You missed the very 1st lesson. At the very start of the game, there's a green hill in the background all around Mario--you then walk right and the blue sky is now behind him. This is intentional to teach the player the difference between non-interactive background details and interactive foreground objects (ground, pipes, etc) --an essential lesson for a game that lacks parallax scrolling. If they started you out with the sky behind you, players might continually try to jump over shrubs and hills in the background, not realizing they're non-interactive details.
I came to say the same thing. If the player started in front of the blue background, it's very possible they'd try to jump over or interact with the background objects. Nice!
I didn't know this much thought was put in the first level. And I didn't know I learned so much about the game while I didn't notice it was teaching me.
That is exactly the point of the way it was designed. I makes it seem 'obvious' or, I guess in that sense, intuitive, to act in certain ways in certain situations, though not for everyone quite as easy to grasp, I think many people would act on these situations automatically, letting them learn these things without knowing they were learning them. That's an example of great game design, teaching you things without you knowing you are being taught.
Make sure you also check out Shigeru Miyamoto's interview about the origins of Mario in Nintendo's "Iwata Asks" feature. It's jam-packed with interesting information about the Mario team's design decisions! bit.ly/1ogetUW
Redweaver Keep in mind though that length of video impacts on ad revenue. I'm not saying necessarily that the only reason this video is under 6min is because of a desire to maximise revenue but I'd be surprised if it wasn't brought up.
Redweaver When it comes to breaking down game design, 10-15 minutes is a very good timeframe to have. I can expect a majority of people watching this show are doing so to learn how to be better designers. We want all the info we can get :P
Redweaver +1 for the long videos. YES, full on class-length lectures PLEASE. Even if the lesson broken up over several "episodes" (pt. 1, pt. 2, etc.), it would be great to see important concepts explored at length and in depth.
Redweaver Because, you have to remember that viewership-pandering is not the only reason to make short videos. Videos are very time consuming to make. It's hard to make longer videos and stick to a release schedule. Granted, though, since the episodes come every two weeks, I would like to see something longer than 5 minutes...
this is a nice bite, but i crave more. i want you to give 10-20 minute long talks on game design. break down iconic levels. break down how certain franchises use their unique mechanics create their own identity (such as sonic's illusion of speed, or games with an "open world"). I crave more and you guys do a good job and doing this so i want more from you.
There's also the fact that you will encounter all three of the main powerups in this level (Mushroom, Flower, Star), which gives you a relatively safe space to discover their functions. No need for: MARIO! MARIO! That's a Starman! Pick it up to become invulnerable! (Yes, I did rip off Egoraptor just now) You find it out naturally the first time you try to stomp and enemy and it just dies instead.
I'm pretty sure that at the point where you get the Fire Flower, there's also more than three enemies on screen. Since fire => kill, the player might try to defeat all the enemies with their new-found power, discovering its limit.
***** i believe he means you have a limited number of fireballs allowed on screen at any given time, as well as you can't mash out fireballs as fast as you can push the button. megaman's pretty much always had a similar restriction, with a 3 lemon limit on the screen with a certain number of frames required before you can do each shot. one that first projectile leaves the screen though, you can fire a new one.
Or... perhaps the faster paced music and flashing lights encourage the player to travel as quickly as they can, likely hitting enemies by accident and thus learning that you can hit all the enemies you want? IDK, it has been a loong time since I played the first Mario Brothers, I no longer have access to it. I do have 2 and 3 though.
To the people asking, “Why did EC choose such an old game as an example?” *1:* Because the games mechanics are so much more simple than modern games, it’s easier to deconstruct how it works. For example, it’s easier to explain how a designer compelled the player to walk right when the only other direction was left, than it is to explain in a game where the player has 360 degrees of 3D movement. *2:* Older games serve as a great example because since they were so technologically limited, the designers were forced to convey concepts to the player purely through the mechanics and gameplay itself. Unlike modern games, designers didn’t have the advantage of voice over tutorials, prerendered cutscenes, or anything else like that. In fact, these old design philosophies are something modern games could use more of.
Yup. There are some neat things modern designers do with 3D level design though. One example i can think of is teaching a player where to go: barring a very obvious road/path the easiest way to get someone to go somewhere is to put a shiny bauble at a distance. It could be a powerup, a collectible or just a stationary lamp... people, and by that extension human players, will instinctively go towards light sources as we are basically trained by birth to think light=safety=good. so we head towards the light and make progress in the level.
Yo Greg if you want more look up "super mario world camera logic", I'd say it's even more mind-blowing in terms of platforming design. It's not as general as this video, but it gives insight on why the camera, which most people never notice, is so complicated but intuitive.
So. I am 22 and i have been a pretty much hardcore player for a long time, and i have played Super Mario Bros on the gameboy color many times. And i have never discovered the first invisible block before the pit. I am shocked.
+Enrico Boccardi Probably because you wouldn't jump in such a way that puts you directly into the pit. Which is kindof an equalizing measure: gamers that learn quickly are just happy to move on. Those that make more mistakes feel good about themselves making such a discovery. Win-win.
What wasn't mentioned in the video, but what I also find interesting is that the mushroom moves _away_ from you. The Goomba earlier moved _towards_ you and you find out it's an enemy. However, the player sees that the mushroom is trying to "run away" from them which clues the player in that it might not be an enemy. After all, it's instinctive to assume that something that is harder to get or trying to escape from your grasp is usually a good thing. Also, the placement of the mushroom is ingenious in another way, too. The player might make it quite a ways through 1-1 without ever trying to go left. But if they lose a life later on, they'll already know that the mushroom is a good thing. So, they'll try to jump onto the platform which requires going left. That way, they'll learn that the screen does not scroll left. The pipe jumps later on serve the same purpose.
2:30 BWOOP!!! Megaman! Megaman! That's a magic mushroom, and if you eat it you'll grow up big and strong and be able to survive more hits from enemies!
holy shit i knew mario bros level design was subtle but i never knew it was THIS subtle! so much about obstacles and potential interaction for new players is taken into account. i'm really excited that i've never seen these design choices like this before because i think how i view level design has been forever changed! all from a 5 minute video! have all my likes and thumbs up! :O
This show is more interesting than anticipated. Please make more! Also, I would like to know why the two pyramid shaped objects are there, so please solve the riddle in the next episode.
Couple of theories for the pyramids. First they set up a gap you need to jump with a safe place to fall if you dont. Then immediately they set up an easy jump with these over a gap that will kill you if you fall. This is teaching the play that these "stairs" mean you are going to jump and at the end of the level comes the part where you need to jump from the top of stairs to get the highest score from the flag. Naturally you will want to jump as you have jumped every previous time you encounterd these stairs.
Kyle Davis In addition to this, they might also teach that a running start isn't necessary for jumping. If you try to clear the whole thing in one go, you'll fall in (if I recall), and once you're in, you can only jump up.
William W An interesting thought, but to what purpose would they want to teach that? No jump to this point has required a running jump, and there is no benefit to not running then jumping, So while it does kind of demonstrate what you are saying I don't know that that would be intentional since it doesn't really server a purpose. Still not sure on the placement of the 4 goombas later in the level either.
There was one thing I wished you guys pointed out at the end, and that was about the pit. If the player has no previous knowledge of the game, s/he might want to jump into the pit to explore and see if there's something down there. If the player does this, s/he will respawn right before the pit, giving the player a 2nd chance now as they know that falling into pits is bad.
explaining how a game is designed, from levels to mechanics to how everything connects in a game, were always my favorite parts of extra credits. I'm happy that ya'll are doing something that focuses on this aspect more.
