Working Through Levels - Setup

When it comes time to setup the triggering of enemies on my levels, I tend to like to do it in an orderly manner. So mostly I start from level 1 and then move through levels 2, 3 and 4 etc.

In both my current games I am working on Space Invaliens and Hoopfighter, I have done this. Yet I know some people start off o levels that may indeed be level 1 when they create it, only to find they have a much better level 1 they create later. Something that looks better for the game. This is also true of any level created, and the order it should go into the final game. I have been known to create levels early on and when I have created other levels I find those new ones fit much better for early round play.

This is sort of true right now in Space Invaliens, as a couple of the Aliens (enemies) I have created for the player to battle are easier or harder than I expected. So I simply swapped which levels they first appear on. In tis game I can be really flexible because of it's design of introducing new enemis at a steady rate, and all of the enemies being unique anyway.

Now Hoopfighter is a bit different. I have so many training enemies created and several REAL enemies that look like rival players. So I have a full layout of the 28 levels in note form for when new enemies will appear. Which makes balancing the game per level a lot more important, as I have very little swap wiggle room. Both these methods are fun and rewarding.

In the end It is of vast importance to get it as right as I can, without playing the games and tweaking endlessly,

Laters
Da Voodoochief