Talk:Level (video games)

World
"World" does not always mean that "each area of the game is literally a different world or planet". The worlds in the Super Mario Bros. series at least are not supposed to be on different planets. 71.82.214.160 01:07, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

I edited into what I think is a more descriptive definition of it with a couple of examples. Hopefully it's not too overlong - though I feel the length is appropriate given it's one of the most used terms for sections of a game. Jez MM 19:12, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

The terminology section felt written by someone who literally took text from various games as literal meaning. Little of it is related to what is actually used in game design or game discussion (such as reviews). A world is simply a group of levels belonging to a theme; it doesn't literally mean a planet. The article even takes Team Sonic's use of the word "zone" in regular gameplay as a real term; in actual level design "zoning" IS in fact a term, but it refers to corraling/triggering events and AI, and little to do with level terminology. I rewrote this section to reflect terminology that is actually in use, with a section explaining that designers may name their level types differently within a game. Viciousmaniac 18:58, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

Fair use
Removed fair use image because it does not meet Fair use criteria on video game screenshots. It was not used for critical commentary on the game or the character. -Flubeca (t) 16:48, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

"Map"
Though the article does not currently explain it, I figure the gaming terminology "Map" as an alternative to "level" (as in "This map sux lol, next map plz") is likely derived from level editors or games that treated the level as a two-dimensional map; therefore one "map" would represent an individual level or mission. However there could have been a very specific origin of the term, such as Doom 2 labeling maps with "MAPXX: Name" (i.e. "MAP01: Entryway") when viewing the automap during gameplay. This may have also been developer lingo before it evolved into community jargon.

I'd also guess that it caught on quickly and spread via online gaming, likely first in the mid-'90s, because the term is easy to comprehend without asking what it means. I wonder how true this is, and the game(s) or community(ies) where the term was most likely coined? (I first encountered it playing Doom 2 and Quake, probably around 1998.) Does anybody happen to know of an article or resource on this? 173.59.14.114 (talk) 21:31, 20 May 2009 (UTC)


 * I am trying to find this out for my current research on Ludic Cartography. Using Mobygames I have traced the term in game reviews of FPS games back to reveiews of the first installment of Quake in 1996, but haven't found it in reviews of the first Doom or Wolfenstein 3D. Which would seem to support your theory - it entered common usage after Doom got popular. But this is obviously OR at the moment. :) If anyone knows something more about this, I would love to hear from you, either here or to my email! --Anderssl (talk) 23:11, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

Old or alternative use for level
Surely we should mention that the word level, in old games plus new games may not be a new area.

Tetris among other games, when the player gets 10 - 20 - 30 lines, the blocks fall faster, the player advances to the next level, but does not enter a new area.

Different use in RPG's - Characters may go up a level after getting enough experience points, thus two characters in the same area next to each other can be on different levels.

Carlwev (talk) 23:19, 28 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Do you know of any reliable sources that can verify such info? It'd be original research to state these things, otherwise. Haipa Doragon (talk • contributions) 00:26, 29 June 2009 (UTC)


 * I don't agree, this is a simple and straightforward observation, not OR (see WP:NOTOR). But since I do have a reference lying on my desk, here it is (about levels in WoW):
 * Corneliussen, Hilde G. and Jill W. Rettberg: Digital Culture, Play and Identity: A World of Warcraft Reader. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England: The MIT Press. (See for instance pages 8 and 25.)
 * --Anderssl (talk) 23:41, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

Origin of the term
Is it not more likely that it derives from the very earliest games’ ‘skill levels’, where choosing a higher difficulty would lead to alterations in the game? When games went from single-screen to multi-screen, the difficulty would increase in line with progression and so it would have been safe to say that the player had ‘progressed to the next (skill) level’ each time they moved on to the subsequent screen. Prince of Cats (talk) 09:23, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

---

I'm tempted to suggest that the term was initially introduced in Donkey Kong, and that "level" was chosen because each stage of the game takes place x meters higher on the building (the vertical progression is depicted as an intermission animation). The earliers games that had levels that I can think of is Pac Man and Asteroids, although I don't recall of seeing "level" depicted anywhere there. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 139.165.223.18 (talk) 12:10, 27 August 2010 (UTC)


