TITLE

WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE

 TITLE
About Me.......................................................................................................................pg 3
About WizardWizard.....................................................................................................pg 4
How I Started.................................................................................................................pg 5
Designing Goals............................................................................................................pg 8
Tools............................................................................................................................. pg 11
Things I Learned ......................................................................................................... pg 12
Levels............................................................................................................................ pg 16
Box Art & Music........................................................................................................... pg 46

Hey! My name is Trent Holbrook

but I go by Crateboy on the
Internet. At the time of writing
this I am 19 years old and have
just finished school. I love to
create cool things and making
games is one of my favorite
mediums. I really believe in
doing what you love, while you
can. I am really passionate
about creating art and creating
things for people to admire. I
really love to just make stuff
and I try to experiment with as
many mediums as possible. I
believe that creativity through
games has endless possibilities
and pathways and it is a very
powerful medium due to the
need for human interaction.

WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE 3

 TITLE
WizardWizard is a game I made during my school holidays, play tested by my class
mates and inspired by rainy days in the IT room at lunch time playing browser
games. The art for WizardWizard was made during class using tools on a USB flash
drive and trying to replicate the styles of my inspirations (and failing). The coding
was butchered up and pasted together from open-source engines and endless
answers from questions posted on forums. I learned all my design principles from
lectures found on to YouTube and watching Egoraptor’s Sequelitis one to many
times. WizardWizard was a huge learning experience for me, and I’m putting this
booklet together for other people to learn from and hopefully to fast track their
experience of starting to make games.

I was like sixteen-ish and I’d just watched Indie Game: The Movie and had recently
been playing Limbo and Super Meat Boy. I wanted to create an artsy style video
game with some sort of symbolic meaning (I forget what it was going to be about,
which is probably a good thing) but I totally failed. I decided to keep it simple and
try to make a game that was more genuine to me and make a game I would have
enjoyed playing growing up.

Lost - Manuel777

4 WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE

 TITLE
I stumbled upon a competition called Ludum Dare where people make games in a
couple of days with a theme. I found a game that really inspired me called Lost by
Manuel777. I was blown away someone could create something so cool in such
a short amount of time and figured surely I could do it too. Lost is a game about
a cat trying to find its way home. The art style is pixely and minimalist but looks
beautiful and stylized. The gameplay introduces some cool mechanics like the
platforming puzzles only being made from one-way platforms.

Lost - Manuel777

While on Ludum Dare I also discovered an open-source engine called Grandma

Engine by Matt Thorson and I downloaded that immediately.
I had inspiration, an engine, school holidays and a very basic understanding of
programming; all that was left was to make the game. I needed a concept, so I
decided I would take Manuel777’s game, break down what I liked and didn’t like
about it and go from there.

WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE 5

 TITLE
Things I liked in Lost:
- Minimalist pixel art style with
beautiful colors
- Clever gameplay mechanics like
one-way platforms
- Simple gameplay mechanics
- Simple controls
- Beautiful water and reflection effect
- No level scrolling
- Story telling elements
- Use of emotion
Things I wanted in my game that
weren’t in Lost:
- Double Jumping
- Fast paced gameplay
- Happy/silly atmosphere
- Quick reflex challenges
- Infinite lives
- Action movie moments
- More gameplay mechanics
- Ending or resolution upon completion
- Interesting, head-banging music
- Enemies and moving hazards
- Fun in social environments
- Fast to play
- Non-intrusive story for speed
running
- Feeling of arcade game
With the Grandma Engine and some coffees later I created a wizard that could
bounce around, double jump and collect keys to advanced to the next level. At
this point the only challenge to the game was doing hard jumps to get to the goal.
Grandma Engine had super tight controls so the game worked well, but it wasn’t
exactly what I had in mind.

6 WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE

 TITLE
I showed some friends and it was really cool to see them play something I had
made, even in its very early stages. This was the point I saw developing games as a
medium I could really get behind. I would recommend anyone who wants to make
games to create something super small, that they can finish quickly so they can
watch other people play their game.

I decided my game needed some depth and fast paced action, so I took Super
Meat Boy as an inspiration and created the ‘buzz-saw’ enemy. This introduced the
mechanic of timing and quick reflexes to over come challenges. This was good
because it put less stress on the level design to be orientated on hard jumps. I
found through play testing that mistakes from hard jumps would often cause the
player to blame the controls rather than their own ability. A huge problem was
the player would blame the controls that the double jumping mechanic wasn’t
working properly. The mechanic was working just fine but after some YouTube
videos of University talks I came to realize it was my job as the designer to make
the player feel as though it was inarguably their fault when they failed. This would
be a challenge I would have to over come.

WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE 7

So with a couple of levels designed I had created five goals in my head that I
wanted to achieve in my game;
1. Tight Controls: The Grandma Engine had perfect platforming code (I can say that
confidently because I didn’t write it). I spent hours tweaking the controls to feel as
fluid and intuitive as possible, even with my incredibly tacked on implementation
of double jumping. The double jumping gave new dimension to the game, gave
more control to the player and more possibility for puzzles and movement.

8 WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE

2. Minimal Work, Maximum Challenges: I knew if I got to ambitious I would
struggle and give up, so I decided I would try to make as much as I could with the
most minimal assets I had available. I also read somewhere it would good game
design to re-use as many assets as possible in creative ways. So I made this my
priority. I would not worry about how many levels I had, I would just create levels
until I couldn’t create anymore unique challenges and then call the game done. I
wanted to make the rules of the game consistent so the player never felt cheated
or deceived. The rules of the game were “Avoid hazards to collect a key and then
get to the door to finish the
level.” My minimal work
ideals turned my weakness
of lack of coding, motivation
and inexperience into
positives. By creating
boundaries and challenges
it forced me into becoming
more creative with what I
already had and allowed
me to work quicker.
Minimal was also important
to me because I wanted
the game to be as easy and
quick to pick up and play
to encourage everyone
to have a go especially
in a social environment.
This was a reflection on
my early schooling where
flash games where played
socially in a very small
window of time. Infinite
lives was a feature inspired
by Super Meat Boy and
Hotline Miami which would
work especially well in a
social environment because
it encouraged everyone to
have a go without the fear
of wasting lives.

WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE 9

3. Fast Paced and Fun: I have a pretty short attention span when it comes to
games, so I wanted the game to feel fast paced and exciting. I used fast paced
music and made the player respawn instantly after death. Instant respawning lead
to some funny moments of watching play testers in horror after the wizard was
coated in blood from his previous self as soon as he respawned.
4. Awesome Music:
I needed commercial free music and I found a Reddit thread from a guy called
_TWC who makes really dope chiptune inspired music. I loved the sound and
contacted him immediately. What I loved about the music was it was fast paced
and the rock inspired sound created a unique contrast between the setting of the
game and the music. I knew the music was good because even after hours and
hours of frustratingly play testing the game I never grew sick of the music. This
was important as the game I created caused some frustrated reactions and the
last thing I’d want would be for the player to stop playing the game due to the
music (I also didn’t know how to program a mute button yet).

5. Make the game beautiful: I felt Manuel777 really nailed the art in Lost, which
looked, stylized and pretty. I would take his work as a big stylistic inspiration but
ultimately I wanted to separate myself from my inspirations and tried my best to
take my art in a new direction. I used a color scheme generator to get me started;
this is the pallet I chose:

10 WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE

 One night I was watching the stars with my beautiful girlfriend. To me there
was nothing more beautiful than my girlfriend and nothing more symbolic than
stars and so I eagerly put them in my game. I ditched the overly minimalist
design of Lost and tried to add in my own style by using more complex colors,
contrasts, lighting and shapes. I shaped the world of WizardWizard day by
day to try to make it my own, and tried to make it better than my inspirations.
In order to make it my own I realized I would have to combine many of my
inspirations in order to create something personal.

Art: Graphics Gale is my go-to for pixel art. It’s freeware, fast, simple and clean and
it can fit on a USB stick.
Adobe Photoshop for slightly more complicated stuff like promotional material
or simple things like gradients. It’s not free, but there are good free alternatives!
Simon Newport (The dude that does my box art and promo stuff uses Photoshop
for his digital paintings.)
MakeGlitchy is this awesome inexpensive program that is basically Photoshop
but for glitch effects. I use it wherever I can because the results it creates are
beautifully destructive!
Audio: SFXR is a free program that makes really awesome 8-bit sounds. You
can literally hit the randomizer button or just click around randomly and you’ll
very quickly get something that sounds great. With a little bit more audio
understanding you can have a lot of control and get everything sounding exactly
how you want it. Audacity is a free program that I used to mix the songs together
by _TWC as well as layer sounds to create great effects.
Audacity gives you more control of your sounds after you make them in SFXR and
you can export them as .OGG files. If you download sounds online you can give
them more personality by layering them with your own effects or mixing them
with other sounds.
Coding & UI: YoyoGames’ Gamemaker is the only program I use for making
games, without it I wouldn’t make games. Gamemaker is fast and intuitive and
user friendly and I would recommend it for anyone looking to get started making
games.

WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE 11

In my very limited time making games, I have learned a lot of things I wish I’d
known when I had first started. Take everything with a grain of salt, these things
just worked for me.
Put yourself under time constraints:
Time constraints make you work harder and can teach you to work more efficient-
ly. It’s really easy to daydream and conceptualize a lot of ideas for your games that
will likely never see the light of day if you feel as though you have unlimited time. If
you consider the limited time you have you will soon work out the bare minimums
you will need to achieve to make your game as fun as possible in the shortest
working time.
Avoid relying on other people as much as you can.
Making games can be a big undertaking so instinctively it is very easy to try to get
a lot people involved. If it’s your first game chances are the budget is small or zero
and the people you are working with are doing it for fun. Without the incentive of
a regular scheduled paycheck it is very easy for people to loose interest or lose
motivation. Instead of relying on more people realize your vision consider scaling
down the project to be more manageable for a single developer. That way with
more poeple things get done more efficently but if things go sour you can still fin-
ish the game yourself. Get other people involved in your projects but don’t rely on
them for your game to see the light of day. The Internet is filled with open-source,
creative commons and commercial free assets and scripts consider using them as
alternatives.
Put yourself under creative constraints:
By working with limitations you push yourself to be more creative. Try make the
game as fun as you can with as little assets are you can. I say this to anyone who
tells me they want to make games. By making limitations the game is made quick-
er and it forces you to be more creative and inventive with what you have. You will
also see faster progress being made and you will be more motivated to continue.
Preparation is key.
Save time wherever you can by making templates or scripts. This is especially
important for boring things like blog posts. If you’ve got to post to a few blogs and
a few forums and websites and they all have different image resolution require-
ments you will end up spending a lot more time than you thought you would. Set
up Photoshop actions to scale and save your images to the correct resolutions
and to your hosting service with a button click. Make a blog template that you
can quickly fill in so you don’t have to worry about typing out links and buttons or
HTML. I learned all this to late and wasted to many hours when I could have been

12 WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE

doing other things.
Find inspiration everywhere:
Find inspiration for your work in things other than games, then your work will be
more personal and unique. I like to listen to different genres of music and think
about how it makes me feel and try to convert the sounds into visuals or art.
Publish your development early:
As soon as you have something for poeple to engage with you can get feedback to
shape your future development. IndieDB is a great place to start.
Write things down.
Write things down, put every idea onto paper. Do this so the idea leaves your head
and you will no longer be worried about forgetting about it. Over thinking kills
motivation, your brains does this weird thing where it gives you satisfaction by
fantasizing over an idea to much and therefore kills motivation to actually put it
into action. I have a book where I put all my ideas, I found it really surprising how
quickly you forget about the “best idea ever” as soon as you write it down allowing
you to focus on the tasks at hand. Weeks later when I have more available time I
will look back with a clearer head and see if there were any really worth pursuing.
Ask questions, the right way.
When you first start out you will likely as a lot of questions to more experienced
users. To get the most out of your results I recommend:
1. Show that you have made a decent attempt at the problem yourself. Whether its
show your code that didn’t work or share what you’ve researched so far.
2.Be specific with your questions and try to give as much information as possible.
3.Be polite and show you’re grateful for their time by saying thankyou.
4.If you find the solution to the problem add it to your post for other people who
might have the same question or problem as you and mark your post as ‘solved’.
Be proud to show you had other people help you along your way.
When I first started WizardWizard I was embarrassed to admit I was using open
source code and scripts. I was worried the community would look down on me or
think I was cheating. It took a while to realize it’s totally cool to have other people
help you and to use their assets and you should be proud to credit them and put
their name wherever you can.

WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE 13

Focus on your strengths.
Focus on your strengths and try to fill in your weaknesses with other people or
open-source code or assets. Don’t waste time on the things you don’t enjoy if you
can avoid it. The Gamemaker Marketplace is a great way to find exactly what you
need made by people who enjoy what you don’t. You will be more motivated and
will get to the end result quicker. Its important to try to have a basic concept or
understanding of your weaknesses but I think its important to try to do most of
what you are good at so you enjoy the most as much as you can.
How to develop an art style
Everyone develops a style differently. I would recommend trying to translate things
that inspire you or things you enjoy outside of game-making and bring them into
your art or games. Try to emulate people who are good at things you like, you
might like me, realize you suck and then embrace your own suck and then develop
it in your own direction until other people think you’re good.
Publishing:
Here are the websites I like the most:
IndieDB is has a great community that you can share blogs with and being featured
will get you a lot of traction. IndieDB is swarming with Youtube Let’s Players and
game reviewers looking to play new indie games and is a great way to get a little
bit of interest and watch people play test your games. IndieDB is a great starting
point and will get the ball rolling if you put in the time to post often.
Itch.io is an excellent hosting service (it now has even more features for socializing
to). Itch.io is totally free to host on and you set the cut they take from your profits.
They have a good payout system and clear analytics so can see how your game is
progressing. It’s clear the itch.io is a website created for developers with love.
TIGsource is a great forum with a strong community. You will get lots of very useful
and critical feedback as well as lots of willing play testers. TIGsource is filled with a
lot of people with a lot of experience and the feedback you’ll see or receive might
change your whole perspective on the way you look at things.
Devlogs- If you’re going to do a development log outside of IndieDB or similar I
recommend using Tumblr as a development log, you can hotlink it straight to your
website and generate interest from the game development community on
Tumblr as well. Your blogs will have a much more likely chance of being read if
people don’t have to navigate to your website to do so.
GameJolt is great for hosting and interacting with the community and they have

14 WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE

support for HTML5! Gamejolt has live chatroom that’s always populated so no
matter how late it is during the night you’ll always have people to converse with
that have similar interests as you.
Reddit – There are a lot of game dev subreddits that can give you lots of feedback
or you can get traffic by posting your game to lets play subreddits for people to
review.
http://www.indiedb.com/
http://itch.io/
http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php
https://www.tumblr.com/dashboard
http://gamejolt.com/
https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev
https://www.reddit.com/r/gamemaker

WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE 15

16 WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE
Level 1: Tutorial?
• The aim for the level is to teach all the fundamental controls of the game and
introduce the ‘story’.
• The player is first taught about movement and jumping. Whether it’s from the
non-intrusive instructions placed in the level or the player tries to learn the
controls by mashing buttons on their keyboard they can work out the entire
controls very quickly.
• In order for the player to process to the next level they must learn the concept
of double jumping. They will be stuck on the first platform if they do not first
make a double jump to reach the platform above. If the player experiments
with the jumping controls or reads the instructions they will eventually acquire
the knowledge of double jumping. From play testing it was found some players
struggle with the concept of understanding what if actually taking place when
they double jump. If the player doesn’t have previous experience with double
jumping it is possible for them to spam the jump button and not realize they
are performing a double jump. To solve this the white cloud particle effects are
shown when they input the key the second time. The white particle effects on
the dark background stand out to catch the attention of the player. The jump
sound has different pitches to reinforce the concept. When the player makes
an initial jump the wizard staff will glow as if something is charging, when the

WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE 17

 second jump is input the glow will disappear as if something (like a spell) is
released.
• When the player jumps it shows their head poking through the 1-way platform
above them, which teases the concept of 1-way platforms. The player starts the
level with a purple platform background behind them, which helps dismiss the
idea of horizontal collisions with the environment.
• The player is also taught about interacting with in NPCs and they can do so by
simply standing in front of them, which for the most time naturally occurs from
the players exploration of the environment.

18 WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE

Level 2: You Shall Not Pass
• The player is required to remember what they have learned in the tutorial level
as well explore the new key and door objects in the level.
• The player must jump to the first platform using a double jump. The player isn’t
required to have mastered the double jump, as there is a lot of room for error
in the first jump. This is used to teach the idea of double jumping without being
to confronting.
• The player can interact with the NPC as a reward for completing the first jump.
• The player is presented with the glowing key in-between two platforms. The
key is in front the dark scenery background, this teaches the player about layer
depth and they won’t collide with walls on the background layer.
• The player can collect the key in several ways, but the player is presented
with two clear platforms that they can use to jump between to collect the key
without falling to their doom. The player must use the double jump technique
to collect the key in order to continue. This exercise teaches the player they can
use double jumping climb both up and climb down to new platforms.
• The key is close to the door so it is clear where the exit is and it is possible
to see the transformation of closed to open when the key is collected. This
transformation is reinforced by a key collection sound and a door opening
sound.
WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE 19
Level 3: Brzzzzzz
• Level 3 reintroduces the concept of having to jump through a 1-way platform
and that the player can stand in front of the dark background and will not
collide horizontally. This concept has to be continually revised so the player
breaks out of the habit of making non-existent barriers for themselves. Having
an owl NPC for the player to interact with encourages player to pass non-
existent barriers.
• The player is introduced to the saw enemy in a stationary and safe place. The
player can hit the saw from above, underneath and from the side. The player
must jump over the saw to proceed.
• The player must double jump to access lower platforms and not just higher
ones. The player must finish the level by jumping through a 1-way platform
similar to how they started the level.

