- This post by Supershroom was thumbed up by: 2
- l.m (March 18th, 2015, 7:41 am) • Venexis (March 20th, 2015, 7:58 am)
How to successfully plan an LDC.
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How to successfully plan an LDC.
Thumbs up x2 
by Supershroom » March 18th, 2015, 4:28 am
Since there have been many, many dropouts in the 28th LDC and I've also heard that some LDers have smaller or bigger problems with finishing right now, I've decided to write this. It also shall be a guide for new designers on their first LDC's, along with a few other stuff, and the hints in there are maybe also useful for experienced designers.
Time management and organization stuff
Tips for your first LDC, and other useful hints
How to plan out your level(s) for the LDC.
1) Make some notices of how you imagine your level to be. This is where time management and all other organization has to begin with. Think of these things: What kind of level do you want to make? What do you feel like doing? Is there a wasom idea you've had for a few time and now you think you can do something with it? Write it up. Think of a title, the background, the approximate size(s) and how many levels it shall be. Make notices of how your level shall be built, and I also recommend making notes of which gameplay elements you might want to add, and which tiles and items could prove to be useful. However, if what you do at the end slightly differs from what you've wanted at first, that's normal. If you get great ideas while already proceeding, think of how you can alter it properly. There are no limits to your imagination.
2) Make a more-or-less detailed time plan stating when which section shall be done. This is rather simple in fact. Know how big your level shall be, and already split it up into transitions notionally. Decide when which part shall be done. If it's one level with eight transitions, let's say, you can plan with three days per transition, and this also leaves room for a few breaks.
3) Be careful if you want to change your plans altogether. If you suddenly think your plans won't lead to something good or you feel like you can't implement them properly, changing your plans might be adequate. However, be sure than your time schedule allows you to do so, as it usually comes with a large loss of time. If your level is already about 50% done, finish it and try to make the best of it, there's usually one more trick or idea more than you believe.
4) According to your time schedule, today is better than tomorrow. Your time schedule should allow the possibilty to take a break if needed (see next point), however, while getting lazy is natural, try to do something against your laziness. Just open op the designer and load your level, play a bit through what you have already, and keep going on. Maybe slowly but steadily. Today is better than tomorrow.
5) I've lost motivation from all of a sudden! ... That's a tricky situation to deal with, I admit. If you suddenly feel like you've lost your inspiration, it's probably the best to get some distance from LDing for about a day, or maybe just for a few hours. Maybe watch a few Mario videos, or listen to music or whatever you like, or, if really necessary, take a few notes again. It makes wonders. Go back with fresh ideas, and keep going. Pay attention to feeling well, instead of designing with a prybar.
6) Oh noes! I'm extremely low on time! ... That doesn't mean you can't pull something off. It means that you can't make a very big level, but, as history teaches, smaller levels also have a chance of doing well. If time gets really tight, go simple and try to end your level sooner. If you don't have anything yet because of business, make an ordinary yet addictive and good-looking platformer. Perfect examples of how you can succeed with this are Blackyoshi's Underwhere and Doram's Impossible Treasure. Also, if you've been really busy due to whatever or if you have a technical error with your computer, try asking for an extension, it succeeds in most cases.
7) No matter how, enter something! I can't emphasize this one enough. We do this both for competitiveness and fun, but mainly for fun. Regularily entering LDC's helps you to move up in the Eternal Table (which I can't post because of lacking results *cough*) and to gain fame and notoriety even if a few levels don't place. Enjoy yourself and have fun! That's what LDC's shall be for!
Useful hints, especially for beginners.
1) To know how to score high, especially at Fun and Graphics, look at the Judging style topic. I highly recommend this topic as it tells you the common system of judging and what judges usually pay attention to, what they want to see, what they don't want to see. What makes a fun level? What makes a good-looking level? That's all covered there.
