User:Nintendo101/infrastructure for mainline games

Locations

This is not conventional with most reference material for video games, like most of the Prima Games guidebooks or the Super Mario Bros. Encyclopedia, which usually cover characters and enemies before levels and location. However, for the game articles I work on, I like to work my way from broad subjects to narrower ones. This works because usually the first thing the players notice is the environment they are in and where they should be going, in my experience. It also works because the mainline games are platformers first and foremost, making the levels a bit more structurally important than the enemies and characters, in my opinion. I like to title this "Locations" because I include things in it are not strictly levels, but are spatially engaged with either the the same way (HUB worlds, etc.) or a comparable way (i.e. World Map, Toad Houses).

Setting

For the setting section, I like to characterize the game's overarching spatial structure (e.g. what description works for nearly all the levels in the game?), important tactile elements, overarching visual elements, aesthetics, etc. You can touch upon certain topics briefly here that you elaborate on bellow. The setting is a pretty important element that characterizes the games world, not just how it looks but it passively communicates mechanics. I also usually like to explain why the game ended up looking the way it does. Doing this is a little time consuming because it involves combing through material not in the game itself - like developer interviews or the insight of professional game designers, but I think it is very rewarding. I have learned a lot about these games in writing this section alone. For good examples, I recommend looking at Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy. Depending on how big this section is, one can include images that compliment what you have written.

Levels

Overview

I usually give this section different names based on the language preferred by the game itself. For example, most 3D Super Mario games refer to their levels as "courses," whereas the Galaxy titles call them "galaxies," and those are the names I have employed in their respective articles. However, they still cover the same scope. I use this section to provide more mechanical specifics, like how one accesses a level, how levels are interconnected, how one completes a level, and the different types of levels. This is also where I explain the world structure of the game, such as how Peach's Castle is divided into floors, how domes are unlocked, how Starship Mario can navigate different courses in different ways, etc. Going into detail on that here is part of the "broad to narrow" thing I mentioned earlier.

Table for games with multiple missions per level

This was the first table I had developed while working on the Super Mario Galaxy article. I wanted something that was useful and conveyed information. Here is a truncated example.

Galaxies
The Terrace
01. Good Egg Galaxy ×6 ×19 ×3	Missions
	Dino Piranha	A Snack of Cosmic Proportions
	King Kaliente's Battle Fleet	Dino Piranha Speed Run
	Purple Coin Omelet	Luigi on the Roof
A galaxy in low orbit of an earth-like planet. Each planet is highly distinctive, but most of them have grassy knolls and are shaped like food. It introduces the reoccurring Electrogoombas and King Kaliente. Unlock criterion: complete "Grand Star Rescue"
The level's number. The level's name Icons that denote important elements	Columns for the named missions of the level
	The mission's name. If missions sometimes have different objectives from one another, denote that with an icon before the name	Trouble on the Tower
	Big Bad Bugaboom	Honeyhive Cosmic Mario Race
	The Honeyhive's Purple Coins	Luigi in the Honeyhive Kingdom
A brief description of the level and its unique elements. Try not to mention other games in the series here - folks should be able to understand what the level is without any background knowledge on the series. Unlock criterion: state what needs to happen for the level to become available. If there are multiple requirements that must be satisfied, use the plural "criteria"

Blank template for multi-mission levels

Worlds
WorldName
01. LevelName	Missions
	MissionName	MissionName
	MissionName	MissionName
	MissionName	MissionName
Description Unlock criterion: TBW
02. LevelName	Missions
	MissionName	MissionName
	MissionName	MissionName
	MissionName	MissionName
Description Unlock criterion: TBW
WorldName
03. LevelName	Missions
	MissionName	MissionName
	MissionName	MissionName
	MissionName	MissionName
Description Unlock criterion: TBW
04. LevelName	Missions
	MissionName	MissionName
	MissionName	MissionName
	MissionName	MissionName
Description Unlock criterion: TBW

Blank template for worlds and levels without unique names

Worlds
WorldName	Levels
	level1	level2
	level3	level4
	level5	level6
	level7	level8
description Unlock criterion: TBD
WorldName	Levels
	level1	level2
	level3	level4
	level5	level6
	level7	level8
description Unlock criterion: TBD