Nintendo scares up Halloween fun with spooky games

Want to know what chills and thrills Nintendo has in store for Halloween? Keep reading…if you dare!!!

Turn out the lights and get ready for frights with spooky games like Luigi’s Mansion™ for the Nintendo 3DS™ family of systems and Undertale for the Nintendo Switch™ system. You can brush up your vampire-killing skills with classic Castlevania games and use your trusty whip to take out ghoulish enemies and the king of the undead himself: Dracula.

From creepy costumes to spine-tingling party games, Nintendo Switch News has the scoop on all things All-Hallows’ Eve. Keep your eyes peeled for seriously important info, like which costume-changing games might inspire your next costume and which party games can transform you into the ghost-est with the most-est, Check out Nintendo Switch News on device through Halloween for more hauntingly good news!

You can find spooky spectacles on Nintendo eShop for Nintendo 3DS, including a list of spooky games for Halloween and a compilation of (eek!) monster games. Whether you’re looking to get into the spirit of the season, or just passing the time between trick-or-treaters coming to the door, you’ll have a screaming good time on your Nintendo 3DS system.

Tip: Ghost and ghouls won’t stand a chance around a pumpkin with Luigi’s frightened face on it. Therefore, it makes perfect sense to turn your jack-o’-lantern into a Luigi-o’-lantern. Visit the Play Nintendo site to download a free printable pumpkin-carving stencil. While you’re there, check out petrifying polls, spine-chilling quizzes, and more for a family-friendly take on the most haunted of holidays.

Over at My Nintendo, you can catch some spooky-fun rewards like an October calendar and Halloween-themed wallpapers. Redeem your My Nintendo points and add some spookiness to your Nintendo 3DS system for a haunted night of gaming on October 31st.

Happy haunting, game lovers!

For Nintendo 3DS systems, use Parental Controls to restrict 3D mode for children 6 and under.

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The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.

In this blog post I’m going to elaborate on a selection of tips and tricks that I’ve tweeted over the last few months from my account @TomPugh1112

These tips are methods that Level Designers use to move players, encourage progression and create areas of immersive gameplay. The tips I’m going to share are general bits of advice that work in different ways for different games.

As a Level Designer these tips should be interpreted in a way that is relevant to your level designs. Every game is different so every game requires a different approach.

This selection of tips are in no way “rules” of level design. As far as I’m concerned there are no rules, only guidelines that help create the best experiences possible. Every designer has their own approach to creating levels and solving problems so please take these tips and tricks as just that, and not some gospel of level design.

Each one of these “tips” could easily have a whole blog dedicated to it, and in the future I may write some. But for now I’ve tried to give as much detail in as few words as possible.

Tip 1: Have clear and consistent Affordances

An affordance is a rule that is created through your games level design. For example in “Tomb

Raider” the player learns that if they see a piece of wood or a old cart which is angled in the air, they know that they are able to use it as a launch pad to make longer jumps.

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A simple real life example of an affordance is a door handle. A pull bar or a push pad on a door informs you what action you should take to open the door.

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It is very important to have clear and consistent affordances (rules) in your levels. You need to build a trust contract with the player so that they clearly understand what they can and can’t do in the game. You should avoid breaking this contract. If you do you’ll cause confusion and frustration for the player. How annoying is it in real life when a door says push but really means pull?

There are times when your game may require you to break this contract with the player. In a survival horror game breaking affordances is a good way to create stress and put the player under pressure. Even this can be risky and may ultimately irritate some players.

Tip 2: Use Leading Lines

Leading lines are a technique that helps to guide the player’s eye towards a specific location, item or event.

Use leading lines to subtly move players in the right direction without the need for additional prompts or breadcrumbing. Leading lines can range from pipes on the ceiling, hedge rows or different textures on the floors and walls. Leading lines can draw the players eye to an important gameplay moment. These should be used in combination with lighting and other techniques.

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For example you might have a new enemy you want to reveal to the player. Pipes along the roof and walls could be used to make sure players are looking in the right direction, while the area where the new enemy appears is nicely lit. These techniques in combination should control where the player looks.

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Tip 3: Make use of the Architecture to shape the play space

You should always be looking at real life spaces and how their architecture can translate to level design. Architects have been doing the same thing as level designers for hundreds of years so it makes sense to examine and gain an understanding of architectural elements.

