Starting With A Sketch #10

I always loved the shuttle loop from Sonic the Hedgehog. It’s such an iconic thing and I have vivid memories as a teenager encountering the loop for the first time in the Green Hill Zone. I might never come up with an idea as strong as that, but I thought I’d at least try and […]

Starting With A Sketch #9

I thought I’d share a quick doodle I made when coming up with ideas for one of Dare the Monkey’s ice levels. Yeah I know, ice worlds are such a clichĂ© but in my defence, I am making a game that pays homage to classic 8- and 16-bit platform games, so I think it’s allowed.

Starting with a Sketch #8

Throughout the development of Dare the Monkey I’ve had a pretty clear picture of what I wanted from each of the game’s levels. However, I will confess that I was a little short of ideas for the last three levels, which I wanted to take place in a sort of futuristic Aztec world. I’ll be […]

Starting with a Sketch #7

I showed off one of my new levels at a few expos recently and everybody loved it! I’d sketched the idea out a while back but was a little unsure if it would fit well within the game. Here’s my original sketch below.

Starting with a Sketch #6

Yup, it’s time for another one of my twenty second sketches followed by the final visual. This time we have a broken bridge situated in a dense jungle.

Starting with a Sketch #5

If you’ve been following this blog then you’ll already know that Dare the Monkey is heavily inspired by 90s arcade machines and console games from the golden 16-bit era. Those who’ve played early demos of it have mentioned that the visual style and gameplay elements remind them of classics such as Sonic the Hedgehog and […]

Starting with a Sketch #4

It’s important that there’s variety across each of your game’s levels. A change in scenery acts as a reward for many players. Also, knowing that there’s something new just around the corner can keep a player chipping away at their current level just that little bit longer. If you think about it, along with high […]

Starting with a Sketch #3

When it comes to jumps and platforms, Dare will be running along and landing on flat surfaces. However I don’t want the player to really be aware of that. Dare’s natural environment consists of rugged terrain and weather beaten man-made objects and I wanted to convey that to the player while still making it possible […]

Starting with a Sketch #2

Time for another of my early level design sketches. I thought it would be cool if Dare had to jump on some hippos to reach another platform. Plus, some sort of bird flying across the top of the screen just to make things a little trickier for the player when Dare is at the top […]

Starting with a Sketch

When I started working on Dare the Monkey I’d sketch out level designs in a notepad. In fact, here’s one for you to take a look at.