This is just great. My favourite EC episodes are the more in-depth design discussions, and I'm really glad there's going to be a steady stream of this sort of thing from the channel. Really looking forward to watching these.
Best video you guys have uploaded to date IMO. This kind of in-depth analysis of material that most people dismiss as shallow entertainment is exactly why I watch you guys, Keep it up.
Most likely to save space. Clouds and bushes have it can have a fluffy appearance, and a recolor of a sprite makes for nearly no extra usage of space, so Nintendo could do this to 1. Fit more content into the game, and 2. Not make it weird.
Pablo1517 So they did things like take advantage of the fact that a bush and a cloud can look similar, and just recolored the same sprite at no extra storage.
For as long as I can remember, this in my mind's eye has always been THE quintessential video game. I first played it in 1988 when I was about 4, and to this day I play through it start to finish probably a couple of times every year, and it just never ever gets old. A true masterpiece of design, and in my opinion arguably the single-most important video game ever made. Great video!
Love this! Even though I don't design games, I found this really helps me with looking at how to design stories critically, based on other stories that work well. Thank you!
Oh wow this is precisely what I love out of analyses and reviews of any kind -- the kind of deep look that reveals just how much thought went into a product and helps to break down what seems like a simple, straightforward display into something to learn from. I love you guys for doing this and look forward to more.
In my ongoing chronological watching of all of your vids from the beginning, I've finally come to this one...and it's great. It's amazing. I am already in love with this new series. Great job.
As someone who had wanted to go to one of those fancy video game colleges (but couldn't because of reasons), the episodes where you talk about game and level design have always been my favorite. Looking forward to an entire show dedicated to it! XD
1337er Wildhead At the train station a guard tells you to pick up a piece of rubbish off the floor ad put it in the bin, there is a small playground you can move stuff around, in the apartments you can life lot of stuff up and throw them around.
It's a tutorial as is common with games today. Told to do something so you would learn a mechanic or plainly told you that mechanic exists. SMB did the right thing with "tutorial" by making sure that player learns the mechanics by playing and trial & error with short iteration times with complete freedom. That's inmho right way to do it. All this cut-scene crap these days... .CornishCreamtea07
Mtaalas That section was for the setup of the story, there are no "you must do these things(apart from the bin thing) to proceed". SMB had a basic set of things to teach you, it wasn't that great, SMB3 was the one with the clever game design, not the same thing recycled through 8 worlds.
Extra Credits is my favorite RUclips channels and this episode almost blew me away! I love to look objectively at game design and with the exception of a few small things I had no idea such a simple seeming game could do so much to lead the player without a manual. That said, I would LOVE to see more of these. Keep up the fantastic work guys!
Design Club episodes have greatly benefited me as an aspiring game designer/producer. They are a real treat, and the only issue I have is I wish there were more of them.
This video basically explains why the first Mario is the epitome of video games and why you don't need lengthy hand holding tutorials to teach you to play a game - the masters could do it in a few short seconds. I play plenty of modern games but the limits of retro games really brought out an art that has been lost today.
Simple games can have transparent tutorials. Games that are less real time and action based start requiring more and more teaching until we get to board games where an entire rule book is mandatory. There's nothing particularly wrong with tutorials, but a lot of games use them where they aren't necessary, or have a really boring tutorial introduction to their game or something, but some games like FTL need that tutorial segment.
1. The two pyramids are the game's first instance of easily ascendable stairs the drop in the middle with no pit is to teach the player how to navigate stairs without actually killing them. Once the player has made it past that point they are presented with a similar scenario except the game has introduced a much greater punishment if the player did not learn from the previous scenario. 2. The 4 goombas in a row actually have multiple purposes the first is that throughout the first level enemies come at you one or two at a time in regularly spaced intervals. This section of design shows the players that many more enemies are capable of coming at you in a group.The second purpose is to teach the player the validity of power ups and how much easier the game is to get through upon obtaining said power ups. The game then reinforces the idea of exploring the hard to reach spots in order to obtain powerups instead of moving through the level as quickly as possible dodging enemies.
As a new game designer, I love where this series is going. A step by step design breakdown of game mechanics by veteran designers really drives home what it means to analyze the mechanics of a game. Thus, game designers like myself that are in the beginning phases of a design career can get a good grasp of just how important every design decision is, and how it will affect the player's experience in our future games. I greatly look forward to seeing more of these, and to the day when I might get to work with James in the industry, though that might be years down the road at this point.
I'm baking my brain trying to figure out the reason for the Pyramids and Four Goombas. Could you give us a hint next week EC? :3 Maybe the Pyramids teach players how to climb objects? How to arc a jump over two objects? Maybe the gap between the Goombas is to teach players to jump between them?
*"Maybe the gap between the Goombas is to teach players to jump between them?"* Possibly. I think they're sort of a safer way to practice for moving platforms and those pits were you have to land on the small patches of land in between. By the time you reach these Goombas, you'll at least have a mushroom, so you'll survive if you mess up, whereas if the player were forced to learn this with actual pits it could easily lead to death for first timers. That's my theory on it anyways.
The pyramids show how to climb the stair like structure, but more importantly they teach you about your jump arc. You cannot make the full over the gap even if you are running. This drops you into the gap, which you then have to jump out of. Then immediately afterwards there is anther pyramid, this time with a death pit in the center. Using what you just learned the player climbs the stairs before attempting to jump over the pit. The goombas seem to teach the player not only how to jump between them, but that you will be required to jump the moment you land if you want to avoid them completely. Basically it is practicing a sort of double jump. *OK, so just to make sure, I tried a couple times and I was able to make the jump, but it still requires near perfect timing, which is not expected of the player at this point.
The answers for the stairs is given by other, and i can't think of a new way to answer. For the goombahs, i think that there for prevent you against the jump you have when you hurt an ennemi. Because the distance between the two group are small, and the fact that there some block above you makes it difficult to "esquiver" the other group. But it's not enough, i think, because you can have fireflower at this point, and they are probably the first ennemy you confront in this form. And you can only shoot three flams together, so, one goombah will survive (and i think that you will miss the second goombah). It teaches you the limits of your firepower.
This video reminds me of "Sequelitis: Megaman X." Of course, every other word that came out of his mouth was a swear word, but he was basically doing the same thing with the intro of Megaman X.
That was really insightful! I think a lot of people don't realize that while analyzing this one level might not be super groundbreaking, the implications of level design, psychology, and attention to detail are all things that apply across a wide variety of mediums. Very good content!
honestly it sounded like a good idea, but i feel something is in fact missing in the video, I'm not entirely sure what it is, I just know its not there, also I feel the next best point of interest after looking at Mario levels is looking at the original Legend of Zelda as those 2 games are meant to be complete opposites, and dose things very differently because of that, but that's just my 2 cents on the show thus far, keep up the good work and I wish you the best of luck
3:15 you forgot to mention that fact that the instinct when you see your path averted is to go backwards and go to a different height level, which will send you right into a breakable block, showing you that big Mario can break some blocks.
+Weebus Yep. In great games, every single object, item, enemy etc. on the screen is placed with purpose and understands what the player is going to do. Not a single thing will be misplaced.
I'm definitely on board for this new series. The main EC show is fantastic, but it's always been very much an academic lecture in game design, whereas Design Club feels far more like a practical exercise where you get hands-on with concrete examples of all the stuff EC has been discussing for years. I think it'll be an invaluable addition to informing people about the hows and whys of game design. :)
Yes! More of the same, please! Though I am not a designer, I find all of your content deepens my enjoyment and appreciation of games as a whole. Thanks for all you do, and looking forward to what's to come!
