Level Design: Single Player vs. Multiplayer and Rewards System BY: AARON MCKAY

Single Player Considerations:  Control:  Advantage: The player more control over what happens.  Don’t have to rely on someone else.  Balancing Issues:  Designer might misjudge skill level required for a certain part of the level, leading to frustration for the player.  Narrative Possibilities:  Most of the time it is easier to aim narrative elements at a single person rather than a group

Multiplayer  Some types of gameplay:  Cooperative Play  Versus  Deathmatch  Capture the Flag  Competitive Sports Gaming

Multiplayer Level Design Considerations  Enhanced routes and challenges:  Ex: One person distracts, the other person steals  Ex: May require one person to stand on one switch and the other person on another switch in order to open a door.  Human Element:  Unexpected strategies – Better at coming up with these strategies and also at countering them.  Competitive Challenges

Hybrids  Many games are designed with single and multiplayer in mind.  They might create a story mode for the people who like single player, and an online mode for those who prefer multiplayer.

Rewards Systems  Humans are predictable when it comes to punishment and rewards.  In level design, it is important to use a combination of punishments and rewards in order to enforce or discourage certain behaviors in the game.  Example: In multiplayer friendly fire is on, but if you kill your ally then your team loses points and you have a longer respawn time.  Example: Encourage teamwork by giving more team points for assisted kills than individual kills.

Consensual (Temporary) Submission  You willingly follow what others say. There is no punishment for not surrendering to what others say.  Example: You have a music instructor and you temporarily submit yourself to their authority on the subject. However, if the teacher asks you to do his/her shopping for them, then it is taken as unrelated and ignored.

Other Considerations  Fairness: There needs to be some level of fairness involved. People won’t stick to a game which favors one individual over the another. Even in games like Juggernaut, it is several lower powered people vs. one super powered individual to even out the game.  Investment and payoff:  Reward systems are important for keeping people playing a game. Some of the most popular games are good at this: WOW, LOL….These games have their own form of currency so that the more a user plays, the more they make. They can then use these points to buy in game items and characters. Users also continue to play because after a while, a large amount of time has been dedicated to the game, which makes it hard to give up.