Comments on: Designing Mazes as Game Levels Maybe its just me, but I personally hate mazes. Spending ages walking around the same level because you missed a turning is incredibly boring; its one of the things which always turned me off about maze shooters like doom. I'm a big fan of open levels, where the plotline consists of going from place to place, and each place has some reason to visit it again multiple times. One of my favorite levels in a video game of all time is the "Garbage" level in the first two STALKER games; not only is it a source of income, but there are the constant battles with bandits to make it interesting. No mazes, just a dozen or so landmarks. Maybe its just me, but I personally hate mazes. Spending ages walking around the same level because you missed a turning is incredibly boring; its one of the things which always turned me off about maze shooters like doom. I’m a big fan of open levels, where the plotline consists of going from place to place, and each place has some reason to visit it again multiple times. One of my favorite levels in a video game of all time is the “Garbage” level in the first two STALKER games; not only is it a source of income, but there are the constant battles with bandits to make it interesting. No mazes, just a dozen or so landmarks.

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By: Lloyd/2011/04/16/designing-mazes-as-game-levels/#comment-3635 Lloyd Thu, 05 May 2011 16:10:40 +0000 My fondest earliest memory of a 3D game was one called WayOut which involved being chased around by a scary buzzing flashing cube inside a large 3D maze. It wasn't the first 3D game I played but it was the first that gave me that real spine-chilling sense of really feeling immersed within game and it was lovely. My first 'deathmatch' experience was a dozen guys stuffed in a small apartment with half as many Atari STs playing MIDIMAZE in which giant smiley faces would chase & shoot each other inside a maze. I've had quite a few ideas for multiplayer maze games since. One I'll throw out there is an M.C. Escher-esque 3D grid maze game in which gravity is player-independent and only changes by another player (by their 'weapon' like grenade or bomb), and the only way to die is by falling or being crushed. With the maze editable Minecraft-style, it could make for some fun building traps. My fondest earliest memory of a 3D game was one called WayOut which involved being chased around by a scary buzzing flashing cube inside a large 3D maze. It wasn’t the first 3D game I played but it was the first that gave me that real spine-chilling sense of really feeling immersed within game and it was lovely. My first ‘deathmatch’ experience was a dozen guys stuffed in a small apartment with half as many Atari STs playing MIDIMAZE in which giant smiley faces would chase & shoot each other inside a maze.

I’ve had quite a few ideas for multiplayer maze games since. One I’ll throw out there is an M.C. Escher-esque 3D grid maze game in which gravity is player-independent and only changes by another player (by their ‘weapon’ like grenade or bomb), and the only way to die is by falling or being crushed. With the maze editable Minecraft-style, it could make for some fun building traps.

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By: Neo/2011/04/16/designing-mazes-as-game-levels/#comment-2867 Neo Sat, 16 Apr 2011 16:58:28 +0000