So I suppose we should just dig in.
Part 1: The Grid
So what's this, Poke? This is what I call the grid. This is how I like to visualize screens in my head, divided into 9 sections. Note that the sections in this picture are not perfectly subdivided because...ZC's screen dimensions don't like being divided by 3 and I'm too lazy to go photoshop a proper diagram. Besides, it works better when I show the process in ZC. Basically what you need to know about the grid is that none of the nine sections should ever be fully empty other than a few rare circumstances like boss rooms and rooms with more than 5 enemies. I tend to be more lenient on filling in a section completely, but I try to avoid it if I can. Another rule I like to stick to with the grid is that the four corner squares must ALWAYS be at least partially filled. You heard me say that I make exceptions to the other rules sometimes, but this one is one that I believe I have never broken (aside from joke screens). Now I'm not demanding that you fill in all the corners. An open corner doesn't hurt sometimes, but you should never have an open space in a corner large enough to leave one of the corner sections empty.
Part 2: Basic Flow
So we've filled all the corners. As I said before though, you should try to add in at least SOME blank space in each section. This layout might be able to slide for a maze path, but let's say that's not what we're going for here...
So here we're finally starting to break free of the grid with our planned layout. It's still symmetrical and still looks like a maze path screen, but it's progressing nonetheless. This is a very basic classic screen layout like one you might see in someone's first quest. But there's one little problem: we have four open sides. This is usually a bad design choice unless:
- You're making a field screen (Do these types of screens in moderation. Many fields make an empty quest.)
- You really ARE making a maze path screen
- The screen is near the middle of the map (or of an area if it only takes up part of a map)
- The screen has some sort of significance (like in a dungeon, a place you'd visit many times.
So we've designed ourselves a basic filler screen. It connects two areas and most likely contains nothing of any real value. But look at that middle section of the grid. It's empty. Let's add some obstacles, shall we?
Part 3: Obstacles
So here's our screen with some basic obstacles dotted around it. It looks pretty terrible if you ask me. Let's look at why...
Look at these markers I've placed here. The blue marker indicates the unnatural formation of the obstacles onscreen. They're all lines up. Try to avoid doing this, especially with three obstacles of the same type. An exception is manmade things like armos and gravestones that would normally be lined up. Just use some common sense. If it doesn't look natural, that's probably because it isn't. Now let's take our attention to the red area. That obstacle is too close to the edge of the screen. The player will bump straight into it. It most likely won't cause anyone to ragequit, but it's something to look out for. We're not here to torment our players. As a rule of thumb, try to leave two blank spaces between obstacles and the edge of the screen. Finally let's look at the green area. This is a real pet peeve of mine. If the player is going to be venturing through this screen many times it would probably be best to leave it be, but as it stands, it invites the player to completely bypass the screen altogether. Being the hasty type, I tend to fast forward through screens with shortcuts like this. If you want to get me with your quest, place some hidden traps in those areas (I'm joking, that's a TERRIBLE idea). The best way to avoid this problem is to place some obstacles to block it up.
So I've made some fixes to the screen went lighter on the obstacles and now it's time to actually make the screen.
Part 4: From Concept to Creation
"There! My screen is done!" Well hey, that screen looks like it was made by Nintendo during their NES days (that was an insult by the way). We can do better than that, can't we? For starters, let's add more than just boring old green rocks...
Now it's starting to look more like a screen and less than an outline filled in with rock tiles. But it's still too green and look at that bland ground. Just because it's classic set doesn't excuse the lack of detail. Let's add some shall we?
So there we have a decent screen. Just a little more flair and some actual enemies to compliment the design and we're done.
Ahh there we go! That's a nice strong classic screen right there! But hold on a second...
Part 5: Balancing
What the heck is this?! 10 tektites?! That's hardly well thought out enemy placement. Just look at the screen, it's a mess of enemies everywhere. This won't do at all. Especially not early in the quest.
So let's talk about what's wrong here. First of all, there's 10 enemies. Assuming this is not an area later in the quest when you can afford to tank damage, 10 enemies is a bit silly. As a rule of thumb you should probably have somewhere from 3-6 per screen taking into account enemy tiers. What are those, you ask? Well enemies have varying difficulties. tektites are what I call a Tier 1 enemy because they die to a single hit from the wooden sword. They're only slightly stronger that enemies like keese and gels that can die to one hit from the boomerang, an item that doesn't even normally deal damage.
Let's have some examples:
Tier 0: Gels and Keese
Tier 1: Tektites, Red Octoroks, Rope
Tier 2: Red Moblins, Zols, Blue Octoroks
Tier 3: Goriyas, Blue Moblins
You get the idea. 10 of the same tier 1 enemy isn't a balanced combination. The enemies all go down quickly and the numbers can overwhelm the player. Let's not leave so much up to luck.
There's a better combination. 4 tier 1 enemies and 1 tier 2. This screen will provide a more fair challenge to the player and relies more on skill than on luck. But let's say you don't even want to leave spawning postions up to luck. Let's dive into strategic enemy placements...
Part 6: Additional Considerations
So let's once again consider how a player will travel through this screen. Now that the shortcut from before is gone, the player will be faced to deal with some enemies. But say we have a crafty player who will manipulate spawn mechanics to get a clear path through the hordes. Let's try and outwit them with some fixed spawn placements. So we have essentially 2 potential paths and we want our little friends to spawn along these paths. For optimal balance it's usually best to put the stronger enemies on the shorter path in the case of a potential split. That way the player will be faced with a decision between easy enemies on a longer path or harder enemies on a shorter one. Try to space the enemies out so the player can't run in and kill them all at once. Now let's see an example.
Hold up a second. The moblin is placed on the shorter path and the tektites are placed strategically in the way of the player, but look at that flag 41. It's so close to the edge of the screen. Now enemy placement flags are somewhat like obstacles in that you shouldn't place them on the edge of the screen, but unlike obstacles, there's a penalty for hitting enemies, therefore it's best to place them farther from the edge than you would an obstacle. Preferably 3-5 spaces depending on the enemy's speed.
Finally, I'd like to take a moment to talk about secret combos. This might seem pretty obvious, but you should put them in places that will draw the player to them and you need to use flags that make sense. Boomeranging a random skull in the middle of the forest isn't logical. Burning a single tree in the middle of a large grove isn't either. Try to make unique hiding spots like the ones I've highlighted. Lastly, bombable walls should be in somewhat easy to guess areas such as a 1 tile space between two curves in classic or behind a pile of rubble in EZGBZ, Pure or DoR. Don't put them in random spots in the wall like the original legend of Zelda.
Thank you for reading through this Screen Flow tutorial/look into the inner workings of Poke's mind. I hope it's been helpful.
