The Second Level

The second level has a slightly different design approach than the first, bringing back some of the complexity that was attempted in level one before testing. This time however, there are much clearer visual cues to inform the player of their goal.

Two red lights either side of a big door (currently missing the light bulbs in the picture above) indicate the status of two power switches. When the player heads down the left or right path from the door (to the A and B side) they will reach the power lever for that side of the level. Once the lever is pulled and the power turns on, the whole wing of the level lights up and the red light for that side turns green. For more guidance, the red indicators have power lines running all the way to their corresponding lever.

The A and B sides are designed as a loop where the lever rooms are more or less adjacent to the central room. A one-way door opens when the lever is pulled so that the player has no need to backtrack to return to the center.

In the image below, the A and B loops are clear and the dotted lines represent paths that open once the lever has been pulled. When both levers are pulled, the short path to the end via the big gate is available.

There were plans early on in development to have a level so dark that the player has a flashlight attached to their weapon. The idea works particularly well in this level - not only to save time lighting the level as nicely as the first - but also to communicate whether or not the player has activated power in the left or right side of the level via the lights being on. If a portion of the level is still dark, the player needs to go that way to progress.