I actually looked for a video like this after watching egoraptor's video, because i loved the idea behind it but not the style and length (and i wanted to convey this idea to my friends)
I'm a product designer who always found extra credits interesting and useful but this new series is REALLY AWESOME. It's all the parts I like most in its own separate episode. Thanks for spinning it off into its own show Extra Credits a very wise decision.
This format would definitely work better as a 10 to 20 minute show, even if this means you'd only be able to do them monthly. That way you'd have time to analyse a whole level, not just part of one. Also I presume you're intending to showcase examples of great level design in this show, but will you also do any on what you consider badly designed levels, with constructive criticism on how they could have been improved?
I understand now how I can learn how to play Mario so absurdly quickly. The design charm is shown clearly, by using in-game objects to make simple interactions that will make the player understand 80% of the whole mechanic in one level.
For a "short feedback loop" note you may have picked a good moment of the game, but not a good game as such - given that if you fail at the very end of the level, you have to start all over again (a staple of the genre for many, many years after Mario's debut). I understand the applicability in moment-to-moment gameplay, but I'm not sure if it was a big issue for level design back there. Other than that, I think you've underdelivered a bit in this episode. You touched upon a few of the important things, and that's cool, but with an episode lasting only five minutes (instead of, say, ten) you can't really cover much ground, and you don't really "cover" it insomuch as you "glance over" it. Sorry to be critical, don't take this the wrong way (much love for you guys!), but I think there's room for improvement here.
"if you fail at the very end of the level, you have to start all over again" - I believe there are checkpoints in Mario games as old as this one. They are not marked by any sprite though (since clouds are shrubs, this isn't surprising).
Sorry to point it out but Super Mario Bros. has checkpoints, except for World 8. This is actually a very good example since when you fall in the first hole, the game "respawns" you right before it so you get to try again. Maybe you're thinking about some other game?
Seeing as this is the first episode in the potential series you should probably look at this as a sort of teaser, a pilot episode if you will. They're just testing the waters to see if the reaction will match the amount of work they would need to put into the series. Also the "short feedback loop" was in reference to the very first Goomba seeing as these first two screens could be viewed as the Super Mario Bros tutorial this initial Goomba challenge creates a short feedback loop in which the player is punished by failing the challenge but only through the loss of in-game valuables aka lives, not real-world valuables aka time.
"if you fail at the very end of the level, you have to start all over again" You miss two things: the checkpoints, and the *coins*. The farther in a level a player dies, the more coins they'll have collected along the way, so they don't truly waste a full life. (Plus, going out of your way to play carefully will reward you with more tries.) And there's not a lot of distance between the checkpoints; it's enough that the designers can make the player catch their rhythm through a difficulty curve, and not too much that they're expected to proceed unreasonable distances without making mistakes.
I really loved this episode, and I'd appreciate seeing more of this series. It never really thought of the game this way--I never realized how craftily placed EVERYTHING is in the first 30-seconds of Mario. Also? I never considered thinking about games this way. As a budding developer, it's a great thing to dissect games this way, much like an English class dissects classic literature to learn to write better. But nobody teaches this skill with games, so I really appreciate this new series. Keep 'em coming, guys!
I'm in love with the series already. Do it always. Also, maybe talking about the things you mention at the end, like the mario pyramid things, or something people might not have thought of on summoner's rift right at the beginning of the next episode, would help some people understand those things a little bit more. Not a lot of mention, just something like, "hey this is what that did". Other than that, love it. Love you guys!
This is similar to the videos that Egoraptor did about Castlevania and Megaman and how a game should teach the player the mechanics by them just playing the game rather than having to go through some BS tutorial.
I agree that tutorials should be avoided and replaced with clever design as far as possible, and I love both this as well as Egoraptor's Sequelitis. However, tutorials shouldn't be frowned upon completely either. Modern games are often too complex to cover every aspect as elegantly and on the go without any commentary as it is done here in the iconic 1-1 of SMB. Arin for example tends to skip tutorials in modern games during playthroughs on Game Grumps entirely and ends up missing basic elements and making unnecessary mistakes because of that.
Please more of this. I am so exited for this show. I've been a longtime fan of extra credits and always enjoyed the in depth analysis of affordances the most.
I really enjoy this already, being a student who wants to enter the gaming industry, you are really helping people like myself understand certain design features. Thank you guys, I hope you continue this series and continue helping future designers.
oh god, so much more. i lvoe game design, but coding is not my forté and DeVry University was such an enormous waste of time and money that it taught me NOTHING
If you really want to design games, just pick up javascript. It's simple enough for you to learn and you only need to know the basics to get you started on thinking game engines. Basic flash skills teaches you enough animations for you to know how to draw sprites. From there on, either master a coding of some form, or find a friend to code for you while you design the game. I honestly think the indie and casuals scene is so big that is pretty much has a place for anyone with new ideas.
thanks! i never thought about it that way. its kinda like ego raptors mega man sequelitis where he says that they teach you the mechanics of one thing at a time then they throw them together for a crzy challenge.
This is way overanalyzed.. If you asked about some of the things mentioned in this video to the devs, they'd probably be like "Uhhh, yeah, right, we completely did that on purpose!"
Well, there's the thing with game design. A lot of developers don't even know they're doing this. They just design the level around what feels right to play, and what is fair for the player. If the playtesters, say, get stuck on a pit and don't know what to do, a lot of times the developer will think "maybe I need to present a simpler version of the obstacle before that one to get the player to know what to do."
How can you be certain? To quote another video game internet personality, "Play Dr. Jekyl & Mr. Hyde on NES for two minutes" (paraphrasing) if you want to know how little a game can give you to teach you its parameters and rules. And you should seriously go do that. VirtualNES.com. You will learn how much thought must go into the opening segments of a game and how badly you can screw it up. Certainly it's possible that the accessible conveyance of SMB is chance, but one, that's a pretty big fuckin' chance, and two, boy did they fucking screw up REALLY, REALLY WELL.
Games from 20 years ago were either: super well designed or flopped hard at it. Fewer resources means the developer can't miss his initial goal. Developing nowadays is nowhere near easy, but with the internet most games can be patched up.
Before I watched this video, I had no idea that holding down the jump button makes Mario jump higher. When I was a kid, playing this game for the first time, I only ever tapped it to jump, and then just left my thumb off the button until I needed to jump again later. It never occurred to me to hold it down.
The flagpole at the end of the level was what taught me to run jump. I saw I got more points for jumping higher up the flagpole so experimented with ways of doing that until I found holding B and jumping let me hit the flag at the top. However I believe almost every jump in the original Super Mario Brothers can be made without running at all as long as you make smaller jumps between platforms, a testament to the design that allows both slow jumping and run jumping depending on player skill level. In the Japan Mario 2 or "The Lost Levels" on the SNES, a good half of the last of the game required full run jumping and almost pixel perfect precision, but I guess that game was all about giving players a punishing challenge, damn you evil poisonous mushrooms!.
Hatty Cat Same here. I remember at first I'd just walk off the platform and walk up to the flagpole. Then one day I got the notion to try to jump over it and that was the first time I hit the 5000 spot. That was a major 'aha' moment.
haven't entered game design at all, but I do love the lenses given by this show and the episodes of EC that also approach from directions and with a specific focus.
