TresCom Forums

TheIdiot wrote:There's nothing I really have to say here that hasn't been said by others yet, in particular these two by machf:

machf wrote:Large empty spaces where you just walk and walk and walk and don't find anything (guns, keycards, clues to a puzzle, something new and original) are BORING, avoid them.

Avoid puzzles that require you to go from one end to the level to the other multiple times to pick things up and take them to the other end; keep puzzle-solving travel distances short.

These two points are what I consider some of the main detractors from enjoying a level in Trespasser (something that I have been responsible for doing in the past).
I personally look for a way to keep things interesting for the player, making sure they always have some clear objective and direction when progressing - often I'll try and place some sort of indicator, even if it's not completely clear, as to the next thing that needs to be done to progress. I also like to try and create sightlines between points of interest, so that when the player reaches an important location (say, a shack), they'll be able to see some indication of the next important location (say, a tower) in the distance and hopefully be drawn in that direction, sort of like the original Trespasser concept of following the power pylons to the Town. If there isn't a major building or structure planned for a while, you could out the terrain with a natural area, like a pond with a stegosaurus, or a grove of mushrooms, and so on. Wandering around aimlessly until you work out where to go and what to do gets tedious quickly.

machf wrote:What happened to these?

machf wrote: My personal view of this is to subdivide the level into smaller sections, each section with its own amount of puzzles, and the things needed to solve those puzzles contained within the same section. Sections may be separated by barriers (artificial or natural) that make it impossible to go back afterwards, but not necessarily; a puzzle may be needed to be solved to get from one section to the next, too, but that isn't necessary either (puzzles don't need to lie at the boundary between sections, or IOW, the boundaries don't need to be defined by puzzles). Those sections should be small enough as to view other important parts of it from where you stand, or otherwise have hints (visual or other) as to where to head next...