Tips and tricks

Contact: moc.kooltuo@rengised_level (spell it backwards)

This site's goal isn't to be a bible of level design. The main goal is to learn. Read other sources and then produce texts, give hints and tips and apply the acquired knowledge in my own levels. To write about level design is also a learning process.

One of the most important parts of a game is for the environment to be intelligible and easy to navigate. A confusing environment leaves the player lost without a sense of direction. A good level design should provide hints and be navigable in a way that allows the player to find its way. In some aspects it can share concepts with the urban planning of cities.

Every level has a more rational and logic side that is about function. At the same time there is the artistic side that is about expressing emotions. Both sides should talk to each other in a level. In some cases the emotions are more important. In other cases the function is more important. There isn't a single and universal solution for all problems. What can't happen is for a level to be a problem for both the player and the game.

Curiosity. There is something that goes wrong in the brain of some people that causes a severe inability to memorize paths and/or a lack of sense of direction. In a game a person may get lost and more often this is caused by the level design itself. If you extend that to real cities and parks, the architecture and design choices made may cause people to get lost in there. However, for some people getting lost and lacking a sense of direction is way beyond the average and they have trouble inside schools, buildings, colleges or supermarkets. There is no specific cause but it seems to have roots in genetics.