I had a sudden clarity moment on (web) design: RUclips videos and comments, have "thumbs down". Why does RUclips allows negative feedback on opinion based content? Why give the naysayer a tool to attack the opinions of others? If we want to tell how popular something is, just the thumbs up should be enough. Just some food for thought
Actually, it's the exact opposite. If you want to tell how popular something is, having just the thumbs up skews the information. A video with 200 likes and 1300 dislikes is probably not higher quality than a video with 100 likes and 3 dislikes. But if you don't have the dislikes, you're getting a false image of the video's popularity.
The number of views divided by the number of likes should be enough to just determine the popularity. I get a feeling that downvotes are a tool to trigger more discussions and thus engagement (flame wars) under a video but I don't know...
I am not against, or with, the current voting system. I am just wondering if it server the purpose we think it serves. The question that nobody addressed yet remains: What kind of behaviour does the current voting system encourage? It's very easy to say that "the vote system exist to let you know if the video you are seing is popular", but in the end do you even care? The first 2-3 seconds of the video are those that make you decide if you keep watching anyway. Upvotes also allow to easily share a video you like, and find other relevant videos. Maybe downvotes don't have the power we think they do? Maybe they only exist because "everyone in facebook complains about a lack of dislike button"? Or maybe I am overthinking it?
Exactly. That's what I thought through this whole thing. They tried to make random decisions and technical limitations seem like purposeful decisions. Talk about reaching for content. Jeez. But this whole channel has been starting to devolve into crap like this.
***** weren't you paying attention to the video? This game wasn't made by a group of monkeys and had good design choices. I'm talking to you too inmate1011001.
There's a reason that these old Nintendo games (and most of the newer ones) have levels that are so much fun to play through. It's because every single thing, down to the last goomba, is very carefully thought-out. Shigeru Miyamoto himself has said that your first level in your game should not be designed until all of the core gameplay mechanics are finalized, so that you can effectively and concisely introduce them to the player. Nintendo has followed this idea since the beginning. Nintendo isn't the only company to do this either. Any really good level designer will think about every addition they make and its effects on the player's experience, and will try especially hard in the earliest stretches to give the player a great first impression.
I would love to see more of this! Don't be afraid to bore us with game design, this is what we are here for! By the way, my congratulations for all of you who take part in this awesome channel!
This is immediately my second favourite show on the channel. I think it could also be a great opportunity to go through your remix music - start out with the original track, then shift into some remixes throughout the video. Beats having to listen to the same notes again and again. Also, I one hundred percent reccomend Egoraptor's Sequelitis episodes for those of you interested in game design, and I can also see that Dan was also inspired by them when making this video.
This is a good idea for the channel because it doesn't vary from the main theme: the growth of gaming through time. I would love to see more similar content, especially on older games, and possibly gradual progression to more recent ones. In particular, it would be fun to see progression through popular series like Zelda to show risks taken to make improvements in design as well as flaws.
Yeah I really love this show! It's super fun and interesting to find out that every single block and obstacle is there for a reason. And its cool to see how game designers can crawl into your head and teach you about an entire game without any dialogue or tutorial. And when you find out what that game designer was doing, it freaks you out! It's really awesome and fun. Keep it up!
You missed the very 1st lesson. At the very start of the game, there's a green hill in the background all around Mario--you then walk right and the blue sky is now behind him. This is intentional to teach the player the difference between non-interactive background details and interactive foreground objects (ground, pipes, etc) --an essential lesson for a game that lacks parallax scrolling. If they started you out with the sky behind you, players might continually try to jump over shrubs and hills in the background, not realizing they're non-interactive details.
Tony A lol smartass
Tony A in
@Clyde Cash have you not played floor is lavar? Everything is interactable if not properly introduced.
I came to say the same thing. If the player started in front of the blue background, it's very possible they'd try to jump over or interact with the background objects. Nice!
You are bringing someone back (STARTS WITH M AND END WITH T) (i might be kidding lol)
I didn't know this much thought was put in the first level. And I didn't know I learned so much about the game while I didn't notice it was teaching me.
It's actually genius!
You think this is crazy, look into Metroid and Super Metroid from the designer perspective. Now that is crazy just how intuitive everything is.
That is exactly the point of the way it was designed. I makes it seem 'obvious' or, I guess in that sense, intuitive, to act in certain ways in certain situations, though not for everyone quite as easy to grasp, I think many people would act on these situations automatically, letting them learn these things without knowing they were learning them. That's an example of great game design, teaching you things without you knowing you are being taught.
The intro level to megaman X is probly the most genius level in gaming.
bob dingle Because Egoraptor told you?
Make sure you also check out Shigeru Miyamoto's interview about the origins of Mario in Nintendo's "Iwata Asks" feature. It's jam-packed with interesting information about the Mario team's design decisions!
bit.ly/1ogetUW
Redweaver Keep in mind though that length of video impacts on ad revenue. I'm not saying necessarily that the only reason this video is under 6min is because of a desire to maximise revenue but I'd be surprised if it wasn't brought up.
Redweaver When it comes to breaking down game design, 10-15 minutes is a very good timeframe to have. I can expect a majority of people watching this show are doing so to learn how to be better designers. We want all the info we can get :P
Redweaver +1 for the long videos. YES, full on class-length lectures PLEASE.
Even if the lesson broken up over several "episodes" (pt. 1, pt. 2, etc.), it would be great to see important concepts explored at length and in depth.
Redweaver Because, you have to remember that viewership-pandering is not the only reason to make short videos. Videos are very time consuming to make. It's hard to make longer videos and stick to a release schedule. Granted, though, since the episodes come every two weeks, I would like to see something longer than 5 minutes...
this is a nice bite, but i crave more. i want you to give 10-20 minute long talks on game design. break down iconic levels. break down how certain franchises use their unique mechanics create their own identity (such as sonic's illusion of speed, or games with an "open world"). I crave more and you guys do a good job and doing this so i want more from you.
There's also the fact that you will encounter all three of the main powerups in this level (Mushroom, Flower, Star), which gives you a relatively safe space to discover their functions. No need for:
MARIO! MARIO! That's a Starman! Pick it up to become invulnerable!
(Yes, I did rip off Egoraptor just now) You find it out naturally the first time you try to stomp and enemy and it just dies instead.
I'm pretty sure that at the point where you get the Fire Flower, there's also more than three enemies on screen.
Since fire => kill, the player might try to defeat all the enemies with their new-found power, discovering its limit.
Nixitur What limit?
*****
i believe he means you have a limited number of fireballs allowed on screen at any given time, as well as you can't mash out fireballs as fast as you can push the button.
megaman's pretty much always had a similar restriction, with a 3 lemon limit on the screen with a certain number of frames required before you can do each shot.
one that first projectile leaves the screen though, you can fire a new one.
Or... perhaps the faster paced music and flashing lights encourage the player to travel as quickly as they can, likely hitting enemies by accident and thus learning that you can hit all the enemies you want? IDK, it has been a loong time since I played the first Mario Brothers, I no longer have access to it. I do have 2 and 3 though.
Mario Mario and Luigi Mario
Also note that the 1UP is right before a pit, which takes lives if failed.
Want the answer to the stairs question from this episode? Here it is from Miyamoto himself!
Watch: bit.ly/1g7DW2b
+Extra Credits the for goombas I believe are to teach the player how to use the fire flower and how it works
***** sup
yup. you?
+Extra Credits I reckon you should make more design club episodes. They're my favorite series and (as far as I'm aware) you've only made six.
Thanks.
kind of funny how it has 6 likes, well not anymore but you get my drift (mario kart pun)
To the people asking, “Why did EC choose such an old game as an example?”
