CAGD 270 - 2D Mega Man Level 2 - 3/28/2023

     What went right during this play test and game was that the player did not struggle too much with finishing the level. Something that the players really liked was the way I introduced the weapons and the ways that I allowed the players to use them. The players also like the variety of enemies that I used in the level and how they were placed into the level. For example, the first drop and the part where you climb back up the players liked how there were enemies on the side that were shooting at you while you climb up and drop down. 

        Something that went wrong was that one of the weapons would be deleted if you were to remove the weapon and then die before hitting the checkpoint. What happened was that when you respawned back at the bottom you were left without the weapon and the weapon spawner container would not respawn, so you were stuck at the bottom on the climb and were stuck there. I designed that part of the level to make the jumps with the weapon and without the weapon some of the jumps for that part might be impossible to be able to continue. It was almost impossible to do.    

      Some improvements for my level could be at the first drop and add falling platforms at bottom sides where it was open previously so the player would be able to drop right down and die. Adding the falling platforms would help with making that part of the level not as big of a trust fall and it would help to not break that trust as the player trusts the level designer to drop down and not fall off the map and die. Another thing I could change is by removing the energy elements from the level and adding more small health packs. The energy drops are in areas for weapons that do not require energy and so they are useless drops. If I was to replace them with health, it would help the player get through the level a bit easier.

    Both the drop and the climb in the level are made appropriate to the player's skill because they are not very difficult, but they are also not extremely easy. With this being the second level, it was not made too difficult as we were still trying to teach the player some new things about the game and how certain objects work. With teaching the player how to use the new types of weapons that were being used in the level.

    

    The critical path and where the player was supposed to go was pretty obvious. In the level there was only one path and if the player tried to drop down when there was no other option or if they tried to take a falling platform down, they would just die. That is because there was only one path that I wanted the player to take and adding more paths could confuse the player. With this being only the second level to a game I felt like having too many pathways could be too confusing and so I decided to stick to one. At the beginning of the game there was a spot where the player could drop through quicksand and take a lower path, but that path was only intended to be used if the player was unsuccessful with getting past the breakable blocks, the quicksand, and also the colt enemy that was waiting. If the player was to sink down to take the lower path they would have to go back up to move on anyways.