Okay, so I haven’t published one yet but boyo let me tell you I know a thing or two about this now.
- USE THE GRID. If you hit “Start” you’ll see some options way at the top – “Small Grid”, “Medium Grid”, “Big Grid”. These allow you to put up a grid which will restrict where materials are placed. This will become quite handy … trust me.
- LEARN TO REWIND. The rewind function goes back in time. It’s basically an “undo.”
- BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU STICK TO WHAT. This becomes important later on (see next item). Ideally, you should have everything rooted to the ground … but in some situations an elegant design can be screwed up by things becoming “unstuck” during play.
- PLAYTEST EVERYTHING IN PLAY MODE. Don’t just turn off “hover” and test your jumps. In play mode, you’ll learn things like:
- When the camera mode can make a difference about which jumps are makable and which aren’t
- When you have stuck a score bubble to something and claiming it ends up causing everything in a group that was stuck together to become unstuck.
- PUT CHECKPOINTS IN – BE NICE. I came across a similar statement in another level editing write up but I had already come to the same conclusion – it sucks to make it through a difficult sequence of jumps or swings or some kind of threat, get to a point of safety (lacking a checkpoint), move on, die, and then have to go all the way back. I curse the names of creators that fail this basic kindness. Besides … when you play test the thing, you’ll find it easier to make it to new stuff farther along.
- SCORE BUBBLES GO IN LAST. I think it just makes things easier if you do it this way.
Those are the essentials I think. Look for “City Rooftops” coming soon from BotFodder2.