*1:* Because the games mechanics are so much more simple than modern games, it’s easier to deconstruct how it works. For example, it’s easier to explain how a designer compelled the player to walk right when the only other direction was left, than it is to explain in a game where the player has 360 degrees of 3D movement.
*2:* Older games serve as a great example because since they were so technologically limited, the designers were forced to convey concepts to the player purely through the mechanics and gameplay itself. Unlike modern games, designers didn’t have the advantage of voice over tutorials, prerendered cutscenes, or anything else like that. In fact, these old design philosophies are something modern games could use more of.
Yup. There are some neat things modern designers do with 3D level design though.
One example i can think of is teaching a player where to go: barring a very obvious road/path the easiest way to get someone to go somewhere is to put a shiny bauble at a distance. It could be a powerup, a collectible or just a stationary lamp... people, and by that extension human players, will instinctively go towards light sources as we are basically trained by birth to think light=safety=good.
so we head towards the light and make progress in the level.
Also, because this is a game nearly EVERYONE is familiar with.
I'm loving this analysis! I'd love to see more of this show.
DenouttaDen
gameflyer1 DanouttaDan.
Greg?!? My youtube world is just converging head-on from all sides, it seems.
My God!! I can now connect game grumps to extra credit. My life is complete.
Yo Greg if you want more look up "super mario world camera logic", I'd say it's even more mind-blowing in terms of platforming design. It's not as general as this video, but it gives insight on why the camera, which most people never notice, is so complicated but intuitive.
So. I am 22 and i have been a pretty much hardcore player for a long time, and i have played Super Mario Bros on the gameboy color many times.
And i have never discovered the first invisible block before the pit.
I am shocked.
+Enrico Boccardi You aren't the only one...
+Enrico Boccardi Probably because you wouldn't jump in such a way that puts you directly into the pit. Which is kindof an equalizing measure: gamers that learn quickly are just happy to move on. Those that make more mistakes feel good about themselves making such a discovery. Win-win.
+101jir As a kid I tried jumping everywhere to see if there is a hidden block. Maybe that's how I discovered it.
I only recently discovered it completely by accident
+Darksun Gwyndolin In newer mario games I usually discover things accidentily
This is kinda mind blowing.
I can't imagine you posting anything that isn't
How do I get back those few minutes spent watching these videos?
these guyz were fucking genius
I think you should give mimamoto some more credit. He INVENTED this stuff. That is genius
Yeah it’s Cray Cray
Yes, more! It'd be interesting to see more on newer and more complex games. Also, that thing with the first powerup mushrom is pure genius.
I KNOW RIGHT?! And don't worry, we'll cover new games, too. Although old or not, SMB is incredibly, wonderfully complex. -Soraya
What wasn't mentioned in the video, but what I also find interesting is that the mushroom moves _away_ from you.
The Goomba earlier moved _towards_ you and you find out it's an enemy.
However, the player sees that the mushroom is trying to "run away" from them which clues the player in that it might not be an enemy. After all, it's instinctive to assume that something that is harder to get or trying to escape from your grasp is usually a good thing.
Also, the placement of the mushroom is ingenious in another way, too. The player might make it quite a ways through 1-1 without ever trying to go left. But if they lose a life later on, they'll already know that the mushroom is a good thing. So, they'll try to jump onto the platform which requires going left.
That way, they'll learn that the screen does not scroll left. The pipe jumps later on serve the same purpose.
+Extra Credits So, what happened? Only like three videos. Just got into your other stuff?
2:30
BWOOP!!! Megaman! Megaman! That's a magic mushroom, and if you eat it you'll grow up big and strong and be able to survive more hits from enemies!
vechs? oke...
I DON'T NEED YOU
I ALREADY KNOW THIS!
wow this was a blast from the past
Best show off all.. because of the practical knowledge it shows.
this is basically game design in action
Hardmode Gearhead If you like it check out Sunder's LevelHead, it's pretty similar.
eh da? ezzayak ya omar! didn't expect to see you here.
Hardmode Gearhead
watch egoraptors megaman x. It teaches a lot about old game design too
alphaBravoAB
While it is old game design, it must not be confused with outdated. Outdated would be tutorials utilizing text. xD
" you cannot get past this spot without jumping"
Challenge accepted
how did it go
Oliver Heising Hopping
Portal gun. Challenge obliterated.
Isn't there a fan made SMB with a portal gun that lets you do that?
Yes there is; I believe it is called MariO (the "O," of course, being a portal).
holy shit i knew mario bros level design was subtle but i never knew it was THIS subtle! so much about obstacles and potential interaction for new players is taken into account. i'm really excited that i've never seen these design choices like this before because i think how i view level design has been forever changed!
all from a 5 minute video! have all my likes and thumbs up! :O
I love this kind of gamedesign-videos. Can't wait for more :)
Hah! Erwischt!
***** Stalker! :P
levishadow Das behaupten gerade sie. Shiba. :P
moar!
This show is more interesting than anticipated. Please make more! Also, I would like to know why the two pyramid shaped objects are there, so please solve the riddle in the next episode.
I was anticipating this show, and I STILL found it more interesting than I had anticipated.
I was expecting it too!
Couple of theories for the pyramids. First they set up a gap you need to jump with a safe place to fall if you dont. Then immediately they set up an easy jump with these over a gap that will kill you if you fall. This is teaching the play that these "stairs" mean you are going to jump and at the end of the level comes the part where you need to jump from the top of stairs to get the highest score from the flag. Naturally you will want to jump as you have jumped every previous time you encounterd these stairs.
Kyle Davis In addition to this, they might also teach that a running start isn't necessary for jumping. If you try to clear the whole thing in one go, you'll fall in (if I recall), and once you're in, you can only jump up.
William W An interesting thought, but to what purpose would they want to teach that? No jump to this point has required a running jump, and there is no benefit to not running then jumping, So while it does kind of demonstrate what you are saying I don't know that that would be intentional since it doesn't really server a purpose. Still not sure on the placement of the 4 goombas later in the level either.
There was one thing I wished you guys pointed out at the end, and that was about the pit. If the player has no previous knowledge of the game, s/he might want to jump into the pit to explore and see if there's something down there. If the player does this, s/he will respawn right before the pit, giving the player a 2nd chance now as they know that falling into pits is bad.
Invisible checkpoints. Safety without knowledge of it. Extremely unpopular nowadays...
explaining how a game is designed, from levels to mechanics to how everything connects in a game, were always my favorite parts of extra credits. I'm happy that ya'll are doing something that focuses on this aspect more.
This is one of the best episodes you guys have produced. It really shows you know your way around game design, please do make more.
This is one of the first things we looked at in our Game Design 101 class at college, right next to the first level of Portal.
What did you learn about the first portal level? I'm intrigued! :D
0:28 Holy crap... I can't unsee it now...
This is excellent. Look forward to seeing more episodes.
This is just great. My favourite EC episodes are the more in-depth design discussions, and I'm really glad there's going to be a steady stream of this sort of thing from the channel. Really looking forward to watching these.
Best video you guys have uploaded to date IMO. This kind of in-depth analysis of material that most people dismiss as shallow entertainment is exactly why I watch you guys, Keep it up.
my god the bush is the cloud !?!?!?!??!
Hiker Wolfspaine
That also was never clear to me :o
It was a surprise well placed and an ingenius move by the level designer :3
*****
If you have limitations on the console, it is probably only natural that you have to exploit those o.o
Most likely to save space. Clouds and bushes have it can have a fluffy appearance, and a recolor of a sprite makes for nearly no extra usage of space, so Nintendo could do this to 1. Fit more content into the game, and 2. Not make it weird.