20 WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE

Level 4: Leap of faith
• The player must use the jumping skills from previous levels in order to reach
the key. To collect the key the player must perform an intentionally late double
jump, this is used to help the player refine their jumping skill for harder
challenges later on.
• The player is also has to learn to control their movement in the air in order to
avoid falling right on top of the saw blade hazard.
• The player can reach the keys from two platforms encouraging experimentation
if they fail on their first attempt.

WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE 21

Level 5: Trifecta
• This level introduces the moving the saw blade. Moving saw blades make the
player time jumps or adjust their motion with quick evasive jumps. The player
must time jumps and dodge the saw in order collect the key. The player must
account for where the saw is before jumping and where the saw will be when
they land.

RANDOM TIP:

Set up debugging tools early. I made this mistake of never including debug tools
during development. Set up a controller that will allow you to skip levels and
receive items and test music and sound effects early on in development as it will
be much easier to do it sooner than later on.

22 WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE

Level 6: Watch your head
• The player must use their double jump control to access the key on a lower
level.
• The player after collecting the key must travel back upwards, forcing them to
avoid the saw from underneath as well as on their way to the platform with
the door on it. This shows the player the same enemy they’re used to but is
dangerous from a different perspective. The player has to avoid the saw when
jumping as opposed to where they are landing.
• The player can stand on the bottom platform safely allowing them to time their
jumps accordingly.
• The saw moves faster then the player and this is evident during the journey
back to the door.

WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE 23

Level 7: Heavy Machinery
• Introduces the enemy “Smart Saw” a saw that follows a clear pattern outlined to
the player with a chain sprite. The player can observe the saws pattern from a
distance before putting him or herself in danger.
• The “Flying Key” is also introduced in this level. The player is forced to juggle the
objective and hazard in combination in order to time the jumps.
• The level is designed to look simple and neat so all focus is on the pattern of the
key and saw.
• The player cannot simply run for the key as soon as they spawn, if they do,
the saw and key won’t match up and the player will collide with the saw. This
forces the player observe the pattern first before making their move reducing
senseless trial and error.

24 WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE

Level 8: Mechanical Rain
• Level 8 introduces the “Gravity Saws”.
• The player must climb the steps to reach the key. The steps have saws affected
by gravity tumbling down them. Each step is different lengths therefore each
step introduces different timing.
• The player must use their air control in order to collect the key underneath the
platform.
• The player can observe the pattern from a distance before attempting it.

RANDOM TIP:

I tried to learn from only open source engines and tutorials which meant I only
had a light grasp on what I was doing and it took a long time with trial and error to
solve problems. It wasn’t until I watched the most basic ‘getting started’ tutorials
I had more of an idea on what I was doing. If you watch ‘getting started’ tutorials
from a variety of sources you will pick up a variety of ways of solving one problem
so you can use what works best for you.

WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE 25

Level 9: Piece of cake
• The player is first confronted with a saw jump like before but this time raised
above the ground. The player must use their jumping arch with finesse in order
to clear the jump. The player will not be able to clear it without having mastered
their double jumping timing in order to clear the very tight jump.
• The player must also time their jump and react quickly to in coming enemies
using quick instinct or forward planning.
• This level uses a lot of air and jumping control. The player is presented with
threats from both underneath them and above them.

26 WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE

Level 10: Staircase
• The player is re-introduced to the smart saw, but this time the saw isn’t on a
closed loop. The player can see this from a distance. The player must use their
double jumping timing in order to clear the saw. The player must adjust to the
saws jagged and fast changing pattern in order to be able to reach the key.
Without good timing the player will be met with the saw after the key collection.

RANDOM TIP:

Start having other people like friends or family playing what you make as early as
you can. This way you will have a better grasp of the aspects that make your game
truly fun and you will understand your priorities of what to work on next.

WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE 27

Level 11: Jump rope
• Introduces the hammer enemy. Their is only one obstacle in the level, but the
player must over come the obstacle in 3 stages using well timed jumps in order
to reach the platform, collect the key and exit the platform.

