How I Make GREAT Metroidvania Levels // Amber's Tale

[@LazyTeaStudios]

To try everything Brilliant has to offer, free, for a full 30 days, visit brilliant.org/LazyTeaStudios/ - You’ll also get 20% off an annual premium subscription.

[@artIfactuaI]

Metroidvania games are so much fun

[@LazyTeaStudios]

They really are! There's so much to them! Has to be one of the best genres of game out there!

[@d00mnoodle24]

I have played over 80 MV's and still crave more, send help please

[@LazyTeaStudios]

@d00mnoodle24 frantically finishes Amber's Tale to become 81st!

[@d00mnoodle24]

@@LazyTeaStudios nah take your time, maybe it become the 100th that way 👀

[@d00mnoodle24]

I get that HK is Good but there's so many games with amazing level design that are overlooked. Haiku the robot, FIST forged in shadow torch, blasphemous, ghost song and especially Ori. Personally i think that ori has THE best level design because every biome has unique gameplay which is important to me. Biomes need a gameplay and visual identity, too many MV's have biomes just act like colour variations without unique gameplay. To hear amber's tale will focus on unique gameplay for biomes is great

[@LazyTeaStudios]

I totally agree! Mister morris games and Haiku the robot is actually the second metroidvania that inspired my journey! Ive mentioned in a few other videos before :D I went with hollow knight rather than Ori primarily as it is more attainable to most. Ori had a team of over 30 people working on it so comparing yourselves to hollow knight, a team of 3-5 it more realistic in most scenarios. Im glad you like the idea for biome diversity! I honestly think itll add so much to repeatability and creating a real learning curve though the game!

[@PurePurposeStudios]

Very insightful! Worth the wait to step 3, I see why it is the most important point 🤔

[@LazyTeaStudios]

Thank you! Im glad you liked it!!!

[@Skeffles]

Fascinating to see just how much thought and skill goes into your metroidvania!

[@LazyTeaStudios]

Im glad you like it! Yeah theres a lot more than most presume! Its a topic I find so interesting honestly! So my psychology behind everything when it comes to game design...

[@socialkidmusic]

I love the way you organize your game projects. Makes dev so much cleaner. :D

[@dreadwinter]

11:55 There is no way the player got hit there.

[@LazyTeaStudios]

Haha yeah that enemy has a few bugs we're ironing out still 😂

[@dianasvibesmusic5732]

I am very impressed with how much thought has gone into this game already! Love the fact that we get to see the behind-the-scenes! 🥰 ps. who is that cute gamer girl haha 😛😂

[@LazyTeaStudios]

I wonder ;) she looks very familiar haha

[@Introverts_Unleashed]

Can I just point out! That Lazy Tea branded hat! 🧢 love it! 🤩😄

[@LazyTeaStudios]

Haha It is VERY comfy! :p

[@jefftroidvania]

I'm not a game dev but from everything I've learned watching videos like this is that video games are much like any other form of media. It's often just as much about what the player DOESN'T see than it is about what they DO see. The original Halo used the same exact rock asset for every rock in the game. It's just repositioned in different ways to look like different rocks lol

[@LazyTeaStudios]

Exactly! There is so much stuff under the hood of games, especially indies who don't have huge budgets that help draw as much potential out of every small thing we can! It's truelynisnpiring seeing some of the genius other indies have been able to do and their through processes behind their ideas!

[@geekpotion]

Thank you so much for this. Map and level design is what my biggest problem with game design,

[@LazyTeaStudios]

Glad I could help! It can be really intimidating for sure... I hope this helps make it even a little bit easier :D

[@bagoheado9065]

okay this is GOOD explaining the theory but also showing how to actually make them! I can't believe I didn't know folders existed in unity's hierarchy. legit have put stuff inside game objects and used them as folders to manage the projects gah!!

[@LazyTeaStudios]

Thanks I'm glad you liked it! Technically these folders are game objects just with a different icon. But there are loads of free add-ons that create this functionality and it's honestly a game changer when it comes to organisation so I'd recommend them!

[@RelyeaGaming]

Been following a while. Looking forward to seeing how your game turns out

[@LazyTeaStudios]

Thanks Relyea! Hopefully ell have a demo for you in a few months 😉🎉

[@idontknow8898]

Definitely interested in seeing you break down your levels! I think getting granular on that would be class! 😁 👍

[@LazyTeaStudios]

Will do! Gonna go deep with that one

[@Grogeous_Maximus]

**slow dramatic zoom done in post, because it's dramatic** You're doing great with your voice alone, mate. You don't need the editing tricks

[@LazyTeaStudios]

To be fair the zooms a drag and drop effect that took 3 mins to do the whole video 😂 man's got the effeicany down at this point haha Thank you though! That's really kind of you to say!

[@SnotjeXIV]

Great video again!

[@LazyTeaStudios]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@drakoronus]

Wow, this video is a great help! Subbed and wishlisted :) But I have a question, how do you open multiple scenes/rooms at once like here 8:26? I've been struggling with aligning the rooms myself and always thought that would help, but couldn't find a way!