2) Be sure to playtest enough. Especially for beginners, SM63 Level Designing comes in with more bugs and technical subtleties than they would expect, e.g. items moving up (e.g. water, parakoopa) or the layering being displayed incorrectly, or disabling doesn't work well (you can't disable metal platforms for example). Playtesting is the best you can do to fix bugs and see if the level goes fluently. If you have a puzzle, does it work finely? If you have a lot of difficulty, is it doable for mortal players, or is it too frustrating? Does the platforming work finely? If you have a boss, is it finely beatable? All that. As for your time schedule, either include playtesting each transition separately, or leave one or two days for overall playtesting and finetuning, or both.
3) Be aware of how difficult your level shall be. This is a very important point for your Fun score. Too easy is bad, too hard is bad. Levels settled in grassland or the sky are usually not that hard, while a level within a fortress or a fiery landscape can expected to be a bit harder. But it's not good if the level is constantly very difficult and doesn't allow any breathers. We're glad if our fingers and our minds have some time to rest a bit. On the other side, don't let your level be extremely easy if you want it to be easy, at least add some platforming, that already makes a looot of difference if there's a bit of jumping instead of always running to the right. Buff's Shyguy Island displays this perfectly.
4) A good-looking level with longer loading time is far better than a fast-loading, but undecorated level. The moral of this is not to be too sparing with items, especially decorations. A level with 10 seconds of loading time on a commercial PC should be also loadable on a slow PC, at least on the download version. We're fine as long as our AFP isn't perma-crashed or if we don't die too much, because that's when a high loading time can wreck our nerves indeed. Be sure that your level looks good, then look for the loading time. If you experience issues with it, try using items more efficiently before totally leaving them out. And, if you didn't know, tiling doesn't increase loading time at all. You can always try executing it to your best.
5) Don't be over-ambitious. Making tricky experiments is very risky if you don't have much experience. Start with some "easy" but cool entries (see point 6 above), and develop step by step. I've had to suffer extremely from trying to make a very revolutionary and super-inventive level series but in the end it was all bugged and gameplay didn't work out like it was supposed to do, as well as a few lag instances. Try to look for something where you can bring your strong points to bear. Try to find the golden middle between being too experimentative and being not innovative enough.
6) Try to engage a beta-tester if you feel like needing one. In some cases you are the worst teacher for yourself. You may find a level challenging and addictive while others find it boring, you may think the difficulty may be perfectly balanced because you have great playing skills, but for a normal-skilled player it's just insane. This can happen. If you feel like your own skill can't be a criterion for how finely your level works, try looking for someone else to test it (ideally someone who is already finished or not participating). They can tell you if places are buggy or very hard to pass, or if it's too straight-forward and easy, and you have a chance to react on this.
7) Don't be deterred if you see someone else is making something awesome. If you see someone else's progress and think "holy ♥♥♥♥, I'll never beat this", don't mind. Focus on your own level and try to make it as good as possible. Can you be sure that all judges will think the same? If you do also that awesome, you have all chances. If you're new, don't be deterred if you think you have no chance to get a medal. That's not your first goal if you're unexperienced in LDing. Most of us have started with low scores, so define your success rather by your score than your placing. Practice makes perfect here, if you're motivated, you'll automatically become better and one day you'll be able to face the pro's. Noone is unbeatable.
8) After the LDC ... is when the judgings are posted. Now read them. What do they tell you how to improve? What were the strong points, what were the bad points? A judge's job is not only to settle scores, but also to help you so you can benefit from that for future levels. Sure, there can be a point where you react with incomprehension and you don't know how to make it better. If you feel like you've been obviously disadvantaged, feel free to speak about that. Of course it's the tone that matters in such situation, and if you're afraid you could cause a conflict, try PMing first.
9) While a bit inspiration of other levels is good, stick to your style. Great levels from past LDC's are a very good textbook in how to make good levels by yourself, but try finding something for your own. What is it that makes your levels special? Is it a cool decoration scheme? *cough Yurimaster* Is it the way how you can form landscapes? Is it the platforming techniques that have something cool? This is what makes the surprising factor that is so important. Be slightly variable, but stick to your style.
