Please help! I can't decide between "Level complete screens" or "Connected rooms"
I can't decide whether to keep my level complete screens (more like Super Meat Boy) or if rooms should be connected with "seamless" transitions between them (more like Celeste).
(The transitions in the video above were done in like 20 minutes, if I decided to follow that route I'd polish they up way more)
I'd love to know:
- Do you have a preference?
- Is your preference strong enough to effect whether you'd buy a game or not?
Personally, in platformers, I love racing against a clock to get medals/stars/etc, but I also think they make a game feel a little cheaper. I think large connected worlds make a game feel more polished whereas level complete screens kind of give "mobile game" vibes. I originally liked the level complete screens but after playing some other platformers I really liked the flow and pacing that comes with not having to wait in-between rooms. Now I feel like I'm just banging my head against the wall trying to figure out what to do. I'd really appreciate any thoughts or advice.
More details on my specific game in case they influence someones opinion:
- My game has a story, but it's not as in-depth as Celeste.
- The medals obtained for completing levels quickly unlock some bonus (more challenging) levels. But if I switch to "connected rooms", they could easily be repurposed as shortcuts or alternative routes.
- There are currently 20 rooms per chapter/area, most of which take around 10-20s to complete
Edit: Also there's currently an option to skip the level complete screens, in which case there's a 1 second fade to black in-between rooms. It feels like an okay middle ground, but it's not on by default and I don't think most people will ever even notice that the option exists..