Concepts

Philosophies

• A good level design is:

  • Fun to navigate.

  • Don't rely on words / Tells what, but not how.

    • Let the player fill the gaps with creativity and exploration.

    • Give choices to the player, letting them explore and be creative.

    • Be creative in ways to tell the narrative. Don't give walls of text to be read.

  • Constantly Teaches / Is Surprising.

    • Example from Zelda, which turns the game into a huge tutorial: a new mechanic is introduced, many ways to use it are taught, then it is tested in a "boss"; sometimes after the boss the mechanic returns and surprises the player with another use that wasn't explored.

    • Creative re-use of mechanics.

    • Beware of being predictable. Disturb expectations.

  • Deliver the fantasy.

    • Adapt challenges based on atmosphere and the game's pitch. For example, make challenges easier when they conflict with narrative or the game's focus.

    • Let the fantasy and emotion guide you, then design the level.

  • Is efficient.

    • In short, rely on reusing content without making it feel repetitive.

    • Modular design, where mechanics return in familiar ways.

    • Bi-directional design, so that GOING to a level is very different from RETURNING from it, making it interesting and better than simple backtracking.

    • Create levels and mechanics that are meaningful.

1. Have a clear goal.

   • Make it obvious.

   • Make the goal worthy of being a goal.

2. Keep it fresh.

   • Flip each card one by one, instead of showing every mechanic upfront.

3. Don't waste space.

4. Following the flow.

• LevelDesign: Design philosophy tips .

• Make the systems before the map .

  • Make a house first so people can move in? What if people have certain requirements?

  • Use the level as a vehicle to transport the player between systems.

  • The advice is basically to make the systems before making the map, so to avoid reworking on the map later when new mechanics are added.

  • Having temporary sprites for enemies and mechanics helps.

Composition

• Affordances / Intentionality, World Building and Interactive Narrative .

  • {3:45}

    • Shows a slide with the video's premise: the connection between Presentation, Gameplay and Story.

  • {4:05 -> 24:42}

    • Affordances and Player Intentionality.

  • {24:42 -> 35:05}

    • World Building.

  • {35:07 -> 49:20}

    • Interactive Narrative.

• Spatial Communication .

  • Great video covering level design fundamentals as the speaker navigates the created world.

• Interior Design for level design .

  • Excellent video. Very dense and valuable.

  • The video ends at {47:30}.

  • The speaker is Dan John Cox.

• Refuge Space and Prospect Space .

  • It's about level design in HyperLight Drifter and Sunset Overdrive.

  • Not a very practical video, but I found the concepts of 'refuge space' and 'prospect' interesting.

  • Recommends the book 'An Architectural Approach to Level Design - Christopher W. Totten'.

  • {11:55 -> 15:44}

    • Explanation and examples of 'Refuge space' and 'Prospect', as ways to convey safety vs danger.

• Landmarks .

• Landmarks with Denial and Reward .

• Framing .

  • Talks about 'funnels' and 'choke-points' to "control" the direction the player will be looking.

• General Level Design tips .

  • .

  • .

• Open World tips .

Narrative

• Pacing .

  • Discusses 'gameplay beats' and action regulation. Very interesting.

• "If you don't make down-time in your game, people will seek down-time outside of your game".

• Bait and Switch / Plot Twist .