stealth Environmental Tools
Use Tools To Balance Encounter
Use Tools To Balance Encounter
But obviously there’s more going on here Balancing
Advantages vs. Challenges is over-simplified
Let’s analyze that example
Closer Look at Balancing Act
Imagine you’re the player What can you see
from the scouting spot?
How do you feel? What is your plan?
So what might the player do?
What is the effect of the guard’s patrol?
Some observations
What is meant by Advantage? Anything that makes it easier to succeed at
stealth
What is meant by Disadvantage? Anything that makes it easier to fail at
stealth
Some observations
Some things are both Advantages and Challenges, depending Patrol path Hard cover
Some observations
Player Psychology Understanding the “on-the-ground”
experience Guard out of sight at far end of patrol path
Predicting how player will behave
Environmental Tools
Soft Cover Darkness
Hard Cover L-shaped rooms
Environmental Tool
Loud Surfaces
Environmental Tools are Sneaky
Environmental Tools are Sneaky
Environmental Tools are Sneaky They impact gameplay even if they
weren’t intended to
Common offenders from Thief Doors Staircases Furniture Tile flooring
Over constrained problem
Constraints Beautiful High performance Not too dark on the monitor
Dungeons and Abandoned Places
Dungeons and Abandoned Places
Environmental Tools Soft Cover
Hard Cover
Blind Corners
S shaped curves in Unreal
S shaped curves in Unreal
What’s the solution?
Acknowledge you’ve created gameplay relevance
A good design tool: Stealth Friendly vs Stealth Unfriendly
Stealth Friendly vs. Stealth Friendly vs. Stealth UnfriendlyStealth Unfriendly
Stealth Friendly vs. Stealth Unfriendly Environments only, don’t worry about enemies
for now
Stealth Unfriendly More environmental
challenges
Stealth Friendly More environmental
advantages
Macro vs. Micro Applicationof Stealth Friendly / Unfriendly We’ve already been discussing the
Macro level If stealth unfriendly…
Add environmental advantages Or don’t put guards here Or recognize its impact on player experience
Micro Applicationof Stealth Friendly / Unfriendly Let’s revisit this
example
Micro Applicationof Stealth Friendly / Unfriendly
Micro Applicationof Stealth Friendly / Unfriendly
Micro Applicationof Stealth Friendly / Unfriendly
Micro Applicationof Stealth Friendly / Unfriendly
Predicting Player Path
Players are drawn
Players are repelled
No charge
Predicting Player Path
Overlaying With Guard Data
Predicting Player Path
Players are drawn
Players are repelled
No charge
Players move from island to island of stealth friendly areas.
Using The Tools To Using The Tools To Support Zero FailureSupport Zero Failure
Tools Stealth Friendly / Unfriendly Predict player path Enemy Placement
Changing Domains… Soft Cover
Bushes
Hard Cover Trees
Loud Surfaces Water
Supporting Zero Player Failure
Supporting Zero Player Failure
Supporting Zero Player Failure
Supporting Zero Player Failure
Environmental Tool Scouting Location
Player can observe upcoming challenges from a position of safety
Player Psychology
Scouting Avoiding the pitfall of thinking like
yourself The player doesn’t know if danger is
coming up
Scouting Scouting Locations
Player can observe upcoming challenges from a position of safety
Safety = Stealth Friendly Observe = Good sight lines, things
worth seeing Examples
Dark crossroads / alcoves Balconies / Rafters / Hills
Uses For Scouting Locations Learn
Existence of challenges Location / behavior of challenges Formulate and execute plans
Relax
Turning Blind Corners Into Scouting Locations
Stealth Unfriendly Scouting Area!?!?? Players don’t use
Stealth-Unfriendly scouting spots
Perceived Affordance Does it really do
what it looks like it does?