RANDOM TIP:

If it’s your first time making games, never assume something will be easy to
implement. Assume that everything you need to implement will take a long time.
This will help you prioritize the most important features for your game to make it
fun.

28 WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE

Level 12: High jump
• The player must use jump control in order to navigate between two hazards at
an angle as well as time their landing.
• The player after collecting the key must drop down the small whole to the door
without hitting the saw blade which needs horizontal air control.
• This level reuses the same enemies but the player is confronted with them from
multiple perspectives.
• The player is also rewarded by being able to talk to the NPC if they explore the
level and don’t go straight for the exit.

WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE 29

Level 13: Easy Does IT
• This level uses the previous levels lessons of jump control but also allows the
player to refine their horizontal control.
• The player alternatively can think outside the box and use their double jumping
skills and reach the lower platform. This was interesting watching play testers as
not very many people took this route.
• The player is presented with the problem of collecting the key between
two vertical saw blades. This challenges the player to make tiny horizontal
movements and carefully timed double jumps in order to reach the key without
going to far. This level is particularly fun on ‘NINJANINJA’ and ‘moon physics’
modes (trust me, its possible).

30 WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE

Level 14: 2 by 2
• The saws are falling in patterns of two making the player space and time their
jumps differently. The placement of the key forces the player to approach the
falling saws from multiple angles. The player must move with and then against
the saws in order to accomplish the level.

RANDOM TIP:

No, your first game can’t be an MMORPG. Finish and publish a small game first
and you will quickly understand the work that is involved in creating something
that is small in scale. If you’re ONLY interested in creating a MMORPG, consider
supporting one of the many in development already by playtesting, submitting
feedback and suggesting ideas for gameplay and stories.

WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE 31

Level 15: Speed Freak
• This challenge forces the player to rely on quick movement, clever timing and
patience in order to finish the level. The player is stripped to the bare minimum
inputs and can’t rely on quick jumping to solve the level.
• The level encourages patience but also doesn’t limit speed runners if they are
experienced enough at the level.
• If the player gets stuck because they are not being patient enough they are
directed to talk to the owl NPC, by doing so they may better understand
the patience of waiting for the saw to pass over them once or twice before
attempting to run back.

32 WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE

Level 16: Physics?
This level introduces the player to avoiding moving obstacles mid air using timing
and control. The player must consider their own falling time with the saws
falling time.

RANDOM TIP:

Learn from my mistakes and be consitent with your code and formating. Watch
some basic tutorials on programming in your perfered language and see their
naming conventions and how they layout their code. Watching a 30 minute tutorial
and being consistent with your own code will save you countless hours in the
future and you’ll stop yourself cringing in the future when you look at your old
code.
Shaun Spalding is great at everything and you should use him as a role model:
https://www.youtube.com/user/999Greyfox/videos

WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE 33

Level 17: Brain fart.
• This level is makes the player to use long jumps and timing to conquer three
sets of saw blades.
• In order for the player collect the key they must double jump off the platform
and stay there while the saws fall next to them. This jump involves lots of
control and timing as the player is forced to delay their fall as much as possible.
Otherwise the player will get squished.
• The player must follow the saws back and use their movement carefully in
order to avoid collision.

I like this level because the real challenge isn’t revealed until the player looks
closer. It is easy for the player to assume it just a re-do of the 2x2 level but if they
assume to much they will be hit in the face with saws.

34 WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE

Level 18: The Zipper
• This level encourages the player to use very precise timing.
• The player can approach the puzzle from 2 platforms encouraging
experimentation in a attempt to prevent them giving up.
• The player after collecting the key must use air control to reach the door and
time their jump to avoid the saw hitting them in the head or hitting the saws
below.

One aspect of this level I didn’t like was that it was easily do-able using the
mindless trial and error approach. The original version of this puzzle required
precision timing but play testers found it to hard. As a result by giving the player to
much wiggle room the challenge was solved to easily with mindless jumping.

WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE 35

Level 19: Dance floor
• Dance floor makes the player multitask to judge timing. The exit is right next
to where the player starts and so the player completes the level from multiple
perspectives.
• In order to collect the key the player must jump forward and then use air
control and jump backwards immediately in order to land on a safe platform.
• From the play testing its revealed the saws on the bottom platform will often
follow very closely to the player depending on their timing. If the player cracks
under the pressure it is very easy for them to jump early and miss the platform
and fall to their doom.

