CAGD 270 - MegaManMaker v1 Feedback

 For the Level Design Class, we were tasked to create a level with a program named Megaman Maker. This tool allowed us to use Megaman assets and create our own levels with them. The project was to create a level Western themed with a limited range of weapons, time and assets. Using the Wester Topic, the first thing that came to my mind was cowboys, miners, caverns, and many other things mostly related to the Gold Rush.


When thinking of assets that would fit with the topic, I found a cowboy enemy with a revolver, a miner with a shield and throwable pickaxes, and little hidden insect-looking enemies. I decided that a mine setting would be the most suitable for my level, since I had found many useful assets related to mines and caverns. Having somewhat of an Idea of what I wanted the level to be and what assets I wanted it to have, I started constructing the level, with a rough sketch I made on paper, and waited for the next class for a group of classmates to play test the game.


During the playtesting, there was a lot of feedback from the players. The time duration of the level was about 10 minutes which was the desired play time for the assignment requirements. The level was well distributed and balanced. The level was very straight forward; but something I noticed is that more experienced players managed to complete the level faster. There were many enemies throughout the mine; however, the checkpoints allowed them to be playable without a problem.



Many things were pointed out to me during the playtesting, starting with the space available for the player’s movement. Making the mine bigger. The players described a feeling of missing space to breathe. So giving the player a bigger area to navigate through the level seemed like it could fix this problem. Another thing that could be fixed is that there was a boss who the player could trick into being easily killable. It wasn’t hard for the players to find that the boss Bombs will not reach under a platform, so the player’s only had to stay still under it.  For the rest of the level, there was a good sense of balance across the whole experience they commented. The enemies were well-positioned, and some of them were also positioned in tricky places so there would be a chance for the player to improve their performance in the level and gave them a need to replay the level. 


To improve the level, using more space for the players is where the level can be adjusted. Changing the final boss fight for an endpoint seems to make the level less intense. The enemies seemed fine since there was a decent quantity of them for the player. The boss fights will need to be replaced with normal enemies because of the program's limitations to put more than one boss. This isn’t really a major issue; however, both bosses originally implemented will need to be replaced by normal enemies to meet the project requirements. Another aspect of the game that could be improved a bit more could be the planning of the level. The distribution of the level is good, but It could be better by being more linear and have even more open areas. Overall the project succeeded in the main aspects of the level that I expected, many details can be polished to give the player a better game experience. So having a chance to edit this level will be crucial to demonstrate the potential of the level. 

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