***** Its not lazy... cartridges didnt have 1gb of space to hold thousands of different sprites back then -.-
Pablo1517 So they did things like take advantage of the fact that a bush and a cloud can look similar, and just recolored the same sprite at no extra storage.
For as long as I can remember, this in my mind's eye has always been THE quintessential video game. I first played it in 1988 when I was about 4, and to this day I play through it start to finish probably a couple of times every year, and it just never ever gets old. A true masterpiece of design, and in my opinion arguably the single-most important video game ever made.
Great video!
Love this! Even though I don't design games, I found this really helps me with looking at how to design stories critically, based on other stories that work well. Thank you!
Oh wow this is precisely what I love out of analyses and reviews of any kind -- the kind of deep look that reveals just how much thought went into a product and helps to break down what seems like a simple, straightforward display into something to learn from. I love you guys for doing this and look forward to more.
In my ongoing chronological watching of all of your vids from the beginning, I've finally come to this one...and it's great. It's amazing. I am already in love with this new series. Great job.
Oh wow. It's amazing how designers used to do so much with so little.
And, of course still do if you pay enough attention. It's just much more subtle when done right.
*****
Reminds me of that saying in Futurama "When you do things right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all"
Volrag
....can I use this method of thinking at work, do you reckon? :P
Shenaldrac
Depends if your boss finds out
Great need more longer episodes
Keep the videos coming!
I have played this level over and over again and never saw this design choices. I think I am in love with this video series.
As someone who had wanted to go to one of those fancy video game colleges (but couldn't because of reasons), the episodes where you talk about game and level design have always been my favorite. Looking forward to an entire show dedicated to it! XD
Definitely do more of these in the future. An analysis of the Water Temple in Ocarina of Time would be great to see.
You should do the beginning of Half-Life 2, where it slowly introduces you ton the gravity system in a safe yet environment.
If you're talking about the gravity gun, that was the middle of the game.
1337er Wildhead
At the train station a guard tells you to pick up a piece of rubbish off the floor ad put it in the bin, there is a small playground you can move stuff around, in the apartments you can life lot of stuff up and throw them around.
CornishCreamtea07 LET'S LIFE IT UP XD
It's a tutorial as is common with games today. Told to do something so you would learn a mechanic or plainly told you that mechanic exists. SMB did the right thing with "tutorial" by making sure that player learns the mechanics by playing and trial & error with short iteration times with complete freedom. That's inmho right way to do it. All this cut-scene crap these days... .CornishCreamtea07
Mtaalas
That section was for the setup of the story, there are no "you must do these things(apart from the bin thing) to proceed". SMB had a basic set of things to teach you, it wasn't that great, SMB3 was the one with the clever game design, not the same thing recycled through 8 worlds.
You are hereby notified of my desire to see more of this.
Extra Credits is my favorite RUclips channels and this episode almost blew me away! I love to look objectively at game design and with the exception of a few small things I had no idea such a simple seeming game could do so much to lead the player without a manual. That said, I would LOVE to see more of these.
Keep up the fantastic work guys!
Design Club episodes have greatly benefited me as an aspiring game designer/producer. They are a real treat, and the only issue I have is I wish there were more of them.
This video basically explains why the first Mario is the epitome of video games and why you don't need lengthy hand holding tutorials to teach you to play a game - the masters could do it in a few short seconds. I play plenty of modern games but the limits of retro games really brought out an art that has been lost today.
Simple games can have transparent tutorials. Games that are less real time and action based start requiring more and more teaching until we get to board games where an entire rule book is mandatory. There's nothing particularly wrong with tutorials, but a lot of games use them where they aren't necessary, or have a really boring tutorial introduction to their game or something, but some games like FTL need that tutorial segment.
1. The two pyramids are the game's first instance of easily ascendable stairs the drop in the middle with no pit is to teach the player how to navigate stairs without actually killing them. Once the player has made it past that point they are presented with a similar scenario except the game has introduced a much greater punishment if the player did not learn from the previous scenario.
2. The 4 goombas in a row actually have multiple purposes the first is that throughout the first level enemies come at you one or two at a time in regularly spaced intervals. This section of design shows the players that many more enemies are capable of coming at you in a group.The second purpose is to teach the player the validity of power ups and how much easier the game is to get through upon obtaining said power ups. The game then reinforces the idea of exploring the hard to reach spots in order to obtain powerups instead of moving through the level as quickly as possible dodging enemies.
MORE!
I'm impressed at how well you broke down the design of 1-1. Bravo! I'm glad to see that there are more of these.
As a new game designer, I love where this series is going. A step by step design breakdown of game mechanics by veteran designers really drives home what it means to analyze the mechanics of a game. Thus, game designers like myself that are in the beginning phases of a design career can get a good grasp of just how important every design decision is, and how it will affect the player's experience in our future games. I greatly look forward to seeing more of these, and to the day when I might get to work with James in the industry, though that might be years down the road at this point.
This game analysis is awesome!
I'm baking my brain trying to figure out the reason for the Pyramids and Four Goombas. Could you give us a hint next week EC? :3
Maybe the Pyramids teach players how to climb objects? How to arc a jump over two objects? Maybe the gap between the Goombas is to teach players to jump between them?
*"Maybe the gap between the Goombas is to teach players to jump between them?"*
Possibly. I think they're sort of a safer way to practice for moving platforms and those pits were you have to land on the small patches of land in between. By the time you reach these Goombas, you'll at least have a mushroom, so you'll survive if you mess up, whereas if the player were forced to learn this with actual pits it could easily lead to death for first timers.
That's my theory on it anyways.
The pyramids were a safe way to show how to climb the goal "stair".
kricku +1
The pyramids show how to climb the stair like structure, but more importantly they teach you about your jump arc. You cannot make the full over the gap even if you are running. This drops you into the gap, which you then have to jump out of. Then immediately afterwards there is anther pyramid, this time with a death pit in the center. Using what you just learned the player climbs the stairs before attempting to jump over the pit.
The goombas seem to teach the player not only how to jump between them, but that you will be required to jump the moment you land if you want to avoid them completely. Basically it is practicing a sort of double jump.
*OK, so just to make sure, I tried a couple times and I was able to make the jump, but it still requires near perfect timing, which is not expected of the player at this point.
The answers for the stairs is given by other, and i can't think of a new way to answer.
For the goombahs, i think that there for prevent you against the jump you have when you hurt an ennemi. Because the distance between the two group are small, and the fact that there some block above you makes it difficult to "esquiver" the other group.
But it's not enough, i think, because you can have fireflower at this point, and they are probably the first ennemy you confront in this form.
And you can only shoot three flams together, so, one goombah will survive (and i think that you will miss the second goombah). It teaches you the limits of your firepower.
This video reminds me of "Sequelitis: Megaman X." Of course, every other word that came out of his mouth was a swear word, but he was basically doing the same thing with the intro of Megaman X.
