MegaMan Maker Level 2 - Jungle Jettison - 3/27/23

        In our first adventure with Mega Man Maker, we were tasked to make a desert tutorial level. While that level came and went with healthy evolution through its several iterations, it was time to really sink our teeth into some real hard core level design. This time around, our goal was to design a late-game level with a healthy challenge and jungle setting. To keep things fresh, I tried exploring different tropes on the jungle theme. Instead of starting right in the jungle, I decided to spawn the player in the holding bay of a plane / airship. By insisting the player to dive off the platform, I built trust with them and established the vertical flow of the level. 

        After freefalling from the back of the airship, the player lands on the shoreline of a tropical jungle island. Shooting their way through a wall of scrap metal, our player finds themselves at the foot of an ancient stone temple, though something is off. Dr. Wily's insignia is proudly plastered on the façade, and the main entrance is barricaded by a large, metal door. The surrounding area is littered with cargo and storage crates. It is here the player is introduced to the Super Arrow- a unique attack that deals what appears to be barely above average damage, but its true purpose is in its platforming abilities. With it, players can scale walls and even hop onto an arrow for a ride. 

        

        To keep things simple, the intended surfaces to use the power on were usually indicated with a unique type of tile. Players were very receptive to this designation and not one play tester didn't immediately understand what was conveyed. Rather or not this broke their immersion was not verbally mentioned, though one player did comment that he appreciated that the unique surfaces were just different enough from the other tiles that their presence was made clear, but not obnoxiously overstated. 

        At the end of the platforming section, the players are faced with a barrel enemy that flings projectiles. Forcing them to use everything they've learned with the super arrow, players were now expected to scale a wall, jump to a ladder, and get a key- all done while being bombarded by the enemy. Some players reached the ladder and got enough shots in to kill the enemy and nearly every player who didn't kill the opposition was able to get through the section by making a run for the door, but one unfortunate player had an immensely difficult time. 

        When I asked him what his thoughts were, he mentioned being frustrated that there isn't an weapon charger nearby, but when I suggested the charger in the room directly below, he realized he never noticed it and the whole ordeal became rather humorous. To make things even simpler, a future iteration would definitely see the checkpoint being placed behind the charger to make it clearly noticeable. 

        One player took an extra second to realize the first tree on the left was a wall, but figured things out within a few seconds. This was hardly an issue and I’m unsure rather this is even something that would require rework since the difference in recognition was just shy of a couple seconds.

    

Once the key is collected and the door unlocks, the player is immediately shot at by two cannonpellers. I was unsure how to introduce the oil slider power, so this section might require a rework. The sliding portion is good, but I forgot to remove the arrow power, so one player just used that to traverse the pit. Besides that, many players were slightly annoyed that they would almost immediately take damage, so this is definitely something I’d change in the next iteration. I would probably make the transition wall dynamic to alleviate the pacing, and probably remove the second cannonpeller.

        Next, the player shoots their way through a village overtaken by Wiley’s robots. Since the gunman enemies have a simple attack, no players had an issue with this section.

        
        Following the village, players take a short flight down to the back of the temple. Here, a health charger and weapon charger prepare the player for the final charge.

        
        Using the oil power, the players glide across the water over piranhas and making one last mad dash for the end goal. They enjoyed the short adventure and requested to see even more of the level in a future iteration.