Week2 -

If I were a Level Designer back in the 80's and had the same technology and limitations as in that era. I think i would develop a game similer to Mario Bros, as i believe Mario Bros was a huge leap in the way people started to view games. The gameplay is more interactive, exciting and left you wanting more.

The Objective of mario, is to hit the platforms underneath the enemies, flipping them onto there backs then jumping up to the same platform and killing them gaining points for how many you can get in a kill streak. If you flip the enemy and dont kill them, they get angry and increase there speed making them more difficult giving the user the risk of dieing quicker. As the levels progress the enemies increase in numbers making it more difficult again. The Goal of Mario Bros is to get a Highest Score possible and the reward, bragging rights that come with it.Mario Bros is also 2 player so you can verse your friends for highest score or help eachother progress through the levels.

I would use Mario Bros risk and reward system but with a military feel. Instead of Mario as a hero i would have a commando and instead of hitting platform to stun then kill enemies. I would have weaponary/armour as pick ups to help kill different enemies. As that interests me and i know others would be interested in it too.

Mario Bros, made in the 80's was great for its time. The Level design of Mario Bros is simple because of the limitions of that era. Though the design was fixed screen, mario has multiple platforms to travel up and down the screen. The environment is just coloured platforms spaced at various height and distances to add to the difficulty. The classic mario green pipes are in all 4 corners, going through the pipes makes mario pop out from the pipe on the other side adding abit of planning. The background is black, due to the limitions of the era. Visually mario bros isnt the greatest but its makes up for it with exciting gameplay.

Sonic the Hedgehog was made in the early 90's but was one of the best game made that decade. The fast paced side scrolling Sonic has to run through the level collecting rings in the fastest time. The levels are designed great, there are different ways to travel through the levels with loops and large gaps. The enemies are in places were you must avoid by jumping or you will hit them slowing you down and losing your rings.

The environment are well done, the forest levels look like forests (eg) and no one level looks the same. The environments are also your enemy with lava, spike pits and rising water, adding to the challnage. Sonic was a big leap from mario bros the fast pace gameplay set it aside of mario and visuals are were up there, making it one of my favourite game of all time.

Gears of War is a third-person shooter make 2006 and was one of the first games to have a great cover system. The levels are designed to utlise the cover system giving you objects and fall debrie to hide behide, shoot from. The setting of the game is in a urban war zone with levels traveling deep into the ground. The environment in gears are gritty and dark, gorey and bloody adding to the feel that your fighting in a war. The gameplay and visuals surpass both mario bros and sonic, due to the technology and complex nature of the story. Gears of wars is a great game in everyway, though it wouldnt have got there without games like mario bro and sonic pushing it forward.


Game genres affect the way that levels and environments are designed in many ways.
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a FPS game, Set in a War Zone in Modern time(mostly the middle-east). The Objective of fps games are to fight your way through of the level killing the enemy and make it through alive. The COD:MW2 has a great risk - reward system, Awarding you weapons and perks(power ups)for kills, theres also killstreaks that reward you gunships,nukes, etc if you kill without dieing. The risk is putting yourself in harms way to get the kills. The levels are designed for different gameplay styles if you like to run around with a shotgun there are building for CQB's. there are sniper spots and choke points around the levels for gunning players down with light machineguns.

Forza 3 Motorsports is of Simulation Racing genre, the goal of the game is to become the champion in every race. The Level objectives are to come 1st place in the race, the setting is modern era again and the tracks you race on are real life tracks from around the world. The risk-reward system is alot different then the FPS genre game, If a player drives recklessly, speeding/dirfting through corners the player can climb the race positions but the risk of crashing increases. Or a player could floors it down a straight taking over cars but if brakes arent used well before a corner, the player could crash damaging the car and making it lose proformance.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is RPG genre game, with a sandbox style level. The Goal of Oblivion is to save the land from hell being released while leveling up your charater the way you choose. Oblivion is set in a fantacy land in a time of swords, bows and magic, the land is full of mytic creatures. The risk-reward system is alot more complex then Forza or even COD:MW2, There are risks with nearly every choice in the game. Whether its what skills to level up(some skills are better again different enemies), what choices you make talking to npc's(good or bad) and the missons you choose to do. The rewards are items such as weapons and armour or Levels/Skills, both of these increase your charaters chances of surival but you must put yourself at risk. All these games have successful risk/reward systems and great looking enirovments.