About Coop - Part 3

COOP DYNAMIC = PING PONG
As always in level design, pacing is a critical part, and on top of the standard action curve + attention to contrast + following the blueprint, you'll want to pay some special attention to the coop dynamic.

• Ping Pong
  Think of coop missions as a ping-pong game where players are constantly sending the ball to each other. Each player must be the key progression element on a short regular basis.
  i.e. "One pulls the lever to keep the door open, the other steps in, and moves a crate to prevent the door to shut down completely, and so on and so forth..."
  The last thing you want is one player constantly being the centre piece to any action.

• Breaking the team......temporarily ;)
  It can be interesting to setup "one time" single player traps to spice up the action.
  As one player is struggling with the trap, the other can help and save the day >> good for the team emotional bond.
  i.e. first player falls through the floor. The other has to help him while he is being attack + throw down a rope to help him out.
• Track Archetype vs World interactions How each player / archetype can interact with the world and make the mission progress, where are specific ammo/resources placed. Unless intentional, you don't want one player/archetype to get all the fun and attention.

• Player Exchanges
  if your game allows for direct player interaction (sharing ammo, reviving or healing friends, Skills synergy, etc) try to build situations highlighting them. They build up the team feeling.

COOP PATHS = I SEE YOU

• Together
  80% of the time if not more, players should share the same space / action.
  Then, you'll sometimes want to destabilize your players by forcing them away from each other.  If you've created an efficient coop setup this separation should be lived as a moment of stress (remember players should feel that they can't make it alone)

• Parallel

• Playing together in the same space doesn't mean you have to step on each others toes.
  I strongly suggest you open up some space by building parallel paths where each player can see each other.
  i.e. facades/rooftops on each side of a street, cliff paths separated by a torrent, etc.
  This way...
• Players aren't stuck on the same rail
• They still follow each other / see each other
• Clear mapping / good control of "who does what" (if you are on path A, you'll deal with actions related to it)
• Opportunities to provide different view angles on the situation >> reinforcing player communication

OPEN SITUATIONS

Opening the playground in coop action means you must pay some special attention to a few points.
You don't want players to just feel like they are "in the same world", you want them to be part of the same team.

• Don't break the unity
  One of the risk is to break the team momentum by having 2 players aiming for 2 different goals. i.e. While player A needs player B to solve his current pb, B on his side is waiting for A to progress. Who should move and join the other?
  Try to avoid that ;)
• Strong accessibility needed As soon as people aren't together, you must make sure it's easy for them to catch up, with strong landmarks and clear paths.
  Nothing worse than having 1 player waiting for the other because he lost his way :-/

• Make it a dangerous place
  One way to solve the problem is to have a place too dangerous to be explored alone. Players have the freedom...as a team.

• Coop Gates
  Another solution is to use Coop Gates : player can explore and move around solo, but they'll soon find a "coop gate" requiring the team to be passed.
• i.e. Objective = Find X batteries to power the door system.
  Both player can spread and gather the batteries, but they'll soon have to regroup to 1) grabb some batteries they can't reach alone 2) complete the objective as 1 player protect the other while he links the batteries.
• Game Design needed = Communicate + Interact
  Being physically together is not the only solution :)
  What's important to the coop feeling is player interaction + feeling like you are part of a team.
  With the right systems + rules allowing player to both communicate + Interact, Game Design can help building a strong coop experience fitting in a true open world.
  i.e. Player A in the corridors needs player B in the control room to hack the door so he can progress, while Player C triggers orbital strikes to protect and help his friends.
  Just make sure the roles are clearly defined.

COOP TACTICS

• Win or Loose together
  As much as possible, try to build your levels so understanding tactics and coop actions > pure skill.
  This is to limit the cases where one player would blame the other for inefficiency, or carry the game because he is too strong and the other one feels useless.
  Ultimately, you want the team to figure out the solution together, and to win together, rather than pointing the finger at one particular player.

OUR DEAR STREAMING FRIEND :)

• Careful with streaming : usually, for the sake of simplicity, you'll want both players in the same loaded area. >> Use a simultaneous coop action + cut scene to synch all players
  i.e. Everyone must push the truck...and when the bridge falls under its weight, a short cut scene makes all players stand on the same side of the broken bridge with no way to backtrack.

