Today's topic is the Zoo.


When professionals make games, instead of making multiple levels to test every aspect of game play, they create one level: The Zoo.


There are a lot of positive aspects to doing this.


1: Your zoo level doesn't need polish.

2: Any time that you find a bug with your engine, or you want to add an idea, removing it is a simple matter that doesn't require editing the code on every level(or frame).

3: It doesn't need to make sense. It doesn't need to be thematic, it is only there to test gameplay mechanics. Your players will never see it, so it can be as ugly as you want, and you can concentrate on code, sounds, and animation instead of level design.

4: Any time you need to make a new level, you need do only the following: Cut and paste the zoo level, re-work the actual level design, and remove enemies or machinations that don't appear on the level.


So, what the hell is a zoo?


A zoo level contains all of your gameplay mechanics: enemies, platforms, power-ups, weapons, keys, doors, inventory - everything. It's usually going to be a very expansive level, with a wide variety of terrain features.


It's a testing ground, where you can change gameplay mechanics and spot bugs in your AI and engine design.


You can freely place creatures and enemies anywhere you wish. In roaming packs, on uneven ground, terrain they aren't meant to work on - even within walls, just to see how well your code is going to hold up under fire, and re-work anything that doesn't do what you want it to.


You can make cheat keys that can be easily removed from the game that do everything from granting new abilities, powers, and weapons to changing the gravity.


And the very best part of making a Zoo level: Once it's done, and once you are happy with the way that everything works, you are pretty much done coding. The only thing that you have to do is cut and paste the frame to a new one, remove unwanted elements, and sit down and create a really polished looking and feeling level.


It's a huge time saver, and it lets you get down to making games instead of constantly fiddling with the event editor or changing animations, sizes, and sounds.


Welcome to the zoo.