Level Design in Video Games

May 14, 2006 12:35 PM

What was the first video game to have a level design feature?

I was introducing the nephew to the wonders of classic console emulators yesterday when we started playing the original NES version of Excite Bike. I remember being really impressed as a kid that I could design my own track in the game and I don't recall seeing a game before that which included this feature. My question is: what was the first game you can remember that incorporated some kind of level design functionality and when did it come out?

posted by saraswati to sports, hobbies, & recreation (26 comments total)

I was going to say Doom until you reminded my of Excitebike, which certainly does beat Doom by years.
posted by ChasFile at 12:41 PM on May 14, 2006

Probably Lode Runner for the Apple ][ in 1982.
posted by plinth at 12:45 PM on May 14, 2006

Another vote for Lode Runner.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 12:48 PM on May 14, 2006

I vaguely remember there being a Sega Master System with a lvel design feature. My memory is hazy -- I was, like, five -- but I seem to remember something about eggs. The levels were single-screen 2D platform deals, like Bubble Bobble. Does anyone know what I'm talking about?
posted by danb at 12:50 PM on May 14, 2006

a Sega Master System game, with a level design feature, of course
posted by danb at 12:51 PM on May 14, 2006

My favorite was Racing Destruction Set, but that came out about the same time as Excite Bike.
posted by Tenuki at 12:52 PM on May 14, 2006

More recent: Boulder dash construction kit (1986), Kik start 2 (1987) were the first popped up in my mind. Both C-64.
posted by swordfishtrombones at 12:59 PM on May 14, 2006

Ancient Art of War had a fun level design feature. But yeah, Lode Runner. Also fun!
posted by furiousthought at 1:05 PM on May 14, 2006

Repton 3 is another early example, from 1985. Can't beat Lode Runner though!
posted by edd at 1:08 PM on May 14, 2006

danb - are you thinking of chuckie egg?
posted by the cuban at 1:23 PM on May 14, 2006

The Sega Master system had Penguin Land, which involved eggs and you could build your own levels, which came out into 1987. Excite Bike came out in '84 so it had it beat by a couple of years as well.
posted by monsta coty scott at 1:33 PM on May 14, 2006

i always thought Pinball construction set was the first, but that came out in 1983
posted by slater at 1:37 PM on May 14, 2006

Pinball Construction Set was released the same year as Lode Runner, 1983.

Galactic Gladiators was earlier, in 1982, and I believe it let you design the battlefields you played on.
posted by fleacircus at 1:38 PM on May 14, 2006

I was going to suggest either Pinball Construction Set or Loderunner, but others have beat me to them. These were very prominent and popular games in their era. I'd be willing to wager, however, that there were other earlier games that offered level design, but they're probably moderately obscure. (I can remember hand-typing a game from Compute! or some other magazine that featured some primitive level-design capabilities, but I think that was post-Loderunner because the game itself was Loderunner-esque, but simplified.)
posted by jdroth at 1:48 PM on May 14, 2006

i think danb is thinking of penguinland, which was a '87 release.
posted by still at 2:15 PM on May 14, 2006 [1 favorite]

LodeRunner. Also, Arkanoid II came with a level editor on the C64.
posted by furtive at 2:36 PM on May 14, 2006

I was going to say Jumpman which came out around the same time as Lode Runner (and plays pretty much the same) but can't recall whether the level editor was in the first edition or a latter remake. The mystery mode was in the original though and that definitely seemed as cool as a level editor!
posted by superfem at 3:21 PM on May 14, 2006

Mr. Robot & His Robot Factory, also from 1983, had a level editor that I remember fondly.
posted by .kobayashi. at 5:04 PM on May 14, 2006

Well, my rude word spelled out in Lode Runner ladders went down like a lead ballon with our humourless übercensors, so I'll just say that Lode Runner is the earliest I can think of, and that the sole purpose of the level maker was spelling out rude words with ladders.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 8:45 PM on May 14, 2006

I remember Mr. Robot and his Robot Factory. That was a fun game.
posted by fleacircus at 10:35 PM on May 14, 2006

Penguin Land is the one I was thinking of. I suppose that's a moot point now, as it's several years too late, but thanks for satisfying my curiosity.
posted by danb at 10:55 PM on May 14, 2006

I think Activision's Garry Kitchen's GameMaker was pretty early on, but the web page says it was 1985, so it's not as old as Lode Runner. Definitely predated Excite Bike, though, and it let you rebuild Pitfall!
posted by anildash at 12:22 AM on May 15, 2006

Though I loved, and spent many of my grade school hours immersed in GameMaker, the Japanese release of Excite Bike was November 30, 1984.
posted by Tenuki at 3:19 AM on May 15, 2006

If you're looking for the first program which allowed home users a scripting system to create their own games, you might turn your attention to interactive fiction (text adventure) programs. I can't think of any early ones of the top of my head, but you may find that those could go back as far as the 70's.
posted by Durhey at 10:23 AM on May 15, 2006

It looks like homebrew interactive fiction goes back only to 1987, so I think it's disqualified. Galactic Gladiators predates Planetfall.
posted by fleacircus at 12:03 PM on May 15, 2006

Rally Speedway for the Atari 800 allowed you to design your own tracks. That was around 1983.
posted by bitmage at 12:58 PM on May 15, 2006