Hosting a Collab
Hosting a Collab
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Collabs are always a popular way to make Geometry Dash levels. However, you'll make many fatal mistakes unless you know how to manage them properly. This guide will explain how to host a collab properly.
Made by Komatic5
Required Guides: Getting Ideas, Planning a Level, Communicating
Medium Difficulty
Medium (9-11 minutes)
Collaborating with others is a common way to make levels, and it has many benefits. You get multiple people working on the level at once, which saves time and makes ambitious ideas become far more feasible.
However, over 90% of collabs fail to get off the ground, and the ones which are released are a small minority. Most collab failures come down to poor management, which you’ll know if you’ve ever tried to collaborate with others. This guide will teach you how to manage your collabs properly and maximize your chances of succeeding.
Have A Reason To Collab
Have A Reason To Collab
Why must your level be a collab? This seems like a fairly simple question, but it’s crucial that you can answer it truthfully. If you can’t, you’ll waste lots of effort trying to convince people to join a collab they don’t feel like building for. Or worse yet, you could actually convince people to join, and then waste their effort due to your poor planning. An example of this is Fusion Z; the level was suddenly canceled by Manix648, angering many of the collab members and sparking massive drama.
Before you ask a single person to join your collab, I recommend having a clear idea for why you want to collaborate in the first place. When advertising to others, you’ll need to explain why their time and effort should be spent on your level instead of anything else in their life. If you want to collab because you “don’t feel like making a full level by yourself”, stop right here. Nobody will work for a host who doesn’t have any motivation to work on their own level.
Here are some good reasons to form a collab. Don’t use these to justify your collab after the fact, but use them when you first evaluate your level idea.
Your idea is far too ambitious for your skill level or free time (Ex: Castlemania)
You share a level vision with other creators, and all of you have the skill sets and motivation to work together (Ex: Dream Flower)
You’d like to collaborate with friends for fun (Ex: Scrap)
Once you have a thought-out level plan and a reason to collab, feel free to start asking people to join. When doing this, you’ll need to organize people a bit, as we’ll discuss below.
Dividing Tasks Among Members
Dividing Tasks Among Members
One major benefit of collabs is that you don’t have to do things you aren’t good at. If you’re good with decoration but can’t make gameplay well, you can get someone to make gameplay for you instead.
However, it’s important that you define each person’s role in the level. Otherwise, multiple people could all work on the same task at once, and someone’s work will be wasted as a result. I recommend you organize your level by the required tasks. For example, Ocular Miracle became famous as a high-profile collab that separated tasks between gameplay and deco creators.
Here is a good list of tasks you should consider when choosing what each person does. You may not need everything on this list depending on the type of level you’re making, but it’s still good to keep in mind.
Gameplay: Mechanic Creation, Level Design, Playtesting & Bugfixing
Decoration: Block Designs, Backgrounds, Animations/Endscreens, Polishing
Finalizing: Merging, Optimizing, Verifying
One benefit of this process is that you don’t have to randomly ask everyone you meet to join your project. You can choose new creators based on which tasks you need completed, as well as their skill & motivation to work.
When you have a good idea of what each person will do, it’s time to figure out when each person will work on your level.
Collab Workflows
Collab Workflows
A workflow determines when tasks get done for your level. There are a few major collab workflows, each with their pros and cons.
The All Build method divides the level into individual parts. Each person works on a separate copy of the level, and the individual parts are merged together at the end. This is the most common way of managing collabs today. One example of this method is Cytokinesis.
Pros
Pros
Fastest method of making a collab; each person can start working immediately.
Cons
Cons
Your level will quickly become a patchwork mess if you don’t keep communication very tight between members. This can lead to inconsistent quality, especially if people don’t understand your level vision that well.
The In Order method divides the level into individual parts, but each creator finishes their part before passing it to the next. This is the oldest method of making collabs, and was most prevalent around 2015. Bloodbath is a level that uses this workflow.
Pros
Pros
Each creator has a clear idea of what came beforehand. This means that your level vision will likely remain quite cohesive. Additionally, you don’t need to merge the level at the end.
Cons
Cons
It’s slow. This method fell out of favor as building became more complex and time-consuming. Additionally, with a high-object level some creators won’t be able to reasonably work on a massive copy.
The Level Swap method allows many people to work on the level at once, occasionally passing their copies to each other so new people can build. This is the newest method of building collabs. Overtime is one level which uses this method.
Pros
Pros
It has benefits from both the In Order and All Build methods. Each creator has a clear idea of what came beforehand, and each person can work immediately. Furthermore, part quality may be more consistent as each creator can complement the others.
Cons
Cons
Each person works on an unfinished part, so it requires strong communication. Since many level swaps are done in real-time, it’s also subject to time constraints.
Once you’ve decided when people will work, it’s time to decide what they can do in their part.
Sharing Resources
Sharing Resources
Level resources are quite limited. You only get 999 color channels and 9999 groups, and a limited selection of Item IDs and Z layers. When you’re working in a collab, these limits become very noticeable - if a level has 25 parts, each person has only 39 groups to make gameplay, decoration, and fix bugs with. While Update 2.2 will expand these limits, it’s still important that everyone knows what resources they can use.
You must make it clear which resources each person can use for their part, otherwise your level will be a mess to manage. Integrate color and group assignments into your level plan, and ensure that everyone knows which resources they can use. If multiple people work on the same part, make sure they divide their groups and organize their layering properly; that way, you won’t need to replace an entire background because it’s on the wrong layers.
Finally, establish some universal resources that everyone should use. Set aside a group for invisible objects (usually Group 1), a color channel for pure black (usually 1 or 2), and any other crucial groups that everyone will use sooner or later. This’ll give everyone more resources they can use to build.
Managing People
Managing People
Once you give people a reason to join your collab, communicate your ideas, and establish the resources they can use, you need to make them build. This is where many collabs fall apart, as you must maintain communication constantly. Many of Emerald Realm’s issues, such as the inconsistent part quality, stem from how it was managed in the first place. Ultimately, managing people is always hard, but there are some things you can do to facilitate it.
First, encourage your members to communicate with you. Set up regular progress checks where you ask each member how much work they’ve done over some time. Use this time to answer any questions about your level vision, provide feedback on progress, and make changes to your plans as necessary.
Second, make sure people who slack off are handled accordingly. Don’t be afraid to replace people if they fail to respond or show satisfactory progress. At the same time, make sure you lead by example. Put in the effort to conduct progress checks and show your passion for your level, otherwise people won’t be interested in building at all. Nobody wants to work for a lazy host, so don’t be one.
And finally, just try to have fun and know your members well. Many collabs do well because the members have strong relationships and can enjoy working with each other.
With these tips in mind, you should be well on your way to making a good Geometry Dash collab. There will be challenges and roadblocks over time, but you’ll succeed with the right management skills. Best of luck!
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