+Dunoid Haha, just commented on that as well. :)
i miss seqalitis
That was really insightful! I think a lot of people don't realize that while analyzing this one level might not be super groundbreaking, the implications of level design, psychology, and attention to detail are all things that apply across a wide variety of mediums. Very good content!
your series are absolutely priceless for me, as a student for multimedia and videogame art. thank you so much for uploading these vids.
honestly it sounded like a good idea, but i feel something is in fact missing in the video, I'm not entirely sure what it is, I just know its not there, also I feel the next best point of interest after looking at Mario levels is looking at the original Legend of Zelda as those 2 games are meant to be complete opposites, and dose things very differently because of that, but that's just my 2 cents on the show thus far, keep up the good work and I wish you the best of luck
3:15 you forgot to mention that fact that the instinct when you see your path averted is to go backwards and go to a different height level, which will send you right into a breakable block, showing you that big Mario can break some blocks.
Wow, nearly identical to what they said at E3.
Aqueous Water Seriously. I thought on some level that they overthought this, but I was sorely wrong.
Aqueous Water I was actually thinking back to this video as I saw that.
+Weebus Yep. In great games, every single object, item, enemy etc. on the screen is placed with purpose and understands what the player is going to do. Not a single thing will be misplaced.
I'm definitely on board for this new series. The main EC show is fantastic, but it's always been very much an academic lecture in game design, whereas Design Club feels far more like a practical exercise where you get hands-on with concrete examples of all the stuff EC has been discussing for years. I think it'll be an invaluable addition to informing people about the hows and whys of game design. :)
This is one of my favorite show formats on EC, and I really would like more. If you did one a week, I'd love it. Cheers to Other Dan.
Excellent designer insight! Moar pretty please!
holy carp! that secret block!
Watching this at increased speed made me feel like I was running out of time for some reason.
Yes! More of the same, please! Though I am not a designer, I find all of your content deepens my enjoyment and appreciation of games as a whole. Thanks for all you do, and looking forward to what's to come!
Definitely enjoyed this. There's so much subtlety in level design that many people miss (or, at the very least, I miss).
I love how you spent about five minutes to say everything Egoraptor said in a half-hour episode of Sequelitis.
Really? Good to know, I'll pass watching that...
I actually looked for a video like this after watching egoraptor's video, because i loved the idea behind it but not the style and length (and i wanted to convey this idea to my friends)
Gasp! Do more of these!
More please!
Awesome first episode, as an aspiring designer this is like an even more focused version of what I already love the show for.
I'm a product designer who always found extra credits interesting and useful but this new series is REALLY AWESOME. It's all the parts I like most in its own separate episode. Thanks for spinning it off into its own show Extra Credits a very wise decision.
This format would definitely work better as a 10 to 20 minute show, even if this means you'd only be able to do them monthly. That way you'd have time to analyse a whole level, not just part of one.
Also I presume you're intending to showcase examples of great level design in this show, but will you also do any on what you consider badly designed levels, with constructive criticism on how they could have been improved?
Yes. To quote Other Dan, "Sometimes bad design has the most to teach you." -Soraya
I understand now how I can learn how to play Mario so absurdly quickly. The design charm is shown clearly, by using in-game objects to make simple interactions that will make the player understand 80% of the whole mechanic in one level.
For a "short feedback loop" note you may have picked a good moment of the game, but not a good game as such - given that if you fail at the very end of the level, you have to start all over again (a staple of the genre for many, many years after Mario's debut). I understand the applicability in moment-to-moment gameplay, but I'm not sure if it was a big issue for level design back there.
Other than that, I think you've underdelivered a bit in this episode. You touched upon a few of the important things, and that's cool, but with an episode lasting only five minutes (instead of, say, ten) you can't really cover much ground, and you don't really "cover" it insomuch as you "glance over" it.
Sorry to be critical, don't take this the wrong way (much love for you guys!), but I think there's room for improvement here.
Agreed. The episodes need to be longer. It seems like a list of mechanics rather than a real meaty video.
EDIT: Disregard me.
"if you fail at the very end of the level, you have to start all over again" - I believe there are checkpoints in Mario games as old as this one. They are not marked by any sprite though (since clouds are shrubs, this isn't surprising).
Sorry to point it out but Super Mario Bros. has checkpoints, except for World 8.
This is actually a very good example since when you fall in the first hole, the game "respawns" you right before it so you get to try again. Maybe you're thinking about some other game?
Seeing as this is the first episode in the potential series you should probably look at this as a sort of teaser, a pilot episode if you will. They're just testing the waters to see if the reaction will match the amount of work they would need to put into the series. Also the "short feedback loop" was in reference to the very first Goomba seeing as these first two screens could be viewed as the Super Mario Bros tutorial this initial Goomba challenge creates a short feedback loop in which the player is punished by failing the challenge but only through the loss of in-game valuables aka lives, not real-world valuables aka time.
"if you fail at the very end of the level, you have to start all over again" You miss two things: the checkpoints, and the *coins*. The farther in a level a player dies, the more coins they'll have collected along the way, so they don't truly waste a full life. (Plus, going out of your way to play carefully will reward you with more tries.)
And there's not a lot of distance between the checkpoints; it's enough that the designers can make the player catch their rhythm through a difficulty curve, and not too much that they're expected to proceed unreasonable distances without making mistakes.
I really loved this episode, and I'd appreciate seeing more of this series. It never really thought of the game this way--I never realized how craftily placed EVERYTHING is in the first 30-seconds of Mario. Also? I never considered thinking about games this way. As a budding developer, it's a great thing to dissect games this way, much like an English class dissects classic literature to learn to write better. But nobody teaches this skill with games, so I really appreciate this new series. Keep 'em coming, guys!
I'm in love with the series already. Do it always. Also, maybe talking about the things you mention at the end, like the mario pyramid things, or something people might not have thought of on summoner's rift right at the beginning of the next episode, would help some people understand those things a little bit more. Not a lot of mention, just something like, "hey this is what that did". Other than that, love it. Love you guys!
You should try observing the tutorial of Shovel Knight.
In that game, every level introduces new elements very well.
This is similar to the videos that Egoraptor did about Castlevania and Megaman and how a game should teach the player the mechanics by them just playing the game rather than having to go through some BS tutorial.
I agree that tutorials should be avoided and replaced with clever design as far as possible, and I love both this as well as Egoraptor's Sequelitis.
However, tutorials shouldn't be frowned upon completely either.
Modern games are often too complex to cover every aspect as elegantly and on the go without any commentary as it is done here in the iconic 1-1 of SMB.
Arin for example tends to skip tutorials in modern games during playthroughs on Game Grumps entirely and ends up missing basic elements and making unnecessary mistakes because of that.
LinkEX MANU FUCKING AL.
Hey megaman! What are you gonna do now? Oh I dunno move right and... JUMPNSHOOT!!!
MisterSpeedStacking If your game isn't say Dwarf Fortress, you shouldn't have to read the manual if your game is all about mechanics.
more!
Please more of this. I am so exited for this show. I've been a longtime fan of extra credits and always enjoyed the in depth analysis of affordances the most.
Literally just watching this gives me so much inspiration for my first game
The 4 goombas in a row is a goomba parade! :D :D :D :D :D
theminer Roblox Videos *singing goomba parade song.*
Noooooooooo my completionist mind wants the rest of the level. Nooooooooooo.
MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR
I really enjoy this already, being a student who wants to enter the gaming industry, you are really helping people like myself understand certain design features. Thank you guys, I hope you continue this series and continue helping future designers.
I think this is one of the best things I've seen from this channel... You guys should definitely continue this series ^^
oh god, so much more. i lvoe game design, but coding is not my forté and DeVry University was such an enormous waste of time and money that it taught me NOTHING
DigiPen would be much better suited. If the college as a tv advertisement you're probably not going to get your money's worth.
If you really want to design games, just pick up javascript. It's simple enough for you to learn and you only need to know the basics to get you started on thinking game engines.