36 WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE

Level 20: Platfformer
• Level 20 has a simple principle but needs very refined timing and jumping
control. The principle is similar to the jump rope level but requires more button
twitching responses and uses enemies with different patterns.

RANDOM TIP:

I learned heaps from a dude on YouTube called Wizirdi, he left YouTube and
deleted his tutorials, but he’s back now so watch his stuff:

https://www.youtube.com/user/Wizirdi/videos

HeartBeast is great to!

https://www.youtube.com/user/uheartbeast/videos

WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE 37

Level 21: Bkerrrrrrgg
• This level uses the swinging hammer, but forces the player to control the jumps,
length and high and predict the hammers movement.
• The player is encouraged to time their jump using the flying key enemy.
• The player can take their time with the level despite being very close to danger,
this allows the player to take a deep breath and refine their jumps. With more
refined skills level can be mastered to be finished swiftly and smoothly

38 WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE

Level 22: This looks easy
• This level uses air control and makes the player consider their falling rate with
the saws falling rate.
• This level uses a repetition of challenges but the fact the player must conquer a
challenge moving in one direction and then in the direction they’re not used to
makes all the difference.
• The player must aim their jumps and time their jumps with pattern prediction.

WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE 39

Level 23: Well..
• This is just a weird level with a weird jumping pattern.
• The player is rewarded for thinking outside the box by skipping the key and
making it to the furthest away platform and getting to talk to a unique NPC.

40 WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE

Level 24: Seriously Watch Your Head
• This level is a throw back to a very early level but this time the player can’t wait
on the bottom platform otherwise the saw will hit them.
• The level was carefully crafted to push the player to time their jumps. The
player must jump off the platform and delay their fall before reaching the
bottom platform in other to have enough time to collect the key and escape.
• The player can evaluate the distance from afar but all the executing must be
made quickly and thoughtfully in order to proceed.
• This level is my favourite and has been in the game since the beginning but still
proves to be one of the largest challenges.

WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE 41

Level 25:
• The level can be solved with a single double jump for speed runners but it can
also be tackled in two parts. Many players don’t consider breaking up the level
and try to accomplish it in one swift jump.
• The distance of the key to the platform is placed in a way that will force the
player stretch their horizontal movement and make quick turns to jump back to
the platform.
• I like the minimalism, which creates contrast between this and the next levels.

42 WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE

Level 26: Air Control
• This level makes the player control their jumps creatively, forcing them to
consider their jumps in angles and direction to control their height. Each step
of the tower makes the player jump at different angles and control their jumps
differently.

One thing I didn’t like about this level was the art, I should have made the platform
backgrounds vertical lines straighter because the slight lean is very unnatural to eye
when it has such a thin base.

This level is awesome in any of the cheat modes, it’s ridiculously hard but its very do-
able, give it a go if WizardWizard is to easy for you! ;)

WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE 43

Level 27: Layerz
• This is the final challenge of the game, the concept is simple but the execution
requires thinking and problem solving. This level mixes air control with fast
reaction time and planning which is why I chose it as the final challenge.
• There is a contrast between how fast the hammers swing and how fast you fall
which is the biggest challenge.

44 WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE

WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE 45
The box art for WIizardWizard was created by Simon Newport. Simon is a very
talented concept artist and put together the box art for WizardWizard overnight.

I asked Simon how he did it and this is what he said:

“Hmmm well I looked up retro games like Croc and that example you gave me
(crudely drawn doodles and pictures of posters I liked). I then set a perspective in
Photoshop and then tried to imagine the blocky 2d character in 3d semi-realism. I
colour picked from sprites and tried to keep the proportions”

I asked Simon for tips on getting better and he said:

“Using references for anything is a great way to improve, and don’t be afraid to
use methods and techniques you are not comfortable with. Also drawing what
someone else wants is an interesting challenge to help you improve. From doing
stuff for you I used new brushes and experimented with perspective lines and
working with retro sprites.

Simon also used to use websites like http://www.posemaniacs.com/thirtysecond

and http://www.quickposes.com/ to get better at drawing anatomy and drawing
with his eyes rather than his brain. These are tools that shows the human anatomy
is different poses and the artist has a limited time to draw them forcing them
to draw quickly and draw what they see. From what I observed during Simons
rigorous few months of 30 second training is that his skills improved very fast,
even if he went a little bit insane in the process.

Simon says (hehe) that he can’t stress enough about how important it is to get
outside of your comfort zone when you’re drawing. He says you won’t get better if
you don’t challenge yourself and try new things.
Finish what you start and use each completed
work as a marker to be better than the next.