Architectural elements should be used to shape your level designs. Structural components are tools for organising and shaping a space. Think about what your architecture can do before filling a level with crates as obstacles.

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For example, rather than placing crates in an open area why not position pillars that can still be used as cover but create a more believable space. By looking at real life spaces you can find ways of creating more believable levels with intuitive architectural elements

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Tip 4: Learn to Teach Mechanics

One of the jobs of level design is to introduce, pace and teach the player new mechanics when they become available.

This is something designers new to the field often get wrong (and sometimes more experienced designers too). You’re very knowledgeable of your game mechanics which means that it’s very easy to make a difficult challenge. Making an introductory challenge is often where mechanic teaching falls down.

You can use pacing techniques to plan mechanic introductions and the difficulty of skill gates. Get the pacing right and you shouldn’t have too much trouble with players understanding and trusting mechanics.

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The rough sketch below gives an additional idea of how this works. An improvement to the sketch would be to make sure that when the player picks up their new weapon they have some targets to shoot at in the area, such as some tin cans for example. This gives them an opportunity to learn the shooting mechanics without have to be concerned about enemies.

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Tip 5: Use Denial and Reward

Denial and reward is an architectural technique that is primarily used to enrich a person’s passage through a built environment. Architects do this by giving people a view of their target and then momentarily screening it from view.

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This same technique can be used for progression in level design to enhance a players sense of progression. Give players a view of their objective, send them on  a route where they can no longer see it, and then emerge them closer to the objective with a new angle of visibility.

This image shows how you might start a level using denial and reward. The player can see the objective clearly, they can see the path is blocked and are given an alternative route to take towards the objective.

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In the following image the player will have a new angle of visibility and the objective being closer will reward them with a real sense of progression.

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The Last Of Us uses denial and reward in the Pittsburgh chapter. The player is given a glimpse of the yellow bridge (their objective location) and then loses sight of it for a while until it comes back into view. This chapter shows how denial and reward can be used to make a journey much more interesting.

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Tip 6: Give players a good starting point

How players arrive in an area will influence their first move. Start players facing the right direction and be sure their start position gives them visual cues and options on how to proceed.

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The image above from Uncharted 4 demonstrates how you can craft the players starting position by giving them a clear view of the path ahead, leading lines and framing from the surrounding environment give a clear view of the objective location and the player can see openings and other options. This example uses multiple techniques but it is key to understand how all of these methods combine with the start location to give players a clear understanding of what they have to do.

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Sometimes this tip can be twisted, but in a cool way. For example the players path or exit could be positioned behind or above them. As long as the player has clear messaging of this it can encourage map exploration and discovery which can create a very rewarding experience. Games like Uncharted have instances of this.

This can become a problem when you can’t control the players start position. In linear games it is easy to determine where the player is when a level starts and making sure they have clear cues can be done. But in an open world it’s much harder to be sure of where the players is.

One way this can be done is to create areas of linearity within an open world. A recent example of this is Horizon: Zero Dawn. Guerrilla have done a great job of funneling players towards mission areas and creating linear experiences during story missions. In some cases this has been done by creating two or three different entrances to a location. Horizon: Zero Dawn is an excellent study on open worlds for more on this I recommend watching the GDC talk Level Design Workshop: Balancing Action and RPG in Horizon Zero Dawn Quests where Blake Rebouche goes into more detail on their process.

Tip 7: Set up some boundaries

Boundaries are a way of showing players when they are transitioning between areas. There are two types of boundary – soft boundaries and solid boundaries.

Solid boundaries can be used to mark an area of surprise or enemy activity. You don’t want players to know what’s inside and you want them to clearly understand they are changing location.

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Soft boundaries should be used to entice the player into an area. You want the player to be able to see what’s inside and this should draw them into the area.

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Tip 8: Breadcrumbing

If you’re struggling to get players to go where you want you could try using breadcrumbs.

Breadcrumbing can come in many different forms including; a different texture on the floor, gold coins that put the player back on track and collectibles dotted along a path.

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In the above example you can see the gems in Spyro are placed in this area so as to draw the player to a higher location I find this and the example below to be two subtle ways of breadcrumbing the player without breaking immersion.

