Land

The second level introduces the three surfaces that make up the world. On the left third of the screen you will notice brick. In the middle of the screen you will notice grass. Finally, the right side of the screen contains metal. Obviously, all three of these surfaces can be walked on. So, other than looks, is there any difference among the three surfaces? Yes. While aesthetics can be important to games, I am the type of designer who feels that every element in a game should serve some type of purpose.

In the case of real life, walking on brick or steel surfaces is simply easier to do than walking across grass. The amount of extra effort required to plow through grass is very minimal, and is probably taken to a larger level than it would be in the real world. Still, if you walk across the grass onto the metal or brick and then back onto the grass you will notice that you move slightly slower on the grass than you do on the other two surfaces.

Ah, you may be saying, but why do you have metal then? Joe seems to walk the same speed over metal as he does over brick? Well, metal has another purpose, which we will explain once we get to the section on holes.

This level can be completed the same way the first level was. For those of you who didn’t read the section for the first level or those of you who have an extremely bad memory, this involves simply walking over the energy crystal, then walking through the exit portal.