Whenever making a game it is good to focus on one genre at a time, but it is even more important to understand what you are doing. You want to make a great platformer, but do not know where to start. Well, you are in luck as I will be outlining important steps towards making a good platformer game.
1 – Good Controls
You know the pain of playing a game that was hard to control, maybe the buttons were too far apart, or they were too hard to understand. It is important to keep your controls near each other and give the player freedom to hold the controller however they want. As the controls change, the player should be able to do more, not less.
2 – Proper Movement
While it’s important to make it feel like the player is going the distance as they move, that’s just not everything. As the player moves, they should be able to turn fast as well as move fast, most importantly however, it is the player’s jump. The player should not fall faster than they rise, and they should reach their jump height near instantly, otherwise they will complain about it feeling floaty, limiting their movement.
3 – Constraints
It’s true that movement in a platformer game is imperative, but what limits that movement matters even more. If you implement a double jump in your game, you will make sure that it only lets the player jump twice. As such, you need to make sure there are some spaces where double jumping is useless, to test the player and change their expectations. Never have a player rely on something for too long.
4 – New Mechanics
As the player is playing the game, with all the powerups or mechanics they’re used to, suddenly they come upon something new. Just when they are comfortable using a newfound mechanic or power up, add a new one, it’s important to add new features into their experience to keep a feeling of freshness and originality.
5 – Indicators are important
Say the player is walking through a cave and being in a cave, they turn on their light, just like they’re used to. In doing so, they wake up a giant cave bat that chases them around the level, instantly sending them to a game over screen. How unfun, how unpredictable, if only there was something to tell them not to use that light, perhaps a sign? If the player is suddenly thrown into an unexpected situation, they are going to be confused and upset, it’s important to show that there is a pit on the floor or there is an icicle on the roof, show them it’s there properly.
6 – Understand your dimensions
Similar to how it is important to give the player constraints, it’s vital to consider your own. If you’re working in a 2d space, you understand the player cannot go along the z axis. In a 3d space, that freedom may also be a burden, a whole new part of the level to be designed, 3d levels are quite hard to navigate without something to help. Understanding that both 3d and 2d are imperfect is a clever way to decide what dimensions you will use in your game.
7 – Playtesting
Most, if not all, platformer games(on release) fall flat on their face when it comes to this aspect, maybe a mechanic was implemented hastily or a level has no collision in an area, this can lead to a worst experience for the player. As a result, they will most likely put the game down at once and never play again, this is no good and is a major reason a game needs playtesting. Even just asking your friends to try your game is important, tell them to try and not follow the given path and, chances are they’ll find bugs if you simply playtest before releasing your game properly you can save yourself a lot of headaches afterward. (Not all bugs will be caught during playtest, always expect there to be more bugs even if you patched every single one you know of out of existence.)
Congratulations, if you’re reading this, you now know 7 essential steps to make a platform game. Always know that this advice may not apply to you, and you should always do what you think will make the player happy. Hopefully though, your take away will help you create a great platform game.