Hey guys, I've finally found some time to get back into a game a friend and I have been working on. Since we both got on the project with much anticipation and glee we didn't pay much attention to the game design document and what not. We started working on a simple 2d sprite tile engine, got it to run and then because of school we stopped. Anyways like I said, we have time to work on it again. However, now I'd like to take the project a little bit more seriously and I'd like to start designing actual aspects of the game except for simple movement and graphics. I'd like to draw on paper my levels/dungeons, villages, etc. Unfortunatly I've never actually made puzzle/dungeons for games and although I could put a switch here and a locked door there I have no idea how to make a dungeon FUN to solve. My game will be a 3rd person adventure games (a la Zelda). Do you guys know of any good references on how to design good dungeons, what to avoid, what to encourage, etc....? Any help would be appreciated, Thanks in advance Seb edit: I read Tim Ryan's writings on game design... I'm looking for more. [Edited by - sanch3x on January 13, 2006 12:11:07 PM]

Go and play games in the genres you're trying to emulate. Then analyze what they did right and what they did wrong, and keep that analysis in mind when you start working on your own level design.

One thing I'll suggest: there are good ways and bad ways to place obstacles in the player's path. The classic example is a locked door, the key for which is hidden somewhere else in the dungeon. While this is not a terrible idea, overusing it can make dungeons seem repetitious - "Okay, I've found the key, so now I can finish exploring this place." *opens door* "Oh, look. Another locked door." Since the reward for finding the key is being able to progress further into the dungeon, you need to make that reward actually worthwhile. Another example of removable barriers is to require the player to obtain an ability, piece of equipment, or other "powerup" that is needed to clear or bypass the obstacle. The Metroid series goes nuts with this, but again, it can be good or bad. Ideally any new ability should be generally useful; if its only purpose is to remove obstacles of a specific type, then it's no more useful than a key that you have to use more than once. In other words, the reward is the same as for an ordinary used-up-after-unlocking-one-door key. I think the worst offenders here were in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, where two weapons (The annihilation beam and the multilock missiles) were barely used outside of opening doors. Better design would make the powerups useful during the course of exploring, thereby deepening the gameplay complexity. An example of this would be the Zelda series' hookshot, which, while useful for crossing over gaps, can also be used to stun enemies or solving puzzles.

Which also brings to mind - how is the "key" (whether it be a literal key or a powerup) used? If it's just inserted into a lock then that's pretty boring, if simple. Building a puzzle around the obstacle can make it more interesting, so long as you don't make it too nonobvious how the player is supposed to get started.