I wonder how you, especially big and complicated levels creators, planing and executing your designs? Did you use external programs, just draw idea sketches or maybe doing everything from scratch? With limited editor possibilities, using right workflow can save a lot of time and frustration. PS. I've just draw/note my ideas on paper and try it on different editor cards. If it works put them together in one level card.
Usually I would think.. and think.. and think.. and after I'm sure how I'd make the levels (the mechanics that would be used) the I'll spend hours making the level. Because not trying right away, sometimes my idea gets shattered because what I think as possible turned out to be impossible.
Genrally I think of an idea and try to implement it (almost always a theme or game mechanic idea). Like making a moving ship, making a pinball using slopes or using statues as part of a level. Along the way I add things that seem to work and fit the theme. If I discover something that I didn't know about and can be used in other levels I'll create one just to experient with it. The most important part is creativity!!
i think of a concept i like, or i think about using a conceot that has already been used, amd i try to make a level with that. once i made the gameplay, i attempt to decorate it with some extra blocks.
I'm a writer and designer. Like most other creative pursuits, I start by looking at stuff I like and copying ideas that I like. I don't try to copy anyone else's work. Rather I see a cool idea used by someone else then try to incorporate that idea or several ideas into into a single concept. For example, I've used a lot of cranes. I've gone up, out, folded, rotating, I'll try anything. Then I move on to the next idea and carry forward any idea that worked particularly well.
I just create all that come into my head. I choose the best out of this and decorate it. Only then I add it in album. to create a level I do not usually take a lot of time. eg "guther cube" I created somewhere in 15 minutes
I get an idea, mostly based on a specific mechanic. I usually try to test it in some part and then build on that. I've noticed my levels tend to end up consisting of a number smaller micro-worlds. I always test play every micro-world before moving on to the next one. In some cases I build from the beginning (like http://mekoramaforum.com/media/to-fall-or-not.1212/ ), but in most cases I build it from the end and add stuff until the level feels full/finished. I've noticed that when I don't work backwards the levels end up having some part I'm less satisfied with as it is the only thing I could fit it (like the red brick-section on the level linked above). Then there is always some tweaking in the end to make the level more attractive/less obvious. EDIT: Should add that this process means that the same concept results in vary various types of levels with the same idea. Both Levels Information Recent Comments Album: Levels created by fabian Uploaded By: FabianS Date: Jun 14, 2016 View Count: 1,724 Comment Count: 3 AVC Entertaining and original. MomoKeego Yikes, oh, it's definitely fall & fall & fall again, then more falling. It's a good thing B bounces. :rotf: He got the win, tho. :D IvanPnha This lvl I love it To fall or not? by FabianS posted Jun 14, 2016 at 4:34 PM and Levels Information Recent Comments Album: Levels created by fabian Uploaded By: FabianS Date: Jun 14, 2016 View Count: 1,742 Comment Count: 2 AVC This is great. Challenging and slightly demented. Excellent mechanics. Fabian levels never disappoint! MomoKeego One star off for the fd that can get the win. Otherwise, it's interesting to explore. There's no obvious path, so I had B making some risky moves to get where access to the win was possible. Did that by getting him to the white space and then an autopilot to get in the right area. The fd came in handy to push him around. :D Patience Puzzle by FabianS posted Jun 14, 2016 at 4:31 PM are based on the same thought (one big wall moving back and forth over the level). Still haven't perfected that line of thought though...
Yikes, oh, it's definitely fall & fall & fall again, then more falling. It's a good thing B bounces. :rotf: He got the win, tho. :D
This is great. Challenging and slightly demented. Excellent mechanics. Fabian levels never disappoint!
One star off for the fd that can get the win. Otherwise, it's interesting to explore. There's no obvious path, so I had B making some risky moves to get where access to the win was possible. Did that by getting him to the white space and then an autopilot to get in the right area. The fd came in handy to push him around. :D
Well, sometimes I try to create something from real life (like a sport or a mechanism), or sometimes I just keep experimenting. There are also days when I don't even play Mekorama... then after a while inspiration hits and BOOM! 2 levels created at once. Then again, I might not be the best one to ask since I only have 3 creative levels right now... Don't mind the bowling one; that's mostly a failure, but still fun to play sometimes.
