History Main / GameLevel

* ''VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog'' provides a broad, cross-connected level lattice and keeps track of which paths through the lattice the player has ever taken on a winning playthrough. Lattice paths are taken based on whether the Hero, Neutral, or Dark mission was accomplished.

* The Zone-Act format of most ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' games is linear, but ''VideoGame/KnucklesChaotix'' threw an exception to this rule: five zones, five acts per zone, and the order in which you play the acts is selected ''randomly'' (For example, you start off with a random choice from five different Act 1s, then after you complete a particular zone's Act 1, then it gives you a random choice between that zone's Act 2 and the other Act 1s... and so on, until all 25 acts have been completed).
* The original ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot1996'' organized its levels ''linear''ly, but [[VideoGame/CrashBandicoot2CortexStrikesBack the first sequel]] introduced the ''Freeform'' Warp Room system: After beating the intro level, the player was given five levels to beat in any order they chose to, after which they moved on to a boss and another set of five levels, wash, rinse and repeat.

* Similar to ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'', each of the levels in ''VideoGame/{{Bug|1995}}!'' were split into four scenes (three normal stages played in order and a "finale", aka boss).

* Similar to ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'', each of the levels in ''VideoGame/{{Bug}}!'' were split into four scenes (three normal stages played in order and a "finale", aka boss).

* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros'' introduced the organizational unit of the "world". ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'' was the first of the franchise to introduce a world map, where the player went between levels to traverse the network of levels. Levels often reflect different styles of play: some levels auto-scroll, some are underwater, others underground.

* Prior to the [[WhamEpisode Wham Level]], ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' follows the ''Linear'' system, with 19 self-contained test chambers of incremental difficulty.

** Some parts of ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'' also follow this system.

* The original ''Videogame/CrashBandicoot1996'' organized its levels ''linear''ly, but [[Videogame/CrashBandicoot2CortexStrikesBack the first sequel]] introduced the ''Freeform'' Warp Room system: After beating the intro level, the player was given five levels to beat in any order they chose to, after which they moved on to a boss and another set of five levels, wash, rinse and repeat.

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' games are always divided into "chapters" that are generally ''linear'', although some games feature ''lattice''-based "sidequests" or ''network''-based "paralogues." In addition, the VideoGame/FireEmblemElibe games have a few branching ''lattice''-based chapters as well, each consisting of two different possible maps (in ''[[Videogame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade Blazing Blade]]'') or sequences of maps (in ''[[Videogame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade Binding Blade]]'') depending on how the player had played up to that point. ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'' conceal their chapters' linearity by arranging them in a network, but it is still necessary to complete the chapters in order.

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' games are always divided into "chapters" that are generally ''linear'', although some games feature ''lattice''-based "sidequests" or ''network''-based "paralogues." In addition, the VideoGame/FireEmblemElibe games have a few branching ''lattice''-based chapters as well, each consisting of two different possible maps (in ''Blazing Blade'') or sequences of maps (in ''Binding Blade'') depending on how the player had played up to that point. ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'' conceal their chapters' linearity by arranging them in a network, but it is still necessary to complete the chapters in order.

* The Zone-Act format of most ''SonicTheHedgehog'' games is linear, but ''VideoGame/KnucklesChaotix'' threw an exception to this rule: five zones, five acts per zone, and the order in which you play the acts is selected ''randomly'' (For example, you start off with a random choice from five different Act 1s, then after you complete a particular zone's Act 1, then it gives you a random choice between that zone's Act 2 and the other Act 1s... and so on, until all 25 acts have been completed).

* Similar to SonicTheHedgehog, each of the levels in ''VideoGame/{{Bug}}!'' were split into four scenes (three normal stages played in order and a "finale", aka boss).

Shows utilizing VideoGame/PacManFever will often show video games using the "linear" type of level movement, regardless of whether or not the game actually has this kind of progression--or levels at all.

* The original ''VideoGamee/KingdomHeartsI'' uses the node system with the Gummi Ship stages in between worlds. The worlds were the nodes and could be explored freely, while the Gummi Ship stages were divided into linear levels that could be accessed depending on the world where you begin the level. It is averted later (but still near the beginning) in the game when you obtain the warp Gummi that allows you bypass Gummi Ship stages as long as you have been to the destination world before.

Shows utilizing PacManFever will often show video games using the "linear" type of level movement, regardless of whether or not the game actually has this kind of progression--or levels at all.

* ''VideoGame/{{Gorf}}'' is an early example of a game that presented genuinely different levels to the player, rather than simply repeating the same level over and over with increasing difficulty. Other early examples include ''VideoGame/{{Galaga}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Scramble}}'', ''VideoGame/PolePosition'', ''Astro Blaster'', and ''[[PacMan Ms. Pac-Man]]''.

* At least the [=PS1=] ''[[SpyroTheDragon Spyro]]'' games used a ''freeform'' mechanic, where multiple levels were accessible from the hub in no particular order-you could even do the boss levels first in some hubs in the first game. Also in the first game, to get to the next hub you had to fulfill a requirement-dragons rescued, gems found, etc.-which, if you work hard enough, you could sometimes have complete ''as soon as you entered'' a new hub, letting you skip ''all'' of its levels.

* ''DungeonSiege'' was revolutionary in the way it averted this trope. You could, if you so desired, run all the way from the very beginning of the game to the very end, without ever stopping for any sort of loading screen or menu, essentially making the entire (several hours long) game into one huge level. This was done by loading the next "area" into memory just before the entrance to that area came into view. Of course, there's still a general sense of "levels" as it is quite clear when you've entered a new "area" which undoubtedly would contain new monsters and challenges (like when going from a green meadow into an underground crypt, or any other similar transition).

* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' games are always divided into "chapters" that are generally ''linear'', although some games feature ''lattice''-based "sidequests" or ''network''-based "paralogues." In addition, the FireEmblemElibe games have a few branching ''lattice''-based chapters as well, each consisting of two different possible maps (in ''Blazing Blade'') or sequences of maps (in ''Binding Blade'') depending on how the player had played up to that point. ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'' conceal their chapters' linearity by arranging them in a network, but it is still necessary to complete the chapters in order.

* At least the PS1 ''[[SpyroTheDragon Spyro]]'' games used a ''freeform'' mechanic, where multiple levels were accessible from the hub in no particular order-you could even do the boss levels first in some hubs in the first game. Also in the first game, to get to the next hub you had to fulfill a requirement-dragons rescued, gems found, etc.-which, if you work hard enough, you could sometimes have complete ''as soon as you entered'' a new hub, letting you skip ''all'' of its levels.

* The original KingdomHearts uses the node system with the Gummi Ship stages in between worlds. The worlds were the nodes and could be explored freely, while the Gummi Ship stages were divided into linear levels that could be accessed depending on the world where you begin the level. It is averted later (but still near the beginning) in the game when you obtain the warp Gummi that allows you bypass Gummi Ship stages as long as you have been to the destination world before.

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* ''SoulCalibur II'' has a Network style arrangment for it's ''Weapon Master'' story mode.
* ''SoulCalibur III'' has a strongly segregated lattice-style level design in its story mode, but it isn't ever explicitly shown to the player. Lattice transitions are made based on rather opaque decisions made during the story mode itself.
* Most of the ''VideoGame/{{Darius}}'' games explicitly display the level lattice and lets the player decide based on that. The lattice is cross-connected, unlike the one in ''SoulCalibur III'', and generally leads to a broad selection of final levels (except in ''Darius Twin'').

* ''{{Gorf}}'' is an early example of a game that presented genuinely different levels to the player, rather than simply repeating the same level over and over with increasing difficulty. Other early examples include ''{{Galaga}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Scramble}}'', ''VideoGame/PolePosition'', ''Astro Blaster'', and ''[[PacMan Ms. Pac-Man]]''.

** ''[[LegacyOfKain Soul Reaver]]'' did the single, seamlessly loading game world thing two years before Dungeon Siege was released.

Levels are generally self-contained. Aside from major game events, actions in one level do not typically have any effect on other levels. A monster can not pursue the player from one level to the next, and certain classes of item or ability the player has do not carry over either. In particular, time-limited abilities will expire even if the player has time left on the clock. Likewise, the state of everything with a level at its outset is deterministic: the player and other characters will always be in the same location when a level starts, regardless of how long the player took to get to this level and (usually) by what path he approached this level.

The technological requirement still applies for many games (It is usually during a break between levels that the game system loads from the disc), but even games which do not require it will often use levels as a convenient way to organize the narrative.

Games which use multiple styles of play will usually only change the style between levels.

A level itself is generally linear in design: there is precisely one end-state, and a fixed sequence of sub-goals the player must accomplish to reach this end-state. In traditional games, the level is also ''physically'' linear, extending in a straight line from the beginning (usually on the left) to the end (usually on the right). Levels may be connected in a number of ways:
* ''Linear'': The player moves in a strictly ascending order from one level to the next. There may be rare exceptions which allow a player to bypass a level or group of levels.
* ''Lattice'': At the end of each level, depending either on an explicit player choice or as a result of how he played the previous level, he is sent to one of several following levels. In this model, the levels are organized as a series of steps. The starting step contains one level, the level on which the player starts. At each step, the player needs complete only one of the levels available to him to progress to the next step. If there are multiple levels in the final step, the game will have MultipleEndings. How the player exits a level will generally determine which level he will play on the next step. This design is often seen in tournament-themed games.
* ''Network'': Each level is a node in a network, connected to some number of other nodes. The player may move between any two levels so long as his path does not cross a level not yet completed. Such games generally begin similarly to linear games, but become more freeform in the middle, allowing the player to complete the mid-game levels in any order he chooses, subject to various constraints. Unlike the lattice model, the individual level is treated, at the global view, as a simple barrier: once it is broken, the player can travel to any adjacent node.
* ''Freeform'': The player may complete levels in whichever order he chooses, but must complete all of them before reaching the endgame. (His choice may still be constrained by the relative difficulty of each level).

As a general rule, levels are arranged in increasing difficulty, but this is not a strict rule, and is much less true of network and freeform games than of linear and lattice games. Difficulty and level ordering can be orthagonal constructs, with difficulty constraining where the player can go next, even though the ordering of levels is not actually fixed. Also, these systems can be applied differently at different hierarchies: Levels within a world form a network, but the worlds themselves are linear.

Travel between levels may be unidirectional, or the player may be able to revisit past levels. Usually, the player can move to any level he has already visited without having to replay any other levels along the way. Upon revisiting a "cleared" area, he will find it reset to the exact state it was in when he first entered it.

Shows utilizing PacManFever will often show video games using the "linear" type of level movement, regardless of whether or not the game actually has this kind of progression - or levels at all.

* Possibly accidentally averted in ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'', where zombies have been known to wander into houses after the door has been opened and left that way.
** As far as this troper got into the editor such an event would have to be explicitly scripted. So I guess it was no accident at all.