ROLE SETUP MUST BE SUPER CLEAR

• If there are any key position / role to be filled in your setup, it must be highlighted and super visible to the player that there's conceptually a Seat A and a Seat B.
  It helps organize things naturally between players + everyone has a key role.(I feel special!)
  Use lighting, colors, animated elements, UI, etc. Anything to put emphasis on the key roles / positions.

COMBAT TIPS

• Enemies Facing = front
  I know, one would think that 2 players can easily cover 2 different sides, but it's never easy in a video game (lack of communication, you don't understand what your friend is doing, etc), and this should be reserved to special setups.
  After all, you'll never feel more in a coop game than if you see enemies you haven't shot fall in front of you :)

• Enemies facing = Larger
  If being attacked in the back isn't recommended, enlarging the battle front compared to single player is a good idea so both players aren't shooting the exact same spot.
  Try to make it so each danger zone is visible to the side of the other player field of view.
  Vertical depth is especially good as the result of what happens above can fall down and be naturally visible below.

• Short Delayed Threat = Simple Team Communication Opportunities
  Any situation where a player can warn the other (about some threat or opportunity) is good to strengthen the bond and create a connection between players. i.e. "Grenade!"
  Just make sure that the delay is long enough : it's more a matter of making players communicate than forcing them to react in a millisecond.

• Not everyone doing the same thing (people love being special)
  Think of tactical setups requiring different player roles
• Snipe + Melee
• Above + Down
• 1 player lures the bad guy, the other shoot him in the back.
• One must do something while the other covers him
• Present the setup once without enemy (learning) before introducing enemies.
  i.e. Doors are locked and must be hacked. One player will hack the door, the other will defend.
  The concept of "I must hack the door" should be presented and completed once right before the combat aspect jump into it.

PUZZLE = STEP BY STEP & SIMPLE

Don't forget that coop puzzle require some intense communication between players (voice, laser pointers, UI, etc) and although 2 brains are better than 1 to solve a problem, there's a serious risk that only one of the players finds the solution and have fun, leaving the other one behind and a bit frustrated.

• Step by Step
  By building a step by step puzzle progression is important. This way, you make sure that both players are working on the same problem at the same time. (part of a team)
• Parrallel paths and Visibility as a coop tool
  Work on visibility to make the solution easier to find for the player on the path not directly related to it.
  Again, it's not as much about personal skill and more about team cooperation.

• Archetypes abilities as Puzzle Keys
  It's always better if players can use their specificities as key to unlock the puzzle gates.
  It naturally organize things and highlight players specificities.

Oops!
I just realize this took much longer than expected, and I only mentioned a few key points and pitfalls to  be avoided. At least I hope it helps starting in the right direction :)

Stealth multipath in small places

Today I'll give you some tips to build multiple paths and rich gameplay in small areas.
Typically, a small place would be corridor of 8m x 8m x 30m which, by video game standards is a really small gameplay space.

Basically it comes down to two things : Verticality and Visual occlusions.
It's mostly about breaking down space into multiple logical gameplay paths and it's a technic I developed and used successfully more than 10 years ago to build Splinter Cell multiplayer levels :)

VERTICALITY
Stop thinking about ground floor only and create paths at various heights.
Layered paths at various heights have the advantage of being easy to read by the player + it usually feels normal that NPC don't see you when you aren't on the same layer.

Note : you might want to break the "Stealth" paths into pieces to force the player into dangerous territories.

OCCLUSIONS
A simple panel, a curtain or a big pipe can create a good occluder creating new paths and places to hide in your layout.
One of the benefits of visual occluder is they are less dependent on light and shadow, and they tend naturally create nice and inviting dark places if you place your lights correctly :)


TYPICAL PROCESS
A - General Layout
Block out the logical flow and layout so your volumes and general connectivity make sense.
In our example, will take the example of a large corridor (Military base?, Warehouse?, Factory?).

B - Add vertical layering
Think of what your place is and how you could add more paths at various heights.
In our case, it will be mid height walkway and a large ceiling pipe.