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Tip 9: Lighting

You can use lighting to draw attention to exits, points of interest and enemy locations and it can be used as an effective way to guide players through a level.

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Lighting in levels should be used to highlight the following; exits, path guiding, enemy introductions and points of interest.

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In the images above you can see that exits, paths and enemies are clearly lit and visible to the players. These examples also show how lighting can help set a tone for your levels.

Tip 10: Iteration is key

The key to a good level is iteration and constant play testing. The sooner you can get a blockout of your level into the hands of someone the better. It’s through this initial play test that you’ll see the problems, find the solutions and make a start on improving your level.

Don’t be afraid to let people play your levels, after all that is why we make them.

Conclusion:

Well thanks for reading this two part blog! I hope you found some tips and guidance that will help you with your own level designs. Remember these are guidelines, not rules.

I tried to go into as much detail as I could in as few words as I could. So if you want to talk more about a subject covered here, or not covered here then please feel free to leave a comment and start a discussion.

Thanks for Reading,

Tom Pugh.

Twitter: @TomPugh1112

Conan Exiles first released on Xbox One back in August 2017, then as an Xbox Game Preview title before releasing in May 2018. And just a few days ago we introduced the biggest update to the game since launch, introducing the new concept of taming and owning pets – plus a whole lot more.

Now we’re excited to finally give Xbox One players the chance to play Conan Exiles for free for a limited time. From 12:01 a.m. PDT on Thursday, October 18 to 11:59 p.m. PDT on Sunday, October 21, Xbox Live Gold members can download and play our open world survival game for free, and if you decide to make the plunge and buy it we’re also offering a hefty discount – up to 40% off from October 18 to October 21 . And should you return to Conan Exiles after the free weekend event, all your earned achievements and saved progress will be waiting for you.

Want to make the jump into our savage world? Here are some tips on how to survive in Conan Exiles and what you can expect in the brutal world of Conan the Barbarian! When you start out, you will find that you have been banished to the Exiled Lands for crimes you may or may not have committed. If you wish to survive the harsh desert landscape and burning heat you must learn how to become a resourceful survivor.

• At the very start of the game, you should follow the road north. Behind the mountains, you see a big river, where you can find water and food. You should pick up all the resources you can, as they can be used to craft clothing and tools.
• Eggs from Shaleback nests offer a lot of nutrition but be careful of the big red males, as they attack on sight. As you play you will level up and grow stronger. You can increase your attributes like strength and agility and in addition, you get feat points which can be used to learn new recipes for crafting.
• You can fight enemies with simple tools but you should try and learn how to craft weapons early. Even if the swords and clubs you can make at first are made from stone they are still powerful enough to deal with most creatures by the river.
• You will need a place to rest, store your resources, and seek shelter from the brutal sandstorms which sweep across the Exiled Lands. Gather enough stone and wood to build your first house. It does not need to be large, just big enough to fit a bedroll, a fire and some chests for storage.
• The more you build, kill, craft and gather the more XP you will gain. The further north you travel the more powerful enemies you will face but you will also get access to better and better resources.

And this is just the beginning. The Exiled Lands are vast, from the burning deserts in the south, to the wet swamps in the east and the cold forests and mountains in the north. You can conquer them all and build great castles or even vast cities. Venture deep into dark dungeons, capture enemies and make them your pets or thralls, grow plants and keep bees, worship mighty gods and summon their avatars and build defenses against attacking NPCs who seek to purge invaders from their land.

We hope all Xbox Live Gold members have fun playing Conan Exiles for free on Xbox One for the next week. And don’t forget to take advantage of that great discount if you’d like to continue your adventures after the free play event concludes.

Can you believe it? Super Mario Odyssey is one year old already, as it’s now 27th October in Japan. It seems like it was only yesterday we were eagerly anticipating the game’s release on the Nintendo Switch. At the same time, it also feels like a lifetime ago as we’ve played many other games since.

In celebration of the big occasion, Nintendo’s Japanese Twitter account has released some special artwork (see above) and an instrumental dance version of Jump Up, Super Star:

In the UK, the official Super Mario Twitter account is promoting a snapshot contest to celebrate the one year anniversary. The contest is open until 30th October, with the winners to be announced on 12th November. Here’s a bit about it:

The theme for this round celebrates the one year anniversary of Super Mario Odyssey – it’s ‘Yourfavourite Captures’. So, find the things you love to Capture most and snap away! Get as creative as you like!

