Post by XilaskaR on Jun 27, 2017 18:44:15 GMT -5
Hello there! I wasnt gonna do more of these, but a friend of mine asked me about a very specific topic so yeah why not lets make it public.
What is a theme? A theme is the first layer of thinking you have to do on decorating something. You always think of a theme before decorating, wether you do it consciously or not. Surprisingly enough its not that hard to think of a theme, but if you're struggling here are some tips I get to find inspiration.
1- I usually get inspiration from other games outside of GD. For example, when playing "DOOM" and seeing all the satan symbolism I couldn't feel more inspired to do a satanic themed level; thats where Doomcore came from, therefore the name. It sucks a lot, but it IS relevant to the theme and I like that.
2- You can also get inspiration from emotions. Remember TriAxis? As much drama as that guy had generated, he had a pretty unique way of making his themes: he made his level based on his feelings. That is a really original idea.
3- Try to imaginate. No I'm not saying the typical "be creative lol" cliché tip, but it is a really cool way to get inspiration from a level. Look at Terron, darnit. He made an entire level about a story that he probably made on his own. My first post was in fact an analisis of his level Reanimation and how it was inspired by alchemic symbolism and all that stuff. Thats why even if I sometimes don't like his levels, I respect the hell out of them.
Now, okay, you got your theme. But that isn't enough. You need to make your level stick to that theme and that is much more harder than it sounds. Some levels can have amazing decorations but when they don't stick to their theme they look messy as hell.
There are two ways of sticking to the theme.
1) By gameplay
This is a bit harder to do than decoration, and its most of the time optional, but when done well it is in fact really really cool. Take for example the layout of Last Descent, by LunaGD
shit i couldn't find a video, god damnit Luna, well you guys will just have to believe me
The level has a pretty deep story, and its the last part of a trilogy Luna made, the realm trilogy. It takes place in a fictitional omniverse where many realms (acting as worlds) exist, the lower they are the harder they get. Last Descent takes place in the sacred realm, which was originaly the highest of them all but has been corrupted by some mysterious source.
The layout is incredibly hard, like, Silent levels of hardness, but I wont analyze that, Instead, take a look (well more like a read because I couldnt find the video fuck) at the gameplay.
The level starts at the top left of the screen and descends as you progress, ending at top bottom, and the level gets harder as you descend through it. That is a pretty good theme and it doesn't even need decoration to be expressed.
Obviously thats just an example, but you get the point.
2) By deco
Ah, this is much more familiar. At least to me. I will take as an example in a totally not spammy way a preview of my next level, which is actually a Doomcore reboot, Wrath of the Ancients, or, WotA. Sounds better like WotA lol
So obviously the level is hell themed.
See this is why this level being hellish actually fits, and isnt hellish for no reason. Keep in mind this is not to say "im superior and the best and Im totally inmune to criticism" its just to provide an example of how to make your level fit to a theme
The song choice fits almost perfectly with the level. It talks about ancient angels and demons eons before the age of men, and well, I don't even have to say it, the genre is called death metal for a reason.
A common problem with hellish themed levels is that they have songs that don't have anything to do. The classic "At the Speed of Light" by Dimrain47 is even described by him as "A journey across galaxies in search for an answer. Imagine all the wonders that may lie in the furthest corners of the universe, just waiting to be discovered. This track is my vision of this journey, and all the things one would see on the way to finding his answer."
So obviously that has nothing to do with hell, like, at all. Try to pick a song that fits with your theme. If you're making a dark level, pick a dark themed song, and so on.
Most of the relevance to the theme is achieved by following the song, now that I think of it.
"But okay, I picked a song and I picked a theme that fits in it, now what?" Well, you have to make it as obvious as possible that your level IS of that theme. Add as much symbolism as you can. My level is decorated with skulls and lava and cavern-y structures and in the future I may even add pentagrams and runic symbols, and overall has this "isolation" feeling, because the enviroments are all closed. It looks like if you were playing a level in hell. To make a hell themed level it isn't enough to just make all the deco red, you have to add a lot of symbolism and satanic stuff, otherwise it would look more like fire-themed.
Well, that's exactly the same with other styles. You have to add a lot of symbolism to the level and make it look extremely obvious that it fits with that theme.