 * The term Level was definitely "present" (in quotemarks) in the 1984 Sokoban, which uses an elevator as intermission screen/level selector. I don't know about the 1982 Sokoban because I've never seen it. --Zom-B (talk) 15:11, 2 October 2018 (UTC)

Bonus stage
Maybe should be mentioned. I'm sure users know what I mean. Different to a secret level, as they often don't have to be found or unlocked, they just happen at the end of other levels. Often have a completely different look and lay out to other levels. They are normally very quick and lively sometimes the character is invincible. Usually one cannot lose health or lives in a bonus stage, grab as much as you can as quick as you can type level. If you fail or die you don't lose a life you just leave the stage and start the next normal stage. May write this in myself if I can find the time. They are/were fairly common but I wonder if actual references can be found and how much people will say references are needed. Carlwev (talk) 12:47, 7 September 2009 (UTC)

Article title
This article was originally located at Level (video games). I think this is the proper disambig for video game-related articles. "Gaming" refers to the activity of playing video games as well as the social aspects surrounding video games (as in "he/she is a gamer" or "he/she likes gaming"). SharkD  Talk  13:32, 30 November 2009 (UTC)

Levels In The Gaming World
Every time I play a video game I might get stuck on a level, so I have to complete that level according to the genre of the game I am playing, for example if I am playing an action genre game I have to punch, shoot, kick my way to the my goal. If I am playing a racing genre game I try to drive past other cars and win the race. Some games have more complex goals and have more ways to complete the game, so if I want reach a goal in the least time I might go one way, If I want to take more time and concentrate more on scoring I might take another way. When I play video games I notice the levels get harder and more complex while progressing throughout the game (we probably all do).Until I get to the boss level I have to figure out a weakness to defeat (or ‘ultimate smack down’ or whatever you gamers call it) the boss. Sometimes though if I am playing an action genre game I have to strike him/her until he/she is defeated, many games have what I call the ‘manipulated health rule’ that if I manipulate some of his/her health the boss sometimes goes to a platform and usually throws something at me and I might have to throw the object he/she threw at me back at him/her until he/she gets off the platform and starts fighting me again, usually it’s a platform only he/she can reach. Sometimes I can reach it but he/she can propel me away from getting any closer, sometimes I can hit the enemy but he/she dose not get affected by my attacks.

One time I was playing ‘LEGO Star Wars’ on my ‘Gamecube’( which are now very outdated) and ‘Darth Maul’ was was on one side holding up the bridge while droids where shooting me I knew what I was supposed to do which was block the droids shots back at them with my ‘lightsaber’ after I did that Darth Maul threw an object at me and I was supposed to use the ‘force’ and force it back at him but instead I changed into ‘Jar Jar Binks’ (I was in ‘Free Play’ mode) and jumped on the bridge (because Jar Jar Binks had a special ability that made him jump higher than other characters) that Darth Maul was holding up and went across and believe it or not it worked! I knew it was not a glitch because it did not work like a glitch. --74.143.232.22 (talk) 17:14, 31 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Please note that this page is not a discussion forum; the discussions focus on how to improve the related article. -- Nczempin (talk) 17:52, 31 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Actually, I am not sure what it is; it reads like an unfinished blog post. -- Nczempin (talk) 19:30, 31 March 2011 (UTC)

Original Research
I'm seeing a lot of [original research?] tags in the Overview section, that are literally six years old, it seems. I feel as though these tags are unnecessary; I don't think a lot of this counts as original research, but I don't want to remove the tags in case someone disagrees. Are there other opinions on this? Fench (talk) 17:47, 24 June 2014 (UTC)

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Summarizing the key points of contents in the lead section
To answer the Lead too short issue, I added few sentences to the lead section referencing respectively the overview (common use case), terminology (level types) and history. Can someone review and possibly remove this issue? --Gufosowa (talk) 15:04, 30 December 2017 (UTC)

"Hub level system" listed at Redirects for discussion
An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect Hub level system and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at Redirects for discussion/Log/2022 November 2 until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. 1234qwer1234qwer4 14:43, 2 November 2022 (UTC)