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Michel Ancel talks about Super Mario Maker, how to create interesting levels

by rawmeatcowboy
07 August 2015
GN Version 5.0

Coming from Rayman creator, Michael Ancel...

- The first Mario game that Michel Ancel played is the original Donkey Kong in arcades
- he then played a Game & Watch
- first 'true' Mario game he played was Super Mario Land on the Game Boy
- his favorite Mario character is Mario from Super Mario Land
- Ancel is inspired by Mario's simplicity
- there’s not too many elements in each level, but the developers still managed to do lots of things with them
- one of the most interesting things for him is to find out is just how much you can do with a limited number of elements
- when making a level, the best way to start is to think about the flow of the level
- you have to make sure the space is adapted to what the character can do with its abilities
- after that, you add platforms and enemies
- it’s better to have a clear idea of what you want to do
- you need to set a goal and work toward it
- this lets you see the kind of problems you will have to solve in order to complete your level
- you need to have a global “vision” in order to make sure your level has a good sense of progression
- you need to alternate slow segments with tense, fast or complex segments
- Ancel found learning how to use the level editor in Super Mario Maker really fun
- Ancel believes all kinds of players will enjoy Super Mario Maker: total newcomers and level-design experts alike
- it will allow people to see how a platformer is made, and how everything works behind the scenes
- the game is easy to pick up and sharing levels with other people feels really rewarding
- not only the level-editor is easy to use, but some people will even become famous by making popular levels
- Ancel believes Super Mario Maker will push some people into creating games as a career
- Ancel was surprised by the fact you can give items to enemies

[Link]