That's it for the moment. Let's hope for awesome future LDC's!
EDIT: Moved topic to Level Designer General and added link to Judging Style topic.
Tips for your first LDC, and other useful hints
How to plan out your level(s) for the LDC.
1) Make some notices of how you imagine your level to be. This is where time management and all other organization has to begin with. Think of these things: What kind of level do you want to make? What do you feel like doing? Is there a wasom idea you've had for a few time and now you think you can do something with it? Write it up. Think of a title, the background, the approximate size(s) and how many levels it shall be. Make notices of how your level shall be built, and I also recommend making notes of which gameplay elements you might want to add, and which tiles and items could prove to be useful. However, if what you do at the end slightly differs from what you've wanted at first, that's normal. If you get great ideas while already proceeding, think of how you can alter it properly. There are no limits to your imagination.
2) Make a more-or-less detailed time plan stating when which section shall be done. This is rather simple in fact. Know how big your level shall be, and already split it up into transitions notionally. Decide when which part shall be done. If it's one level with eight transitions, let's say, you can plan with three days per transition, and this also leaves room for a few breaks.
3) Be careful if you want to change your plans altogether. If you suddenly think your plans won't lead to something good or you feel like you can't implement them properly, changing your plans might be adequate. However, be sure than your time schedule allows you to do so, as it usually comes with a large loss of time. If your level is already about 50% done, finish it and try to make the best of it, there's usually one more trick or idea more than you believe.
4) According to your time schedule, today is better than tomorrow. Your time schedule should allow the possibilty to take a break if needed (see next point), however, while getting lazy is natural, try to do something against your laziness. Just open op the designer and load your level, play a bit through what you have already, and keep going on. Maybe slowly but steadily. Today is better than tomorrow.
5) I've lost motivation from all of a sudden! ... That's a tricky situation to deal with, I admit. If you suddenly feel like you've lost your inspiration, it's probably the best to get some distance from LDing for about a day, or maybe just for a few hours. Maybe watch a few Mario videos, or listen to music or whatever you like, or, if really necessary, take a few notes again. It makes wonders. Go back with fresh ideas, and keep going. Pay attention to feeling well, instead of designing with a prybar.
6) Oh noes! I'm extremely low on time! ... That doesn't mean you can't pull something off. It means that you can't make a very big level, but, as history teaches, smaller levels also have a chance of doing well. If time gets really tight, go simple and try to end your level sooner. If you don't have anything yet because of business, make an ordinary yet addictive and good-looking platformer. Perfect examples of how you can succeed with this are Blackyoshi's Underwhere and Doram's Impossible Treasure. Also, if you've been really busy due to whatever or if you have a technical error with your computer, try asking for an extension, it succeeds in most cases.
7) No matter how, enter something! I can't emphasize this one enough. We do this both for competitiveness and fun, but mainly for fun. Regularily entering LDC's helps you to move up in the Eternal Table (which I can't post because of lacking results *cough*) and to gain fame and notoriety even if a few levels don't place. Enjoy yourself and have fun! That's what LDC's shall be for!
1) To know how to score high, especially at Fun and Graphics, look at the Judging style topic. I highly recommend this topic as it tells you the common system of judging and what judges usually pay attention to, what they want to see, what they don't want to see. What makes a fun level? What makes a good-looking level? That's all covered there.
2) Be sure to playtest enough. Especially for beginners, SM63 Level Designing comes in with more bugs and technical subtleties than they would expect, e.g. items moving up (e.g. water, parakoopa) or the layering being displayed incorrectly, or disabling doesn't work well (you can't disable metal platforms for example). Playtesting is the best you can do to fix bugs and see if the level goes fluently. If you have a puzzle, does it work finely? If you have a lot of difficulty, is it doable for mortal players, or is it too frustrating? Does the platforming work finely? If you have a boss, is it finely beatable? All that. As for your time schedule, either include playtesting each transition separately, or leave one or two days for overall playtesting and finetuning, or both.