Basic flash skills teaches you enough animations for you to know how to draw sprites.
From there on, either master a coding of some form, or find a friend to code for you while you design the game.
I honestly think the indie and casuals scene is so big that is pretty much has a place for anyone with new ideas.
Super Mario Bros: Level 1-1 is like the Citizen Cain of Video games.
Very old and the main guy dies at the end. And also rosebud is a sled.
i cant think of why the pyramids are there. can someone explain please?
Jonathan Grayson Illuminati
and lizardmen. k thanks
XD
Jonathan Grayson Because there are other pyramids with similar design with a pit at the bottom after these pyramids. It's the next challenge.
thanks! i never thought about it that way. its kinda like ego raptors mega man sequelitis where he says that they teach you the mechanics of one thing at a time then they throw them together for a crzy challenge.
Wow. It is just unbelievable to see how much thought has been put into such an old game! This is so great!
Really gave me something to think about when designing levels, it's crazy how in depth every object was
People not taking all the coins makes me cringe
This is way overanalyzed.. If you asked about some of the things mentioned in this video to the devs, they'd probably be like "Uhhh, yeah, right, we completely did that on purpose!"
Well, there's the thing with game design. A lot of developers don't even know they're doing this. They just design the level around what feels right to play, and what is fair for the player. If the playtesters, say, get stuck on a pit and don't know what to do, a lot of times the developer will think "maybe I need to present a simpler version of the obstacle before that one to get the player to know what to do."
How can you be certain? To quote another video game internet personality, "Play Dr. Jekyl & Mr. Hyde on NES for two minutes" (paraphrasing) if you want to know how little a game can give you to teach you its parameters and rules. And you should seriously go do that. VirtualNES.com. You will learn how much thought must go into the opening segments of a game and how badly you can screw it up. Certainly it's possible that the accessible conveyance of SMB is chance, but one, that's a pretty big fuckin' chance, and two, boy did they fucking screw up REALLY, REALLY WELL.
Either way, it still teaches us to think critically about level design. It's a good exercise and I appreciate learning it
You sound like that one idiot in everyone's high school and college literature class who thought that authorial intent was somehow relevant.
Games from 20 years ago were either: super well designed or flopped hard at it. Fewer resources means the developer can't miss his initial goal. Developing nowadays is nowhere near easy, but with the internet most games can be patched up.
Before I watched this video, I had no idea that holding down the jump button makes Mario jump higher.
When I was a kid, playing this game for the first time, I only ever tapped it to jump, and then just left my thumb off the button until I needed to jump again later. It never occurred to me to hold it down.
The flagpole at the end of the level was what taught me to run jump. I saw I got more points for jumping higher up the flagpole so experimented with ways of doing that until I found holding B and jumping let me hit the flag at the top.
However I believe almost every jump in the original Super Mario Brothers can be made without running at all as long as you make smaller jumps between platforms, a testament to the design that allows both slow jumping and run jumping depending on player skill level.
In the Japan Mario 2 or "The Lost Levels" on the SNES, a good half of the last of the game required full run jumping and almost pixel perfect precision, but I guess that game was all about giving players a punishing challenge, damn you evil poisonous mushrooms!.
Hatty Cat Same here. I remember at first I'd just walk off the platform and walk up to the flagpole. Then one day I got the notion to try to jump over it and that was the first time I hit the 5000 spot. That was a major 'aha' moment.
+Jay - so u never got past the first quarter of the level?! -xD,
haven't entered game design at all, but I do love the lenses given by this show and the episodes of EC that also approach from directions and with a specific focus.
Wow, im not a designer myself, but it is fascinating to see games examined in this fashion. I very much would like to see more of this sort of thing.
I had a sudden clarity moment on (web) design:
RUclips videos and comments, have "thumbs down". Why does RUclips allows negative feedback on opinion based content? Why give the naysayer a tool to attack the opinions of others? If we want to tell how popular something is, just the thumbs up should be enough.
Just some food for thought
Actually, it's the exact opposite. If you want to tell how popular something is, having just the thumbs up skews the information. A video with 200 likes and 1300 dislikes is probably not higher quality than a video with 100 likes and 3 dislikes. But if you don't have the dislikes, you're getting a false image of the video's popularity.
do you know how many trolls abuse that thumbs up system?
The number of views divided by the number of likes should be enough to just determine the popularity. I get a feeling that downvotes are a tool to trigger more discussions and thus engagement (flame wars) under a video but I don't know...
Κώστας Λουπασάκης yeah it's not that simple.
I am not against, or with, the current voting system. I am just wondering if it server the purpose we think it serves.
The question that nobody addressed yet remains: What kind of behaviour does the current voting system encourage?
It's very easy to say that "the vote system exist to let you know if the video you are seing is popular", but in the end do you even care? The first 2-3 seconds of the video are those that make you decide if you keep watching anyway.
Upvotes also allow to easily share a video you like, and find other relevant videos.
Maybe downvotes don't have the power we think they do?
Maybe they only exist because "everyone in facebook complains about a lack of dislike button"?
Or maybe I am overthinking it?
i cringed when you left behind that coin at 5:11...
this seems a bit exaggerated. giving meaning to some things that probably didnt have much thought put into it.
Nope everything about stage 1-1 was very deliberate. This game was designed for a player base of people who are adopting their very first video game.
Exactly. That's what I thought through this whole thing. They tried to make random decisions and technical limitations seem like purposeful decisions. Talk about reaching for content. Jeez. But this whole channel has been starting to devolve into crap like this.
***** weren't you paying attention to the video? This game wasn't made by a group of monkeys and had good design choices.
I'm talking to you too inmate1011001.
There's a reason that these old Nintendo games (and most of the newer ones) have levels that are so much fun to play through. It's because every single thing, down to the last goomba, is very carefully thought-out.
Shigeru Miyamoto himself has said that your first level in your game should not be designed until all of the core gameplay mechanics are finalized, so that you can effectively and concisely introduce them to the player. Nintendo has followed this idea since the beginning.
Nintendo isn't the only company to do this either. Any really good level designer will think about every addition they make and its effects on the player's experience, and will try especially hard in the earliest stretches to give the player a great first impression.
"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."
- Leonardo da Vinci
I would love to see more of this! Don't be afraid to bore us with game design, this is what we are here for! By the way, my congratulations for all of you who take part in this awesome channel!
More of this and more in-depth! This is the coolest thing since the gamification of education series!
This is immediately my second favourite show on the channel. I think it could also be a great opportunity to go through your remix music - start out with the original track, then shift into some remixes throughout the video. Beats having to listen to the same notes again and again. Also, I one hundred percent reccomend Egoraptor's Sequelitis episodes for those of you interested in game design, and I can also see that Dan was also inspired by them when making this video.
I basically knew most of this, (even the secret pipe and 1up) but the explanation of how the things were positioned really got me mind-blown.
Good start to this series. Really informative, smoothly edited, and pretty funny too. I'd like to see more!
This is a good idea for the channel because it doesn't vary from the main theme: the growth of gaming through time. I would love to see more similar content, especially on older games, and possibly gradual progression to more recent ones. In particular, it would be fun to see progression through popular series like Zelda to show risks taken to make improvements in design as well as flaws.
Yeah I really love this show! It's super fun and interesting to find out that every single block and obstacle is there for a reason. And its cool to see how game designers can crawl into your head and teach you about an entire game without any dialogue or tutorial. And when you find out what that game designer was doing, it freaks you out! It's really awesome and fun. Keep it up!