Perceived Affordance
Does it appear as Stealth-Unfriendly as you know it to be? Bad = Tile flooring in darkness
Will the Scouting Location draw the player in? Bad = Brightly lit balcony
Supporting Zero Player Failure
Supporting Zero Player Failure
Now Consider Enemy Placement We know the
player’s path, so where do we place enemies?
Enemy PlacementEnemy Placement
Use the Friendly / Unfriendly metric Enemy power is relative to their
environment One guard in a Stealth Unfriendly area
might be too much What territory does the guard control?
Territory
Territory
Territory
Territory plus Path
Territory plus Path
Enemy Behaviors
Static Controls fixed territory
Patrolling / Changing Direction Covers more territory overall, but
doesn’t control it all the time
Enemy Behaviors
Unpredictable behavior Player doesn’t know what
they control when Long patrol paths Branching patrols Scripts
Path Plus Enemy Placement
If path = bush tree water Enemy placement and
behavior provides windows of opportunity to support this movement
Patrol route = works Static guard = does
not
Path Plus Enemy Placement
Path Plus Territory
Path Plus Territory
Path Plus Territory
Open-EndednessOpen-Endedness
Open-Endedness
Open-Endedness
Open-Endedness
Open-Endedness
Open-Endedness
Open-Endedness
Throw on tons of Challenges and Advantages Create a playground, don’t author an
experience But understand the paths and balance
them
Applications of Player Path
Sneaking past enemies Sneaking up behind enemies Sneaking up to treasure Sneaking up to use your tools
Balancing Risk and Balancing Risk and RewardReward
Tuning the Player Path(s)
1. Determine paths2. Compare paths to enemy
placement3. Confirm there is at least one zero
failure path4. Balance paths for risk and reward
Rule of Thumb
Create a rhythm of Stealth Friendly and Stealth Unfriendly Break up consistencies
Creates a cycle of tension and relaxation Significant aesthetic of
stealth games
Approaches to Using These Tools Place tools to encourage a particular
path Figure out which tools are already
present, balance the emergent path(s)
Create a rhythm of Friendly / Unfriendly
Phases of Stealth Phases of Stealth GameplayGameplay
No Enemies Present Undetected by Enemies Being Searched For Been Caught
Phases of Stealth Phases of Stealth GameplayGameplay
No Enemies Present
Undetected by Enemies Being Searched For Been Caught
Phases of Stealth Gameplay Level design must support phase-
specific player goals/needs Adds more constraints to the
environment Requires more player psychology
No Enemies Present
Do players know that? Radar? Other cues? Perceived Affordance
Relevant Design Tools Scouting Locations Treat as Undetected By Enemies phase
Being Searched For
Player Goals Move away from Enemies along a safe
path Remain undetected
Higher pace, not controlled by player
Does the environment support this?
Environmental Tools Connectivity Connected Islands
of Stealth Friendly
Obstructions Furniture
Loud Surfaces
Dead Ends
Dynamic Tool Ring Around The Rosy
Been Caught
Combat See elsewhere
Fleeing
Fleeing
Player Goals Get away Reset the experience
Does the environment support this?
Environmental Tools Connectivity Enemy can’t follow
Balconies Reset Areas
Such as Scouting Locations
Obstructions
Dead Ends
Props for Scouting Locations Learn about challenges Formulate plans Cycle of tension and
relaxation Reset spots
Dynamic Tool Out of the Frying Pan, Into The Fire
Summary
Low Threshold For Failure Create Zero Failure Player Paths Predict Player Paths
Stealth Friendly / Stealth Unfriendly Tune Player Paths
Environmental Tools Enemy Placement and Territory
Phases of Gameplay Player Psychology
Design Tools
Soft Cover Scouting
Locations Connectivity Ring Around
The Rosy
Hard Cover Static
Enemies Dynamic
Enemies
Blind Corners
Loud Surfaces
Unpredictable Enemy Behavior
Obstructions
Dead Ends Out of the Frying
Pan, Into The Fire