2D Game Design Research

Tutorials

In the original Super Mario game they had a slow start to allow the player to gradually gain confidence and learn the games mechanics. I would like to use something like this in my game such as an easy first room that lets the player get used to the movement and combat of my game. Then after the first room the difficulty and amount of enemies will slowly increase to keep the game interesting for players who have been playing for a longer period of time.

Design

As this will be my first game I need to keep it simple  so that i am able to code it and design it myself with a minimum amount of help. However after i have completed the game and improved my skills i could go back and improve upon it adding more complex mechanics such as new fight styles and enemy types.

Because my game will be simple i will put a lot more work into the art style and level design of it to keep it interesting. To do this i’ll put interesting things in the background design  to draw players attention to it.

Audio

I would like to add music and atmospheric sounds to my game to show when the player is in a fight and to have some background noise to stop the game getting boring and repetitive. I would also like to add sound effects to the jumping and attacks of the player and enemies to add an element of realism to the game.

Collectibles and Currency

Many games use collectibles as a way of enticing players to explore the world they have created and to get them to play levels multiple times to achieve the collectibles. I would also like to introduce a type of currency to have a means of gaining new items, for example weapons and armour.