How (and Why) Spelunky Makes its Own Levels

Spelunky will always keep you guessing, by making a fresh set of 16 levels every time you play. In this episode we look at how creator Derek Yu strikes a balance between random and authored levels to make stages that always feel fun and fair - and why it's important that this game never gives you the same level twice.

Quotes and info came from "Spelunky", by Derek Yu and Boss Fight Books

With additional information from "Spelunky Generator Lessons" by Darius Kazemi

And, the ultra helpful "Yet Another Spelunky Mod" by TakeNapEveryDay

You can play Spelunky Classic for free on PC

Or on Mac

Games shown in this episode (in order of appearance):

Spelunky (Derek Yu, 2012)
Super Mario World (Nintendo, 1990)
Super Castlevania IV (Konami, 1991)
Spelunky Classic (Derek Yu, 2008)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time (Konami, 1991)

Music used in this episode:

Adventure Begins (Spelunky, Eirik Suhrke)
Adventure Jingle (Spelunky, Eirik Suhrke)
Caves (Spelunky Classic, George Buzinkai and Jonathan Perry)
Credits (Spelunky Classic, George Buzinkai and Jonathan Perry)
Yeti Caves (Spelunky, Eirik Suhrke)
Temple A (Spelunky, Eirik Suhrke)
Credits (Spelunky Classic, George Buzinkai and Jonathan Perry)
Ice Caves Easter Egg (Spelunky, Eirik Suhrke)

[skippyasqueeze]

its never stated enough how disgustingly good your editing is

[OldyAlbert]

The Amazing thing is that Spelunky basically started this trend of 'Rogue-lite' indie-games, but it still has one of the best level generators in the genre. While games like Isaac or Rogue Legacy generate only what rooms will be in the dungeon - but not the room themselves - Spelunky create levels from pieces of premade content creating ifinite number of possible adequate looking levels.

[snomangaming]

This was awesome Mark! Exactly why I love this game so much. Like you said, it took many many many times playing through before I started to realize how it was all pieced together, but you do start to notice the patterns eventually, and yet it's always fresh and (most important) fun. I really want to pick up the book, I was really intrigued when I first heard about it. Cheers man, glad to know someone else loves Spelunky as much as me :)

[JosephAndersonChannel]

I think this is my favorite video of yours. Really well done.

[thrillhouse_vanhouten]

The biggest testament to the quality of Spelunky's level generator is the shock and confusion you get when you play a game that doesn't have well-thought out level generation, and sometimes creates unwinnable maps, like The Swindle.

[ericm]

the cool thing about the map design is that it's basically how you would randomly generate a map for a tabletop game. you would have to have some system of making a path, filling out the extras, and then populating it

[polybomb]

Oooh, didn't know there was a book. Gonna have to grab that. Great job with the segment on visualizing the level generation - very polished, very easy to follow.

[JoshFTL]

Nice video! I really enjoy the "learning a system" part of games like spelunky. Guess I'm going to have to read that Spelunky book once I'm done with Empires of EVE.

[cliftonb]

I got Spelunky years ago years ago, played a couple times, got frustrated and gave up rather quickly. Then Mark published this video and convinced me the game was worth another shot. Nearly two years later, I've put several hundred hours into the game, and it's become a slight obsession of mine. I bought Derek's book, play the daily challenge every day, and rank far higher than any of my friends. All because of this video. Thank you, Mark. Your channel is a blessing.

[Petert]

Sometimes I tear up a little when I think about Spelunky and how excellently designed it is.

[ChadundaShow]

Fantastic video. That bit where you explained how the algorithm actually constructs the level was beautiful with those little visual assets and sound effects - great touch!

I haven't played a ton of Spelunky, but the bits that I did were a lot of fun and were extremely engaging. Really need to pay attention and be observant of the level's setup and enemies. I started to notice those repeating areas at points, and I think that was a genius idea. It allowed for smaller areas to become familiar, but the overall set-up of the levels was almost always different! Again, great video man - your shit's always great for gaining developer insight in a more structured (and accessible) manner!

[DelDuio]

It's extremely rare but sometimes you can get a shop to spawn with a blocked entrance (dirt blocks). I have over 2000 deaths on the 360 version of this and have maybe seen this twice ever.

Conversely, I have yet to find the alien gun in a crate even though it's supposed to be possible. Go figure!

[WritingOnGames]

This is a game I've always meant to check out but never got around to it. I think this video might have pushed it into a must-play position. Thanks for the excellent video as always Mark!

[MikeCookMakesThings]

Really great one. I thought the book was fantastic too, I hope Boss Fight get more designers to talk directly like this. It was kind of like the best postmortem ever? Anyway this is a really wonderful summary of Spelunky and edited so gorgeously, like you always do. Thanks for making it!

[MrPigmoo]

The first time I beat this game was one of my favorite game moments

[MaxencePlou]

ok... i discovered you channel yesterday and i have to say, your videos are awesome. A real sugar for my game designer brain! After seeing your spelunky video, i decided to include a procedural level generation in a school project. And i'll be sure to remember all your good tips for my futurs game jam submissions. Keep up the good work, you've got a new fan.

[sgtrumbi]

Those videos are so incredibly awesome. Helpful, entertaining, great prepared, wonderful spoken and with incredibly high quality. I am so sorry for not being able to support you on Patreon... Thank you so much for uploading those videos for free! Keep up the best work I have seen on YouTube yet!

[amazingsparckman]

interesting, I'm going to start experimenting with this method.

[TakeNapEveryday]

Great presentation of rooms being generated within the level! (Thanks for the mention of Yet Another Spelunky Mod.)

[immortalsofar]

You know when you've got something when you start naming the features. I remember the spectre in Saberwolf as "Avon" because it the willow the wisp would turn up with a jangly music, usually just as you were leaving the screen so you'd just get a couple of notes. Ding dong, Avon calling.