Thanks Simon for all your hard work!

Check out his stuff here:

http://adaptablesimon.deviantart.com/

You can contact him here for work or advice on

concept art:
simonjnewport@gmail.com
or on Twitter or Tumblr @simonjnewport

46 WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE

WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE 47
Travis William Clark, also known as _TWC is my main guy for my game music.
What appealed to me about his jams was how they were mixed with real
instruments and 8-bit sounds. The combination of the two made a nostalgic feel
but also made the music sound modern and up to date. The mixture of past and
present is complimentary and is what I wanted to show in my game.

The music in _TWCs work is emotive to him, which adds a layer of emotiveness to
whatever it’s used for. For WizardWizard I wanted the game music to feel happy,
fast paced and fun and I was shocked that there was GOOD music so readily
available that artists were so eager to let people use for free.

The music for WizardWizard wasn’t created specifically for the game, but I think
that lends an advantage because the music focuses more on the emotions of the
creator rather than emotions of the game itself, which I think creates a more ‘real’
sound.

I really like working with _TWC because he is such an exciting guy with awesome
vibes who creates things because he wants to. I think the contrast of the two
things we created compliment each other because their different styles give the
game a new and exciting feel.

I found _TWC on Reddit and he was sharing his music with people to download
and use for free. I used a couple of tracks and showed him what I made with them
and from there we kicked off a friendship and he let me use more of his personal
work. From that experience I learned how important it is to communicate with
people that inspire you, because you never know what other places it might take
you.

Thanks Travis for all the hard work!

“Making music is important. Everybody has a different process and perspective, but the
outcome is always natural and creative. The soundtrack for WizardWizard contains a few
songs that I made on my MacBook using software like GarageBand, Magical8bitplug,
Milkytracker, and LSDJ. Every song is a reflection of what I was thinking or doing at that
moment in time in my life - and the positive energy contained is something that I hope
influences everybody who hears it. I think everybody should make music, because that
would make the world a better place altogether.”
- Travis William Clark

48 WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE

TRAVIS WILLIAM CLARK
Age:
19

Origin:
Ontario, Canada

Hobbies:
Producing Music
E-Sports
Skateboarding

Tools of choice:
Macbook w/ GarageBand
Guitar
Game Cube Controller

Favorite Game:
Super Smash Bros Melee

Fun Facts:
Travis is currently in training to be the best
Super Smash Bros Melee player in he region.

Where to find Travis:

https://twitter.com/_TravisClark
https://soundcloud.com/twc-3
http://twc-chiptunes.bandcamp.com/

WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE 49

FOR A PIXEL ART TUTORIAL GO HERE:
http://crateboy.deviantart.com/art/TUTORIAL-How-To-Create-a-Pixel-Art-
Character-456950505

FOR MY COMMERICAL FREE PIXEL ART COLLECTION GO HERE:

http://crateboy.itch.io/crateboy-2007-2014

FOR MY COMMERICAL FREE STOCK PHOTOS GO HERE:

http://crateboystock.deviantart.com/

SEE ALL MY THINGS:

http://crateboy.com/

ENJOY MY PERSONAL LIFE:

https://instagram.com/crateboy
http://crateboy.tumblr.com/

SUPPORT MY DESIGNS:
https://instagram.com/hookedupdesign

CONTACT ME:
contact.crateboy@gmail.com

Follow me on Twitter:
@crateboy

50 WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE

This booklet was written by Trent Holbrook and published by Rachel Clayfield.
Textures found in booklet credited to CGTextures.

Thanks to:
Matt Thorson the creator of the Grandma Engine
http://www.mattmakesgames.com/
Travis William Clark (_TWC) my music guy
https://soundcloud.com/twc-3
Nathan Gill who made the last track of the game

Manuel777 (Invader Games) for the inspiration

https://twitter.com/InvaderGames
Simon Newport my box art and poster guy
http://adaptablesimon.deviantart.com/
YoYoGames
http://www.yoyogames.com/
HumbleBundle
https://www.humblebundle.com/
Itch.io
http://itch.io/
IndieDB
http://www.indiedb.com/
GameJolt
http://gamejolt.com/
GMC community for all the tech support
http://gmc.yoyogames.com/
Rachel Clayfield for putting this all together

All the playtesters and lets players

Friends and family for the encouragement

Do what you love.

WIZARD WIZARD FIELD GUIDE 51