Haven't done one of these in a while lol
Always remember, any doubt just ask in this thread.
What is a theme? A theme is the first layer of thinking you have to do on decorating something. You always think of a theme before decorating, wether you do it consciously or not. Surprisingly enough its not that hard to think of a theme, but if you're struggling here are some tips I get to find inspiration.
1- I usually get inspiration from other games outside of GD. For example, when playing "DOOM" and seeing all the satan symbolism I couldn't feel more inspired to do a satanic themed level; thats where Doomcore came from, therefore the name. It sucks a lot, but it IS relevant to the theme and I like that.
2- You can also get inspiration from emotions. Remember TriAxis? As much drama as that guy had generated, he had a pretty unique way of making his themes: he made his level based on his feelings. That is a really original idea.
3- Try to imaginate. No I'm not saying the typical "be creative lol" cliché tip, but it is a really cool way to get inspiration from a level. Look at Terron, darnit. He made an entire level about a story that he probably made on his own. My first post was in fact an analisis of his level Reanimation and how it was inspired by alchemic symbolism and all that stuff. Thats why even if I sometimes don't like his levels, I respect the hell out of them.
Now, okay, you got your theme. But that isn't enough. You need to make your level stick to that theme and that is much more harder than it sounds. Some levels can have amazing decorations but when they don't stick to their theme they look messy as hell.
There are two ways of sticking to the theme.
1) By gameplay
This is a bit harder to do than decoration, and its most of the time optional, but when done well it is in fact really really cool. Take for example the layout of Last Descent, by LunaGD
shit i couldn't find a video, god damnit Luna, well you guys will just have to believe me
The level has a pretty deep story, and its the last part of a trilogy Luna made, the realm trilogy. It takes place in a fictitional omniverse where many realms (acting as worlds) exist, the lower they are the harder they get. Last Descent takes place in the sacred realm, which was originaly the highest of them all but has been corrupted by some mysterious source.
The layout is incredibly hard, like, Silent levels of hardness, but I wont analyze that, Instead, take a look (well more like a read because I couldnt find the video fuck) at the gameplay.
The level starts at the top left of the screen and descends as you progress, ending at top bottom, and the level gets harder as you descend through it. That is a pretty good theme and it doesn't even need decoration to be expressed.
Obviously thats just an example, but you get the point.
2) By deco
Ah, this is much more familiar. At least to me. I will take as an example in a totally not spammy way a preview of my next level, which is actually a Doomcore reboot, Wrath of the Ancients, or, WotA. Sounds better like WotA lol
So obviously the level is hell themed.
See this is why this level being hellish actually fits, and isnt hellish for no reason. Keep in mind this is not to say "im superior and the best and Im totally inmune to criticism" its just to provide an example of how to make your level fit to a theme
The song choice fits almost perfectly with the level. It talks about ancient angels and demons eons before the age of men, and well, I don't even have to say it, the genre is called death metal for a reason.
A common problem with hellish themed levels is that they have songs that don't have anything to do. The classic "At the Speed of Light" by Dimrain47 is even described by him as "A journey across galaxies in search for an answer. Imagine all the wonders that may lie in the furthest corners of the universe, just waiting to be discovered. This track is my vision of this journey, and all the things one would see on the way to finding his answer."
So obviously that has nothing to do with hell, like, at all. Try to pick a song that fits with your theme. If you're making a dark level, pick a dark themed song, and so on.
Most of the relevance to the theme is achieved by following the song, now that I think of it.
"But okay, I picked a song and I picked a theme that fits in it, now what?" Well, you have to make it as obvious as possible that your level IS of that theme. Add as much symbolism as you can. My level is decorated with skulls and lava and cavern-y structures and in the future I may even add pentagrams and runic symbols, and overall has this "isolation" feeling, because the enviroments are all closed. It looks like if you were playing a level in hell. To make a hell themed level it isn't enough to just make all the deco red, you have to add a lot of symbolism and satanic stuff, otherwise it would look more like fire-themed.
Well, that's exactly the same with other styles. You have to add a lot of symbolism to the level and make it look extremely obvious that it fits with that theme.
Haven't done one of these in a while lol
Always remember, any doubt just ask in this thread.