[@LazyTeaStudios]

Thank you! I'm glad it helped!!! It's actually super easy! If you right click on a scene, there will be an option that says open screen additive. That'll just layer the scene on top of existing ones. You're actually able to do this at runtime as well having multiple scenes loaded at once using loadscene(nameOfScene, Loadmode.additive)

[@drakoronus]

@LazyTeaStudios thanks!!

[@Raphael-ys1uq]

yeah

[@GameDevDiamond]

Luv ur cap

[@LazyTeaStudios]

Thank you! Just arrived this week! Loving it!

[@karayi7239]

A bit of a tangential question, what do you think of backtracking in metriodvanias? Would you say Hollow Knight is guilty of making it "too long" or "too uneventful/boring"(especially coupled with sparse benches), or is it just a part of the genre that fans appreciate?

[@LazyTeaStudios]

I think when hollow knight released it took a lot of inspiration from the souls genre specifically which meant less benches and more punishing trips across the world. In relation to backtracking I think there needs to be a good balance between reason and reward. When you backtrack and collect. Anew charm for example it would only feel good if it is something you would use. That's why it felt unrewarding a lot as you were limited in slots and you would already have a preferred build at the time you start backtracking so the reward didn't outweigh the cost of making the journey a lot of the time. Finding a way to make this worthwile I think is the key to making it fulfilling. Not an easy job but there will be ways it can be done game to game

[@vladimirwyzykowski8303]

what tools do you use to draw your map and plan the concept of your levels?

[@LazyTeaStudios]

I use Acesprite, it's the software I use for all pixel art and just so happens to work for doodles too haha

[@joelgraff6550]

Suggestion: Your character is difficult to focus on. Many games that have a dark overall color palette will increase the value of their player. The Hollow Knight character even has a bit of bloom to it in order to help the game's user follow its motion through the scenes.

[@LazyTeaStudios]

I agree! We've dabbled with adding a glow around the player and other such things... Just trying to settle on one. But eventually we will probs change the design of the character slightly to make her stand out a little more...

[@francopispico5750]

For my game design I am watching lot of video of different game and screenshots them on my pc, so when I am building levels for my game I glimpse the screenshots and so I can build better ,😂😂 I think this work good ( sorry for my English I hope all understand me)😂😂

[@LazyTeaStudios]

Thats a great way to do it! I do the exact same thing too... another thing that helps is checking to see if the games have interactive map. like hollow knight has one so you can scroll though and see every level and move around it online which is a great tool for level design!

[@LlamaWarrior101]

Wishlisted your game!

[@LazyTeaStudios]

Thank you so much!

[@LazyTeaStudios]

If you have any questions or want feedback join the discord server! discord.com/invite/45s74r6rNM

[@Difinitive-thoughts]

Just to tell you, at some point, you tube is going to remove putting links in ads. Don't know specifically when, this is just warning you. :)

[@XonosOnYtb]

Soooo usefull ❤

[@LazyTeaStudios]

Thank you! Hope it was worth the wait 😅 any questions at all I'm happy to help

[@daniyalchaudhry1408]

I see Silksong. I see Will of the Wisps. I click

[@daniyalchaudhry1408]

Good vid no regrets

[@LazyTeaStudios]

Ayyyyy thank you! ♥️

[@ThatDwag69]

WaitI just realised that even the mc of your game looke very similar to the mc of Rusted Moss......IS THAT A REFRENCE?!?!

[@LazyTeaStudios]

Soooo that is a pure coincidence 😂

[@bonzero]

careful with the overdraw of putting sprites one over the other.. tilemaps are created to avoid that

[@LazyTeaStudios]

Will do! We have a system in place to manage the sprite and load and remove them dynamically in a level so you're only loading what is visible 😉

[@artIfactuaI]

:D

[@LazyTeaStudios]

:D

[@richbuilds_com]

"#3 is probably the most important!" Why isn't in #1 then?

[@LazyTeaStudios]

As we're working chronologically 😄 it's the most important, and most neglected step but it doesn't mean it should be done first

[@ourjoy2x527]

U gotta redesign Amber dude, the rest of the game has a nice and unique look to it but Amber's design has nothing standout about it, I forget what she looks like between each of ur uploads

[@LazyTeaStudios]

That's fair, something we do need to work on. We'll probs look at giving her some kind of armour in game or something that has a more defined style to it.. we'll play around at some point and see what sticks! Thank you!

[@AgyeinimAppiahBoateng-ok6df]

Hi a

[@LazyTeaStudios]

Hey;

[@MuffinDev]

This comment is only for the algorithm

[@LazyTeaStudios]

Thank you hahaha you're a real hero!

[@sergioromero4107]

As a huge metroidvania fan I would also recommend this talk by Enrique Collinet (Baxayaun), where he explains in detail (in Spanish) how they worked to develop Blasphemous and especially from his section, how they worked on the design of the world, the areas and the levels. Really give it a chance because it is gold made video! kzbin.info/www/bejne/pnrTmXWXq6pnbZYsi=HeC333nPebxJ97fr&t=1068

[@sergioromero4107]

He is the LEVEL DESIGNER of Blasphemous I & II ;)

[@LazyTeaStudios]

Oh that's gonna be priceless! I'll get that saved for sometime this week! Thank you!