However, my perception of game level construction changed when I played H.E.R.O. (Helicopter Emergency Rescue Operations). If you'd like to experience it or relive the nostalgia, there's an emulator available here.
Of course, I had no idea of the term "level design" at that time, nor did I dream of becoming a game designer. But the game introduced me to exactly that: how to create a level of increasing challenge using game design components. In the following video, you can see a complete playthrough of the game's twenty levels.
On a limited platform like the Atari, it's evident that Activision performed a miracle by managing to incorporate so many challenges and features – despite the memory limitations of the time. The most interesting aspect is that H.E.R.O. showed me something that I began to look for in other games afterward (even at my young age): the possibility of traversing through varied scenarios with diverse challenges – at the end of this post, I will mention other titles in which I found this, still on the Atari.
As Adams and Rollings point out, level design is the process of constructing the experience that will be offered directly to the player, using components provided by the game designer. Level designers create the space in which the game unfolds, the initial conditions of the level, the set of challenges that the player will face within the level, the conditions for completing it, the interaction between gameplay and the game's story, and the aesthetics of the level. (2009, pp.399-400). Basically, something that we can summarize in the following image:
Thus, we can say that H.E.R.O., along with other titles, inaugurated a creative thinking oriented towards level design on the Atari platform – just as, in this period, we also began to see computer games explore this feature with greater mastery. Levels that, in addition to offering the dangers of enemies, force the player to spend their resources intelligently and strategically.
H.E.R.O. was a milestone in my life. For opening my eyes to broader possibilities of experiencing games. Still on the Atari, two other games that marked me greatly for the same characteristic were Adventure and Keystone Kapers. Another change – within the question of level design – that changed my view of games were the rogue-likes. However, this is a topic for another post.
#GoGamers
Reference:
ADAMS, Ernest; ROLLINGS, Andrew. Fundamentals of Game Design. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009