As  you can see, instead of one single way, we now have 3 potential paths to reach the exit door : ground, walkway, and the pipe under ceiling.

C - Add occluders
In this next step, I've carved some space the area under the walkway and added occluders (crates, car, curtain, etc)
This way, I created an extra path without even eating any space and the area now offers much more potential than the traditional and empty corridor we started with while still having the same footprint.

Note that one benefit of this method is that you naturally build places with inter connected paths that are all sharing the same action space.

C - Balancing Paths
At this point the upper path on the pipe, and the one under the walkway behind the crate would be super safe, so you'll probably want to "cut" those path to force the player out into the dangerous areas.

This can easily be achieved by simply cut the continuous stealth paths and to refine the balancing, you'll want to identify the dangerous areas (typically, the drop at the end of the upper path) and add a few extra occluders / hiding place for emergency situation.

CONCLUSION
Try to think in terms of paths and layers of navigation.
Not only will you get the most out of otherwise boring areas, but it will help you structure your work (connectivity, flow, paths) and have an easiest time balancing your level. (adding/removing access, cutting/adding connections and paths)

Of course, no stealth layout would be complete without an emergency escape path for the player, but this will be for another topic ;)

Orientation

A game is about having fun playing with the rules and given constraints to reach a goal.
How can you have fun if you find yourself lost ? You won't play with the game, you'll endure it.

WHERE'S MY GOAL
As much as possible, the player should see the goal (or the next mission step) from where he stands.
Not that I don't like UI markers, but it's always better if you can make it feel natural and transparent in Level Design.

• Make the goal stand out>> i.e. a distant tower, smoke raising in the sky, or any visible landmark that stands out.
• Make the goal close and visible...
  but the gameplay to reach it is long : chasm to cross, defence system to first neutralize, or any logical key you need to reach it.
  i.e. the precious crown jewel stands right in front of you, but it's protected by a glass dome, an alarm, guards and I first need to unlock doors on my escape path.
  Note : you can use this to create interesting twists. i.e. "I was about to free the prisoners when a patrol came in. Now I need to get rid of guards and shut down the alarm system."

You get the idea : for a player, seeing the objective builds up motivation. "I'm almost there..."

That's definitely something you want ;)

HOW DO I REACH IT

It always helps if you can build a progression logic to drive the player.
The idea is to link progression toward the objective with some recurring and obvious element in your level setup.

i.e. If the goal is to sabotage drain pumps deep in the sewers network "going down" could be the progression logic element.
The player will naturally realize that the deeper he goes, the close he gets from his goal.

You can do this with any progressive visible (or audible) element like light / darkness, fog, etc. that the player can easily associate with his current goal and measure in terms of progression. (I'm getting closer!)

WHERE AM I ?

Nothing worse than ending a fight, and wondering where to go next.

So here is a list of things you can use for orientation and how well they work followed by things you should avoid and how badly they affect orientation.

The Good +++

• ++++++ Slopes and steps (a way up, and down) : often forgotten, but super powerful. Works everywhere (even in a tube!)
• +++++ Visible Landmarks : Obvious, natural, efficient. Use it :)
• +++ Lighting : if you have a nice sunset (or any directional light setup) it will help.
• +++ Foreseeable Path : It's about putting visual clues allowing the player to guess what comes further down the path . i.e. I see some ice on this entrance, it's going to the cold side, I see some fish nets hanging in the street, it's leading to the docks, etc)
• +++ Bright / Animated highlights : use light and animated visual to drive the player attention to things you want him so see (exit to the next section, objective, etc.)
• ++ Color codes : they usually tend to be abstract and blend into the scenery. It night be clear for you, but not for the player.
• + Signs : it costs to read it (not pleasant), and usually, player don't pay attention to it.

The Bad ---

• ----- Symmetry : It's especially true if the dressing is the same all around (i.e. Big room)
• ---- Twists and turns (especially when in narrow passages). I know, visibility and streaming sometimes needs it, but it hurts ^^
• --- Illogical layout setups that defy common sense / knowledge

All those orientation problem are especially important in Open Levels and Multiplayer maps.