00:02Hello once again! Today we're going to be looking at the very important thing called bullet patterns.
00:08Bullet patterns are what really makes up a housemarked game. A lot of us really love this kind of intense
00:14bullet hell environment.
00:16And in Next Machina we're doing things a bit different, so that's one thing that we really need to look
00:21at and understand.
00:22Another thing is the level composition, how you move to the next level from one another,
00:26and then how you see overall all these secret levels and everything.
00:30And one more thing that we're going to be talking about is the enemies.
00:33So enemy design is always front and center. We've been making these kind of games for a long time,
00:39so we have a good understanding of what makes up, you know, very interesting enemy patterns.
00:45So that's really bullet patterns, enemy patterns, and then how the levels are made up.
00:51Let's go talk to our guy for more information.
00:53Let's talk about levels and level structure, yeah?
00:55So one of the things I really liked about Next Machina is that you can actually see these next levels
01:01that you're about to play.
01:03What was the thinking behind that?
01:06Yeah, we went through plenty of iterations in that.
01:09We started off having much more space in between levels,
01:13but we noticed that it felt much more interesting and immediate to always see the next level that you're about
01:19to go to.
01:20Right, right.
01:21And it made the world feel a lot more believable.
01:24And connected.
01:25Yes, exactly.
01:26Yeah.
01:27Also, there's secret levels in the mix, and you can see those.
01:31Yeah, we have this special type of visual language for all the secret levels,
01:36which acts as a tease, like, oh, okay, how did I, or how would I get there?
01:41Right, right.
01:41And stuff like that.
01:42So we're trying to, like, evoke questions and make you find the secret triggers so that you can actually access
01:51them.
01:51So there's always this little hinting in the background, like, oh, this is the next level, and hey, what's over
01:57there?
01:57That might be an area that I haven't explored yet.
02:00So it makes you think and go back.
02:02What about the bullet patterns?
02:04That's a big thing.
02:05For example, in Resogun, there was a lot of different bullet hell elements.
02:11How does that work in Next Machina?
02:12Is there any differentiation?
02:14We kind of figured at one point in this that we want each world to feel like its own place
02:20and provide very different challenges,
02:23because that makes it a lot easier to understand for the player.
02:26Like, okay, like, whenever I go to a room and I see this turret enemy, I know what kind of
02:30beam it will shoot.
02:31It won't shoot bullets at one room, and it won't shoot wavy bullets in another.
02:36There's always something that you can, like, count on.
02:39So each level has sort of a theme to their bullet patterns, and then you can kind of learn the
02:46tricks on how to beat each level according to what the theme happens to be.
02:50We figured that every single enemy needs to have a role and a place.
02:55And the clearer the role is, the easier it is to, for example, find out what we're missing in a
03:02world, and what kind of gameplay we want a world to include.
03:08So there's smaller enemies, there's bigger enemies, you call the smaller enemies are, like, popcorn enemies or something?
03:16Yeah, they're one-hit kills, and the bigger ones, of course, take a lot more beating.
03:21And, for example, the shooting enemies, those provide a completely different gameplay as well, because it always pulls you to
03:27them,
03:28because they don't have to move, they can shoot you.
03:31So that always makes you go to them, and we can, like, sprinkle them in a way that, like, we're,
03:36like, making the player navigate and make his, like, own decisions.
03:40Like, okay, do I want to take care of the shooting enemy now or later?
03:43Do you plan these, or do you just put a lot in there? Is it already that you have a
03:49lot of knowledge from past, or how does this come by?
03:52I would say, like, it's a mixture, because, like, you can never, like, do proper paper design, you always need
03:57to, like, actually see how it feels.
04:00So it's kind of intuition mixed with, you know, just testing a lot of combinations.
04:05Of course, we have our, like, own ideas about how things will work, but, of course, that's the main thing
04:13that you need to have the patience to test them out,
04:15and, like, see what they can provide to the overall gameplay.
04:19For example, when the turret shoots at the wall, it will split the room in two.
04:24Right, so it's a divider.
04:26Yes.
04:26After that, you need to dash through the beam, or take care of the turret and give yourself a bit
04:32more breathing room in the level.
04:34So it's, like, these micro decisions that you need to make.
04:37Right.
04:37In order to...
04:38So if you don't shoot the turret, you know you're going to have to dash through a lot, and if
04:42you shoot the turret, you can just run around,
04:45but you might have more enemies on your ass at that point, so it becomes more hectic that way.
04:49So there's always first decision, next decision, and so on.
04:52Then it's much more easier or satisfying for the player as well, because it's very apparent what's required of you
04:58in this situation,
04:59and the decisions that you make will become much more apparent, whereas if you have three enemies of the different
05:05color,
05:06but they have the same silhouette and almost the same behavior, then it's kind of like...
05:10It's hard to approach.
05:11Yeah, you don't really know what's required of you or what the enemies are supposed to do.
05:15Right, so in the end with, let's say, something that may look less complex, we get a lot of straightforward
05:24complexity.
05:25You get a better understanding of the overall environment and behavior of these enemies, and hopefully that's exactly what makes
05:33it for satisfying gameplay.
05:36Okay, thank you. Very interesting to hear about the enemies and all the learnings we've had from Resogun and other
05:43games.
05:44Can't wait to see how everything plays out in the end.
05:48Likewise.
05:49So that's it. A lot of bullets, a lot of enemies, a lot of cool things happening.
05:54Next Machina is coming out soon, so stay tuned for more.
06:17Next Machina is coming out soon.
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