3) Be aware of how difficult your level shall be. This is a very important point for your Fun score. Too easy is bad, too hard is bad. Levels settled in grassland or the sky are usually not that hard, while a level within a fortress or a fiery landscape can expected to be a bit harder. But it's not good if the level is constantly very difficult and doesn't allow any breathers. We're glad if our fingers and our minds have some time to rest a bit. On the other side, don't let your level be extremely easy if you want it to be easy, at least add some platforming, that already makes a looot of difference if there's a bit of jumping instead of always running to the right. Buff's Shyguy Island displays this perfectly.
4) A good-looking level with longer loading time is far better than a fast-loading, but undecorated level. The moral of this is not to be too sparing with items, especially decorations. A level with 10 seconds of loading time on a commercial PC should be also loadable on a slow PC, at least on the download version. We're fine as long as our AFP isn't perma-crashed or if we don't die too much, because that's when a high loading time can wreck our nerves indeed. Be sure that your level looks good, then look for the loading time. If you experience issues with it, try using items more efficiently before totally leaving them out. And, if you didn't know, tiling doesn't increase loading time at all. You can always try executing it to your best.
5) Don't be over-ambitious. Making tricky experiments is very risky if you don't have much experience. Start with some "easy" but cool entries (see point 6 above), and develop step by step. I've had to suffer extremely from trying to make a very revolutionary and super-inventive level series but in the end it was all bugged and gameplay didn't work out like it was supposed to do, as well as a few lag instances. Try to look for something where you can bring your strong points to bear. Try to find the golden middle between being too experimentative and being not innovative enough.
6) Try to engage a beta-tester if you feel like needing one. In some cases you are the worst teacher for yourself. You may find a level challenging and addictive while others find it boring, you may think the difficulty may be perfectly balanced because you have great playing skills, but for a normal-skilled player it's just insane. This can happen. If you feel like your own skill can't be a criterion for how finely your level works, try looking for someone else to test it (ideally someone who is already finished or not participating). They can tell you if places are buggy or very hard to pass, or if it's too straight-forward and easy, and you have a chance to react on this.
7) Don't be deterred if you see someone else is making something awesome. If you see someone else's progress and think "holy ♥♥♥♥, I'll never beat this", don't mind. Focus on your own level and try to make it as good as possible. Can you be sure that all judges will think the same? If you do also that awesome, you have all chances. If you're new, don't be deterred if you think you have no chance to get a medal. That's not your first goal if you're unexperienced in LDing. Most of us have started with low scores, so define your success rather by your score than your placing. Practice makes perfect here, if you're motivated, you'll automatically become better and one day you'll be able to face the pro's. Noone is unbeatable.
8) After the LDC ... is when the judgings are posted. Now read them. What do they tell you how to improve? What were the strong points, what were the bad points? A judge's job is not only to settle scores, but also to help you so you can benefit from that for future levels. Sure, there can be a point where you react with incomprehension and you don't know how to make it better. If you feel like you've been obviously disadvantaged, feel free to speak about that. Of course it's the tone that matters in such situation, and if you're afraid you could cause a conflict, try PMing first.
9) While a bit inspiration of other levels is good, stick to your style. Great levels from past LDC's are a very good textbook in how to make good levels by yourself, but try finding something for your own. What is it that makes your levels special? Is it a cool decoration scheme? *cough Yurimaster* Is it the way how you can form landscapes? Is it the platforming techniques that have something cool? This is what makes the surprising factor that is so important. Be slightly variable, but stick to your style.
That's it for the moment. Let's hope for awesome future LDC's!
EDIT: Moved topic to Level Designer General and added link to Judging Style topic.
