R EACHING I NTO THE T OY C HEST A L OOK I NTO THE D ESIGN OF S KYLANDERS : S PYRO ’ S A DVENTURE.

REACHING INTO THE TOY CHESTA LOOK INTO THE DESIGN OF

SKYLANDERS: SPYRO’S ADVENTURE

WHAT IS SKYLANDERS?

WHAT IS SKYLANDERS?Players purchase real-world toys…

WHAT IS SKYLANDERS?… which they put on the “Portal of Power”…

WHAT IS SKYLANDERS?… and they come to life!

WHAT IS SKYLANDERS?Toys with “Brains”

WHAT IS SKYLANDERS?Multi-player (Co-op and PVP)

WHAT IS SKYLANDERS?Cross-Platform

THE STORY OF SKYLANDERS…

IT ALL BEGAN IN 2007…●The iPhone 1 was released

●Zynga and Farmville… won’t exist for 2 years

●Duke Nukem 3D… still wasn’t out

●Vivendi Merged with Activision

●And Toys for Bob begins working on Skylanders

• Gritty “realistic” Spyro

EARLY CONCEPTS

●“Tiny Spyro”

• “Origami Spyro”

BRING IN THE TOYS

“Spyro’s Kingdom”

THIS TALK IS ABOUT DESIGN, NOT HISTORY.

DESIGN CONSTRAINTS

●Lots of “retrofitting.”

●What Skylander are you using?

●Enemies, Levels, & Heroes designed simultaneously

HOW DO YOU MAKE THAT?

SKYLANDERS IS A COMBAT GAME

THE “BIG” QUESTION

Who do you want to attack next?

THE POWER OF ARCHETYPES

ENEMY DESIGN

4 ARCHETYPES OF ENEMY DESIGN

●Near

●Far

●Swarmer

●Heavy

NEAR ENEMIES●Primary Behaviors

1. Move close to the player

2. Pre-attack

3. Attack

4. Post-attack

5. Go to 1

SKYLANDERS NEAR ENEMIES

NEAR ENEMIES (CONT)●How does this change the Big Question?

● You want to take them out at range

● Provokes the player to move around the playfield

● If it’s close it becomes a priority.

●How can we get variety into this archetype?

● Change enemy’s attack

● Change enemy’s locomotion

NEAR SETUP ARCHETYPES

Gang-up*One-on-one Waves*

*Not very interesting

NEAR ENEMIES AS AN OBSTACLE

*Interesting

NEAR ENEMIES AS TRAPS

FAR ENEMIES●Primary Behaviors

1. Move to a point far from the player

2. Pre-attack

3. Attack

4. Post-attack

5. Go to 1

SKYLANDERS FAR ENEMIES

FAR ENEMIES (CONT)●How does this change the Big Question?

● Environment matters

● Friendly fire makes players feel smart

●How can we get variety into this archetype?

● Varied projectiles●Boomerang

●Straight ahead

●Lobbed

●Area effect

FAR SETUP ARCHETYPES

CoverOne-on-one Moving Target

MIXING FAR AND NEARFARNEARPIMP

SWARMERS●Characteristics

● Can be near or far, in terms of attack●Though often they are Near enemies

● They are fragile (low HP)

● Are not dangerous alone●Nasty in swarms

●Nasty in mixed company

SKYLANDERS SWARMERS

SWARMERS (CONT)●How does this change the Big Question?

● By themselves, they don’t

● Mixed in with Nears and Fars, they are VERY interesting.

●How can we get variety into this archetype?

● We can change their attacksas with Nears or Fars

● Mainly the differentiatorsare size and model

SWARMER SETUP ARCHETYPE

Swarm

SPAWNERS

MIXING NEAR ENEMIES AND SWARMERS

MIXING FAR ENEMIES AND SWARMERS

MIXING ALL THREE

HEAVIES●The opposite of swarmers

● Can be near or far, in terms of attack

● They are hearty

● Not minibosses, but still nasty

● Change your priority!●Even one makes you take notice

SKYLANDERS HEAVY ENEMIES

HEAVY ENEMIES (CONT)●How does this change the Big Question?

● This enemy BECOMES the priority, but…

● again, environment matters

●How can we get variety into this archetype?

● Attacks●Lots of freedom. More “miniboss”-ish

●Movement (walk, run, hover)

●Much larger silhouettes encourage visual variety

MIXING FAR AND HEAVY

MORE QUESTIONS

●Specific enemies ask “little” questions.

● Shields: “When can you damage me?”

● Grenades: “Can you use my shot to kill guys?”

●The Big Question is enriched, not replaced.

LEVEL DESIGN

ARCHETYPES OF LEVEL DESIGN

• Flat Plane• Gap (horizontal)• Ledge (vertical)

GAPS (EXAMPLES)●Lava

● Crossable by Fire Characters

●Water

● Crossable by Water / Flying characters

●Void

● Not crossable by anyone

●“Cover”

● Blocks straight-ahead ranged attacks.

LEDGES (EXAMPLES)●Literal Ledges (mesh)

● These usually had an alternate way up

●Towers (placeable)

● Originally designed to be destructable

WHY ARE THESE USEFUL?●Useful as “placeholders”

● Levels can be designed without knowing specifics/

● Ensures a good “intensity ramp” even without knowing enemies

GAPS AND LEDGES (CONT)●These change the Big Question

ONE MORE LEVEL-DESIGN TOOL:●Non-combat gameplay

● Designed very late in the project.

● Levels needed to allow for these to be added in the future.

●Usable as Placeholders

● We could set aside space for them without getting hung up waiting.

HERO DESIGN

4 SKYLANDER POWER ARCHETYPES• Close range• Straight-ahead• Indirect• Special

CLOSE-RANGE POWERS●Powers that hurt enemies close to the player.

STRAIGHT-AHEAD POWERS●Ranged attacks that shoot out straight ahead.

INDIRECT POWERS●Not as “aim-able” but can hit ledges and cover

SPECIAL POWERS●Usually movement or status-based

WHY ARE THESE USEFUL?●Placeholders

● We could have “quotas” for each power.

● Ensures a good distribution

●Balancing

● Avoids redundant abilities within Skylanders.

●Synergy

● Skylanders’ main powers could work well together.

RETROFITTING

RETROFITTING A “BLANK” LEVEL

THE FINAL RESULT

SUMMARY●Archetypes are your friend

● Enemies: Near, Far, Heavy, Swarmer

● Level: Plane, Gaps, Ledges

● Hero Powers: Close, Straight, Indirect, Special

FINAL LESSON

QUESTIONS