Difference between revisions of "Level Designing Etiquette"

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When you are designing a level, there are several important "rules" to remember:
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[[File:Tootight.png|313px|thumb|Wheel in a tight gap. These are not allowed in battle.]]
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* Be careful with gravity.
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When you are designing a level, there are several guidelines to remember:
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* Speedloops, levels with very fast parts and big loops are generally considered to be boring and unwanted.
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* Avoid placing two polygons too close to each other if the wheels are supposed to fit between them. Wheels getting stuck between too tight gaps results in [[bugs]], such as speeding up unrealistically fast. The result depends highly on the [[tuning|FPS]] and thus is most unfair and undesirable. Battles that include or depend on such spots will usually be aborted.
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* Make sure your levels are suitable for the battle mode you choose, and not too hard (or easy, depending on the battle type).
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* Do not make invisible polygons.
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* Choose battle time with care, usually too much time is better than too little time.
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* Make sure your levels are suitable for the [[Battle types|battle type]] you choose.
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* Avoid placing two polygons too close for the wheel to fit in properly. This results in unexpected behaviour such as speeding up the bike or slowing it completely down. The result is [[fps]]-dependable and thus mostly unfair and lame.
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** Survivor battles should obviously not have spots where it's easy to stop completely.
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** Slowness battles should also not have spots where it's easy to stop, unless that loss of momentum makes finishing the level harder.
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** Flagtag battles need to allow players to move freely in many directions. Dead ends that are hard to escape will get the flag stuck. Gravity apples are an easy way to allow mobility.
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* Place arrows next to gravity apples to indicate the direction of gravity.
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* Many players have strong preferences regarding battle time, but there are no strict rules. Sometimes moderators will stop e.g. a ridiculously long battle on a short level.
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* Speedloops, levels with very fast parts and big loops, are generally considered boring and unwanted.

Latest revision as of 15:32, 8 May 2015

Wheel in a tight gap. These are not allowed in battle.

When you are designing a level, there are several guidelines to remember:

  • Avoid placing two polygons too close to each other if the wheels are supposed to fit between them. Wheels getting stuck between too tight gaps results in bugs, such as speeding up unrealistically fast. The result depends highly on the FPS and thus is most unfair and undesirable. Battles that include or depend on such spots will usually be aborted.
  • Do not make invisible polygons.
  • Make sure your levels are suitable for the battle type you choose.
    • Survivor battles should obviously not have spots where it's easy to stop completely.
    • Slowness battles should also not have spots where it's easy to stop, unless that loss of momentum makes finishing the level harder.
    • Flagtag battles need to allow players to move freely in many directions. Dead ends that are hard to escape will get the flag stuck. Gravity apples are an easy way to allow mobility.
  • Place arrows next to gravity apples to indicate the direction of gravity.
  • Many players have strong preferences regarding battle time, but there are no strict rules. Sometimes moderators will stop e.g. a ridiculously long battle on a short level.
  • Speedloops, levels with very fast parts and big loops, are generally considered boring and unwanted.
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