Upload your best shots to Twitter or Instagram before the end time, including the #OdysseyJournal and #SuperMarioOdyssey hashtags

After the closing date, we’ll select our three favourites and feature them on the official Nintendo website, and our Facebook and Twitter pages!

In case you missed it, last week Nintendo added new snapshot filters and a new zombie outfit to Super Mario Odyssey to celebrate the spooky season. The outfit will set you back 5,000 coins and the headwear is priced at 3,000 coins.

Are you still playing Super Mario Odyssey a year later? What do you think about it now compared to when the game launched? Tell us in the comments.

Bless Online is Now Available on Steam!

The evolution of high fantasy MMO

Dive into the beautiful world of Bless with breathtaking experiences that feels surreal.

Bless offers variety of contents such as RvR battles, field PvP, dungeon exploration, field raids, monster taming, and much more.

Welcome back to this series of articles on designing faster web pages. Part 1 and part 2 of this series covered how to lose browser fat through optimizing and replacing images. This part looks at how to lose additional fat in CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and fonts.

Tweaking CSS

First things first: let’s look at where the problem originates. CSS was once a huge step forward. You can use it to style several pages from a central style sheet. Nowadays, many web developers use frameworks like Bootstrap.

While these frameworks are certainly helpful, many people simply copy and paste the whole framework. Bootstrap is huge; the “minimal” version of 4.0 is currently 144.9 KB. Perhaps in the era of terabytes of data, this isn’t much. But as they say, even small cattle makes a mess.

Look back at the getfedora.org example. Recall in part 1, the first analysis showed the CSS files used nearly ten times more space than the HTML itself. Here’s a display of the stylesheets used:

That’s nine different stylesheets. Many styles in them that are also unused on the page.

Remove, merge, and compress/minify

The font-awesome CSS inhabits the extreme end of included, unused styles. There are only three glyphs of the font used on the page. To make that up in KB, the font-awesome CSS used at getfedora.org is originally 25.2 KB. After cleaning out all unused styles, it’s only 1.3 KB. This is only about 4% of its original size! For Bootstrap CSS, the difference is 118.3 KB original, and 13.2 KB after removing unused styles.

The next question is, must there be a bootstrap.css and a font-awesome.css? Or can they be combined? Yes, they can. That doesn’t save much file space, but the browser now requests fewer files to succesfully render the page.

Finally, after merging the CSS files, try to remove unused styles and minify them. In this way, you save 10.1 KB for a final size of 4.3 KB.

Unfortunately, there’s no packaged “minifier” tool in Fedoras repositories yet. However, there are hundreds of online services to do that for you. Or you can use CSS-HTML-JS Minify, which is Python, and therefore easy to isntall. There’s not an available tool to purify CSS, but there are web services like UnCSS.

Font improvement

CSS3 came with something a lot of web developer like. They could define fonts the browser downloads in the background to render the page. Since then, a lot of web designers are very happy, especially after they discovered the usage of icon fonts for web design. Font sets like Font Awesome are quiet popular today and widely used. Here’s the size of that content:

current free version 912 glyphs/icons, smallest set ttf 30.9KB, woff 14.7KB, woff2 12.2KB, svg 107.2KB, eot 31.2

So the question is, do you need all the glyphs? In all probability, no. You can get rid of them with FontForge, but that’s a lot of work. You could also use Fontello. Use the public instance, or set up your own, as it’s free software and available on Github.

The downside of such customized font sets is you must host the font by yourself. You can’t use other online font services to provide updates. But this may not really be a downside, compared to faster performance.

Conclusion

Now you’ve done everything you can to the content itself, to minimize what the browser loads and interprets. From now on, only tricks with the administration of the server can help.

One easy to do, but which many people do wrong, is decide on some intelligent caching. For instance, a CSS or picture file can be cached for a week. Whatever you do, if you use a proxy service like Cloudflare or build your own proxy, minimze the pages first. Users like fast loading pages. They’ll (silently) thank you for it, and the server will have a smaller load, too.