Last edited by Supershroom on March 16th, 2016, 4:15 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Supershroom - Our local SM63 Spielberg
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Re: How to successfully plan an LDC.
by ~MP3 Amplifier~ » March 18th, 2015, 11:44 am
Great guide and advice, but in my case I already know all of this and it is still not always possible to complete something. I think the first question you need to ask yourself is, if you're unsure about entering an LDC, "where do your priorities lie?". If your priorities don't lie with level designing or they do but there is something much bigger going on in your life at the moment, fix that first and then come back to level designing when you can.
The below image is a montage of my individual highest placing LDC creations, as a reminder to myself that level designing is a part of my life that I can't just leave behind
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Re: How to successfully plan an LDC.
Thumbs up x1
by Harmless » March 18th, 2015, 12:45 pm
I think the biggest part of level planning is to be happy, really. Ofc it's way easier said than done, but I find progress incredibly high when I design while happy.
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Re: How to successfully plan an LDC.
by Supershroom » March 19th, 2015, 8:32 am
~MP3 Amplifier~ wrote:Great guide and advice, but in my case I already know all of this and it is still not always possible to complete something. I think the first question you need to ask yourself is, if you're unsure about entering an LDC, "where do your priorities lie?". If your priorities don't lie with level designing or they do but there is something much bigger going on in your life at the moment, fix that first and then come back to level designing when you can.
I basically agree with that. This doesn't shall force you to enter every LDC even under extreme stress, no. If you don't feel like LDing when an LDC starts, it's okay if you don't participate. The green part shall facilitate organizing your level and your time once you want to enter. Especially the planning phase is very important. If you want to enter but you know you won't have much time, do something smaller or easier, which may only take a few days instead of several weeks. While you sometimes feel like being unhappy with LDing or having higher priorities or too many RL problems, drop-outs aren't necessary. I know not everyone has as much motivation as me :< but there are ways to get motivation. And the blue part is mostly directed at newer designers to give them help with their first LDC, but renowned designers can also still learn from it a bit.
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Supershroom - Our local SM63 Spielberg
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Re: How to successfully plan an LDC.
by 1018peter » March 20th, 2015, 5:58 am
I found listening to various musics a great way to get ideas. For example: When you listen to Stickerbrush Symphony,you might be able to picture something like a hidden paradise untouched in a jungle.
Different remixes of a same track can give different ideas,too.
Different remixes of a same track can give different ideas,too.
Indefinite hiatus on Level Designing...
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Re: How to successfully plan an LDC.
by ~Yuri » March 20th, 2015, 6:20 am
1018peter wrote:I found listening to various musics a great way to get ideas. For example: When you listen to Stickerbrush Symphony,you might be able to picture something like a hidden paradise untouched in a jungle.
Different remixes of a same track can give different ideas,too.
Heh. That's exactly how I got the idea for my level, by listening to this.
credits to Nan for this amazing gif ^-^
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Re: How to successfully plan an LDC.
by -BY » March 20th, 2015, 10:25 am
Yurimaster wrote:1018peter wrote:I found listening to various musics a great way to get ideas. For example: When you listen to Stickerbrush Symphony,you might be able to picture something like a hidden paradise untouched in a jungle.
Different remixes of a same track can give different ideas,too.
Heh. That's exactly how I got the idea for my level, by listening to this.
My past years of LDing in a nutshell.
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Re: How to successfully plan an LDC.
by Supershroom » March 20th, 2015, 12:22 pm
Really nice how you all find ways to motivate and inspirate yourself. Then hardly anything could go wrong, couldn't it? 
Oh, and I'm rather interested in how collabs are efficiently done. Those who have collab experience are very welcome to share it.
Oh, and I'm rather interested in how collabs are efficiently done. Those who have collab experience are very welcome to share it.
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Supershroom - Our local SM63 Spielberg
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Re: How to successfully plan an LDC.
by ~MP3 Amplifier~ » March 20th, 2015, 12:23 pm
Just regular contact and planning, and both of you need to be motivated. And being welcome to each other's ideas is also important.
The below image is a montage of my individual highest placing LDC creations, as a reminder to myself that level designing is a part of my life that I can't just leave behind
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