Level Design is a very important aspect of SRB2, all the more because anyone at all can actually create their own levels. This page contains links to information you need to start making your own levels.
Getting Started
Level Editor
First things first, you need a level editor. There are multiple level editors available for editing SRB2, but due to the SRB2-specific features and support, it is suggested to start with SRB2 Doom Builder.
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Starting a Simple Map
There are also two major concepts that are important to know when starting out making your own stage.
- Thok Barrier - Thok Barriers are essential to level design, and this tutorial shows how to create them. Without a thok barrier, Sonic will be able to escape your stage by flying straight through a wall and Knuckles won't be able to climb the walls he should be able to climb. This tutorial explains the basics of making one.
- Level Header - Level headers are used to give your map a name, music, sky, and other details you can't do from the level editor itself.
Enhancing the Level Design
Finally, level design isn't just about making the stage, it's about making the stage fun to play. Once you get the basics of making a simple map in an editor, this is essential reading.
- Level Design 101 - This is a guide on how to build good maps, and covers many basic editing guidelines, such as object placement, appropriate level size, visuals, and other very important information. This is a very important document for people trying to make good maps, after having first experimented and familiarized themselves with a level editor.
Advanced Techniques
The following are tutorials to make more complicated parts of SRB2 stages. Make sure you have a basic grasp of level editing before reading these, as they assume you already know how to make a stage and just want to add more complicated features to your stage.
Proper usage of these techniques are essential to make interesting stages with a variety of gimmicks.
- Egg Capsule Creation - How to make an Egg Capsule appear after a boss is defeated in your stage. This is generally a better way to conclude a boss battle than simply ending when the boss is defeated.
- Joining and Merging Sectors - How to optimize your map and improve framerate by lowering the number of sectors in your stage without actually removing any details.
- Linedef Executor Tutorial - How to use linedef executors, a sort of in-map scripting system that allows you to make interactive stages with parts that move or interact with the player or objects, such as buttons and traps. This is a crucial part of knowing how to make complex level gimmicks.
- Moving Platforms Tutorial - How to make platforms that move up and down on their own or rise or sink when the player steps on them.
- Multi-textured FOF - How to make a floor over floor with different textures and effects on each side.
- NiGHTS Tutorial - How to use NiGHTS Mode and make your own NiGHTS stage.
- Pegging - How to peg textures using the Lower and Upper Unpegged features. This allows you to make grass edgings to your platforms and other visual effects. This is essential to help the player see the edge of platforms in some stages.
- PolyObject Tutorial - How to create PolyObjects, which are like FOFs that can move horizontally and rotate, but cannot render the top or bottom.
- Pusher Tutorial - How to make wind, water currents, and other pushing and pulling effects.
- Reverse Gravity Tutorial - How to use reverse gravity.
- Rope Hang Tutorial - How to use hangable ropes, like the rope pulley gimmick seen in ACZ1.
- Scroller Tutorial - How to make scrollers that scroll walls and planes as well as carry players with them, like conveyor belts.
- Stacking Multiple FOFs - How to put multiple FOFs on top of each other. This can also be used for any other situations where multiple effects are involved in the same sector.
- Timed Linedef Executor - How to set up linedef executors to trigger with a time delay, for periodic or delayed effects. For extremely complex linedef executor gimmicks, adding a time delay is often crucial.
- Water Design - How to use water, and other effects that use the water code, such as slime and lava. This also explains how to use colormaps to make the liquid tinted a color.
- Zoom Tube Tutorial - How to set up zoom tubes, like in ERZ, that have the player dash through a small tube.
Additional Resources
While these tutorials are not directly related to mapping, they show how to add various resources to WAD files that you might want to combine with levels or level packs.
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References
These reference articles lists specific information that you might need during level design. Since they are not designed to be tutorials, they are slightly technical, but they are useful for a complete overview of level editing features.
- Glossary - This is a listing of the more technical terms that most people use when describing level design in SRB2 and their definitions.
- Level WAD - A brief introduction explaining what a map is made of.
- Thing Types - Lists all the thing types and describes their usage.
- Linedef Types - Lists all the linedef types and describes their usage.
- Sector Types - Lists all the sector types and describes their usage.
- Reserved Tags - Lists all reserved sector tags that have special hardcoded properties.
- MusicSlots - Lists all tunes.
- List of Skies - Lists of skies.
- List of Sounds - Lists all sound effects.