Tbh I didn't really have a particular workflow until recently. I used to only brainstorm by randomly creating stuff in the Editor mode (it was how I came up with Nakagin Capsule's final roof design and increased its total move count by ~20), or by copying an official level and mess with it by changing bits and pieces (Had a lot of fun trying to pack different mechanisms into 5x5x5's compact space ). Lately I have come to realize that in order to create ingenious levels, firstly I should just come up with an original mechanism and design a specific environment with that idea as the foundation. Then of course not every idea would work as expected due to certain limitations in the game's physics, so there's gonna be a lot of trial-and-error, especially for precision-type levels.
For the moment, I start from a challenging idea or an interesting concept, then I build arround. No paper, no plans, just exploring ideas: balls rolling to theirs origine, hidden mechanisms, robot dancing on a ball or blocks,... For the most, I spend maybe 2-3 hours to build. But not for Headache... it is the last I did (for now) and it was the most challenging and puzzling to me, as I thought to this even while sleeping ! This is the one I decided to test a lot before posting. I am not sure if it will be solved till the end but I already think about another level based on it, simpler, just focused on the main mechanism inside the box. My usual hunger when I create: where is the Undo button !!! (as many time the block I wanna remove is not the one removed...) :mad:
@Gepeto An Undo button would be great. I also really hope there'll be a Selection tool for us to highlight large sections of the level and move them around / copy & paste them, instead of erasing all the blocks and redraw them one by one just because you wanna move that section around. Then it'd also be much more efficient if I could just tap and drag my finger to draw a line of blocks automatically. I also think that a bird's-eye view in the Editor mode would be useful.
@cpw A selection tool, what a good idea. I see that we face all the same difficulties by erasing and redrawing blocks everytime just to correct one bad stuff. If a selection tool could be combine with options like copy/paste, it could be great to have a kind of "transparency" option too where each block selected switches to a non selectable semi-transparent mode to access and view the blocks behind. When the selection mode is disabled then everything goes back to a normal mode. I don't know what is possible to @Martin Magni but as he is developping in C language, maybe everything could be done
Thought it might be interesting to revive this thread since we've gotten so many new creators around. Well, I've been making levels for months now, and I must say that my approach has been evolving since then......I used to create tricks-free levels back then when I had no knowledge of any tricks, and I must also say that I learned a great deal by starting with remakes of the original 50 levels. Then (starting from my Wall Huggers) I began to realize the need to focus on a particular mechanism / trick and build a level making use of it, but I was still mostly focused on thinking of new ways to implement existing tricks, and would only start a new card when I have a new idea. It's only until recently I started to fiddle with random stuff in the Editor mode and try to explore new tricks on my own, and I must say that I wish I could have started this earlier.
All my levels arise out of my wondering about things I've noticed about the mechanics of the mekorama world. My most recent level arose out of wondering how one could "push" a zapper bot by using an R bot as an intermediary, and then experimenting to see how small a tower could be when doing so. I also keep an eye on mechanisms I see in the work of others, and think about alternate uses for them.
So far I just have an idea that interests me, then plunge in to try it out. No previous designs or sketches. No forethought or planning. Maybe not the best method, but that's how I do things at the moment.
When I have ideas, I often use legos to build a model before making some big levels. Sometimes I can build a level within 10 minutes but sometimes I need 1 week!
Hello creators and players! What method do you use to create levels? Design everything before beginning the assembly or begin to cosstruir and modify when the ideas arise.
I use an organic design approach, with zero plan of what a level will look like. I also try to come back up with my own problems and solutions without copying others (which is near on impossible as there are so many levels out there and others have gone before me no doubt with the same design problems/solutions). But it is *oh so* satisfying when you set yourself a problem which you finally solve after many hours trying... For example: within the last level I designed ("The Cannon") I wanted to use a windmill to lift the bot across a gap, took me *ages* to work out how to achieve what I wanted and I could have found the solution in a fraction of the time through a forum but that would have destroyed the challenge of design, which is half the fun for me. The result of course is that it takes me a long time to design a level and I end up undoing and rebuilding chunks, then receive critical review which I use to help improve my design skills for next time.
