Level design patterns in 2D games

Ahmed Khalifa; Fernando De Mesentier Silva; Julian Togelius

doi:10.1109/CIG.2019.8847953

Level design patterns in 2D games

Ahmed Khalifa, Fernando De Mesentier Silva, Julian Togelius

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

Abstract

Videogame designers use tips and tricks and tools of the trade to design levels. Some of these tips are based on their gut feeling and others have been known in the game industry for the last 30 years. In this work, we discuss six of common level design patterns present in 2D videogames. The patterns under discussion are the product of an exploratory analysis of over thirty 2D games. We choose to focus on patterns that are both common and impactful for the overall player experience. We discuss in detail the rationale for and advantages of each pattern, showing examples of games that make use of such. We conclude with a discussion of the usage and understanding of these patterns from the perspective of level design and how other technical approaches can benefit from them.

Original language	English (US)
Title of host publication	IEEE Conference on Games 2019, CoG 2019
Publisher	IEEE Computer Society
ISBN (Electronic)	9781728118840
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/CIG.2019.8847953
State	Published - Aug 2019
Event	2019 IEEE Conference on Games, CoG 2019 - London, United Kingdom Duration: Aug 20 2019 → Aug 23 2019

Publication series

Name	IEEE Conference on Computatonal Intelligence and Games, CIG
Volume	2019-August
ISSN (Print)	2325-4270
ISSN (Electronic)	2325-4289

Conference

Conference	2019 IEEE Conference on Games, CoG 2019
Country/Territory	United Kingdom
City	London
Period	8/20/19 → 8/23/19

Keywords

Analysis
Design Patterns
Level Design

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Artificial Intelligence
Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Human-Computer Interaction
Software

Access to Document

10.1109/CIG.2019.8847953

Cite this

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title = "Level design patterns in 2D games",

abstract = "Videogame designers use tips and tricks and tools of the trade to design levels. Some of these tips are based on their gut feeling and others have been known in the game industry for the last 30 years. In this work, we discuss six of common level design patterns present in 2D videogames. The patterns under discussion are the product of an exploratory analysis of over thirty 2D games. We choose to focus on patterns that are both common and impactful for the overall player experience. We discuss in detail the rationale for and advantages of each pattern, showing examples of games that make use of such. We conclude with a discussion of the usage and understanding of these patterns from the perspective of level design and how other technical approaches can benefit from them.",

keywords = "Analysis, Design Patterns, Level Design",

author = "Ahmed Khalifa and {De Mesentier Silva}, Fernando and Julian Togelius",

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year = "2019",

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doi = "10.1109/CIG.2019.8847953",

language = "English (US)",

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AU - De Mesentier Silva, Fernando

AU - Togelius, Julian

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N2 - Videogame designers use tips and tricks and tools of the trade to design levels. Some of these tips are based on their gut feeling and others have been known in the game industry for the last 30 years. In this work, we discuss six of common level design patterns present in 2D videogames. The patterns under discussion are the product of an exploratory analysis of over thirty 2D games. We choose to focus on patterns that are both common and impactful for the overall player experience. We discuss in detail the rationale for and advantages of each pattern, showing examples of games that make use of such. We conclude with a discussion of the usage and understanding of these patterns from the perspective of level design and how other technical approaches can benefit from them.

AB - Videogame designers use tips and tricks and tools of the trade to design levels. Some of these tips are based on their gut feeling and others have been known in the game industry for the last 30 years. In this work, we discuss six of common level design patterns present in 2D videogames. The patterns under discussion are the product of an exploratory analysis of over thirty 2D games. We choose to focus on patterns that are both common and impactful for the overall player experience. We discuss in detail the rationale for and advantages of each pattern, showing examples of games that make use of such. We conclude with a discussion of the usage and understanding of these patterns from the perspective of level design and how other technical approaches can benefit from them.

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KW - Design Patterns

KW - Level Design

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M3 - Conference contribution

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T3 - IEEE Conference on Computatonal Intelligence and Games, CIG

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Level design patterns in 2D games

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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