For a level design exercise, I was tasked with adding a wall jump mechanic to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I quickly laid out the specifications for the wall jump and focused on how to teach it to the player in an open-world setting.
Research
I haven't played Breath of the Wild (though I have played many other Zelda games) or own a switch, so I watched multiple Let's Plays on Youtube to learn about this game for the exercise. I detailed my observations about how the game taught the player through the level design while I watched.
Walkthrough Used: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTDkTyrV8OQt1QDuH17aYpciPXcBQAItw
Start of game
Closed room, show where he needs to go, path on floor, controls on bottom of screen
Needs to perform action to move forward
Short (2 rooms)
Minimal narrative
Jump, sprint, stamina, and climbing
Link’s main abilities
Long hallway with ledge at end
Must perform to move forward
Controls pop up at bottom
Starting the open world
Immediately gives the player an overview and shows where they need to go
Natural barriers to guide and contain, cliff to fall, mountains to block, slope down
Small areas to test jump, sprint, climb, stamina
Teaching swimming
On path to main objective, used bokoblin camp to bring player to area, used sloping ground to guide them down
Puddles hint
New Mechanic - Wall Jump
To add the wall jump into the game, I needed to know how the mechanic would function. Focusing more on teaching it through level design, I quickly designed some specifications for the wall jump in the game.
“A secondary jump action triggered by jumping into a vertical surface and jumping again at contact”
Uses ⅛ of stamina bar per jump
Abilities that require endurance (sprinting, climbing, and swimming) or abilities that require power (swim dash, leaping climb) use the stamina bar
Max of 8 consecutive wall jumps
Can jump between walls up to ~5 units max apart
Can be performed on any vertical surface
Player can hold onto the wall in between jumps and climb (climbing stamina is still deducted)
Why Add a Wall Jump?
Improves Link’s mobility in the world
Reinforces exploration using parkour movements
Supports the core pillars
Level Walkthrough
Introduction
Wall jump is a secondary ability
Won’t have a gated tutorial like with the sprinting, climbing, and jumping at the beginning as the player leaves the Shrine of Resurrection
Player will learn the wall jump like how they learn other abilities such as swimming: by encountering the scenarios in the world and figuring out the ability themselves
Learn Through Experience
Swimming introduced without a tutorial through exposing it to the player in multiple areas
Most encouraged learning area was when the Old Man directs Link to the Oman Au Shrine (Main Quest Objective)
Bokoblin camp lured player to the far edge of lake with promise of spoils
Other ways around lake, but most direct to shrine is through the water, encouraging them to “test the waters”
Locations
Wall jump taught in the Isolated Plateau region
Spaces like as follows will be scattered around the region (red highlighted spots along mountainsides) encouraging player exploration and discovery but providing plenty of opportunities to discover the ability like with swimming
Most Encouraged Learning Area: Main quest objective to farm cabin added; Old Man directs Link up mountain to Owa Daim Shrine; Mountainside climbing replaced with wall jump
Example Overview
Classic wall jump setup with an incentive at the top helps players to identify the mechanic
Guiding the Player
Collectable rushrooms (purple mushrooms) guide the player up and serve as another wall jump identifier
Player can hold on in between jumps and climb/hold onto the wall to collect rushrooms
Rewarding the Player
A noticeable incentive at the top of the wall jump section attracts the player’s attention to the spot in the first place and rewards them for completing the challenge
Shrine, chest, or hidden korok
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