Compare level and environment design from a game from the 80's, 90's and after 2004

Hey, bloggers. The other day in my games design class I was asked to play three games: one game from the 1980s, one from the 1990s, and one released after 2004, and then to compare and contrast how levels and environments are designed in all three games.

 I have chosen to play and discuss the three games: Super Mario Brothers (1985) by Nintendo, The Legend of Zelda and the Ocarina of Time (1998) by Nintendo, and DayZ; a highly successful ARMA 2 mod released in 2012 by Dean Hall. I’ll discuss each games level designs and environments and then compare them and talk a little about how they’ve changed over the years.  

   

Super Mario Brothers is a 2D game, and as such its design has been heavily affected by its limitations. These limitations include the 2D side view, which only allows for movement of side to side, and up and down. The levels in Super Mario Brothers are designed to constantly keep the player moving in an attempt to create a fast-paced game. As you make your way through the level, there will always be something to jump on or avoid. Platforms are very consistent as you progress through the game and give you the option to jump along them or just walk the along the bottom, which tends to be a lot less entertaining. Enemy creatures patrol the more open areas, giving the player space to either jump on them to kill them or to avoid them. The levels are very limited, however, by the graphics of the time, resulting in very linear gameplay.

3D technology was implemented into gaming in the 1990s which made a huge difference to gameplay by allowing the player to move around in a 3D space. This gave developers more room to allow for exploration. The allowance of 3D technology gave The Legend of Zelda and the Ocarina of Time a much wider opportunity for how its levels are designed to be played. The level design in the game gives the player a large opportunity to explore the game and create further optional discoveries. Furthermore, there are a variety of reasons to explore which are entertaining to the player; these include, discovering more of the in game currency, to accomplish the many puzzles and to defeat various enemies. Social interaction has also been implemented in the game with non-playable characters; the player can always explore a little and find a character it is possible to speak to. Unlike Super Mario Brothers this game is not fast-paced due to the fact the levels give the player so much opportunity to explore and enjoy the game and the possibility to stray from the main storyline.

Online multiplayer was introduced in the 1990s but didn’t really become a big part of games until the 2000’s when higher internet speeds were developed. Ever since then its been a massive part of gaming and has completely changed the way games are developed, due to the need to support multiple players. DayZ is a highly successful zombie survival mod released for the military simulation game ARMA II in 2012. The introduction of online multiplayer has changed level design greatly by having to suit to multiple players on one map and DayZ is a great example of this. The game only has one level; an open world level based on a real location in the Czech Republic which gives you 225km² of area to explore and find equipment. Most of it is covered in forests and grass plains but there are a few towns scattered throughout the map and a few large cities on the coastline. In DayZ, many players will cross paths and interact with each other. It is completely designed to give freedom of choice; certain areas of the map will provide players with a better chance to find bountiful equipment to use to survive the zombie apocalypse; however, with higher risk. These hotspots for equipment will also increase the chance of players interacting with each other which could end in bloody massacre or a neutral agreement depending on player decision. Unlike Zelda and the Ocarina of Time, all social interaction takes place between active players. There are no NPCs that can be socially interacted with, and the uncertainty of other players can make the player fear for their life, which adds a more realistic dynamic to the survival simulator.

Despite technical advancements over the last few decades, the levels of all three games have one main similarity; they have at least some form of exploration. Super Mario Brothers allows you to jump onto blocks to give you the opportunity to take a higher route than the ground and score more coins, whereas Zelda and the Ocarina of Time gives you large areas to explore and puzzles to solve for bonuses such as new items. Finally in DayZ, exploration is the main focus of the game; if you don’t explore then you don’t find what you need to survive the zombie apocalypse. This is very reflective of a lot of modern games where open world exploration is becoming more popular because the freedom to discover and wander is being given to the player rather than being set on a dead linear course.

Moreover, there are a variety of similarities and differences in the environments all three games, and the use of these environments differ according to each. Super Mario Brothers’ environments are very basic; the environments in the game lack variety; for example, there are only a few bushes, clouds and a hill every so often in the background and the game feels very open. The colours are very friendly with greens and blues, and there is a very limited variation in the colours which adds to how basic it looks and feels. When you are approaching a boss fight, the environment darkens and appears sinister to give you the feel of danger. The environment is restricted to only being for display and to give the player a feel of where he is because of the 2D limitations.

Zelda and the Ocarina of Time has a variety of environments. The environment you start in is a small village known as Kokiri. As the player progresses the game, they come across The Land of Hyrule which has many varying environments such as the open grasslands around Lon Lon Ranch and the desert plains near Gerudo’s Fortress. These two environments are very open and allow for a lot of exploration. There are also a few smaller environments like Zora’s River which are a little more linear but also have their fair share of exploration. The colours used tend to be very bright and friendly in the more open parts of the game but are darker and give a sense of danger in the smaller environments. The introduction of 3D environments starts to allow the players to use the environment around them a little for example: search for hidden objects behind trees or in a bush.

As aforementioned, the map of Chernarus used in DayZ is based off a real location in the Czech Republic. Most of the environment is forests and open plains; there are also lots of country towns further inland which are scattered about. On the coastline of the map there are three main cities which are usually where most items can be found. As you head north you may approach one of the two military airfields at the northern ends of the map, which will provide the player with high-quality equipment to further increase their chances of survival in the zombie apocalypse. The cities when you walk around them have a lot of dark colours and seem very dull, and give off a fairly creepy sense as you walk around them; whereas the dense forests are very bright and lusciously green and players tend to feel safer and less visible. Since the game is multiplayer, the players will often use the environment to their advantage; for example, sniping while hiding in a bush or using the thick forests to greedily hide their findings.  

All three games share green as the main colour in their palettes, but they differ in how the environments are used and, in the case of Zelda and DayZ, exploited. Super Mario Brothers’ environments are simply for display and to give the player a better feel of what kind of area they’re in. In contrast, The Legend of Zelda and the Ocarina of Time’s environments allow the player to explore and find the in-game currency or items. Lastly, DayZ’s environments are usable by the players to be used to gain an advantage over other players; for example, hiding in a bush before attacking another player to get the jump on them.

Thus, it can be seen that games have changed greatly over the years. Games like Super Mario Brothers, being fast-paced and constantly designed to keep the player moving through the level, to modern day games such as DayZ, where gameplay is very slow but less linear and the players have much more freedom of choice. It also shows the way environments are used has changed from being mainly for display and to give a player a sense of feeling, to actually becoming part of the gameplay by being used by players to accomplish tasks. In conclusion the way levels and environments are designed has changed so much in such a small time that it begs the question: how much more will they change in the next few years? 

Written by Jared Anderson

Edited by Ellie Swain