Level design is the process of constructing the experience that will be offered to the player. The level designer is responsible for creating the space, challenges, atmosphere, and pacing of events for each level. Level design is governed by universal principles like varying pacing and rewarding players, as well as genre-specific principles. Designing levels requires collaboration between designers, artists, programmers, and audio teams to enhance the playing experience through the layout and details of each level.

1. FUNDAMENTALS OF GAME
DESIGN
GAME LEVEL DESIGN
Sayed Ahmed
BSc. Eng. in CSc. & Eng. (BUET)
MSc. in CSc. (U of Manitoba)
http://sayed.justetc.net
http://www.justETC.net
sayed@justetc.netwww.justETC.net
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Presented at the University of Winnipeg
Just E.T.C for Business, Education, and Technology Solutions

2. WHAT IS LEVEL DESIGN
 Process of constructing the experience that will
be offered to the player
 Level designers create the following essential
parts of the player’s experience
 The space in which the game takes place
 The initial conditions of the level
 The set of challenges the player will face within the
level
 The termination conditions of the level
 The interplay between the gameplay and the game’s
story
 The aesthetics and mood of the level 2
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3. KEY DESIGN PRINCIPLES
 Make the early levels of a game tutorial levels
 Vary the pacing of the level
 When the player surmounts a challenge that
consumes his resource, provide more resources
 Avoid conceptual non sequiturs
 Clearly inform the player of his short-term goals
 Be clear about risks, rewards, and the
consequences of decisions
 Reward in a large way, punish in a small way
 The foreground takes precedence over the
background 3
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4. KEY DESIGN PRINCIPLES
 The purpose of an artificial opponent is to put up
a good fight and then lose
 Implement multiple difficulty settings if possible
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5. GENRE-SPECIFIC LEVEL DESIGN
PRINCIPLES
 Action Games
 Vary the pace
 Strategy Games
 Reward planning
 Role-Playing Games
 Offer opportunities for character growth and player
self expression
 Sports-Games
 Verisimilitude is vital
 Vehicle Simulations
 Reward skillful maneuvering 5
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6. GENRE-SPECIFIC LEVEL DESIGN
PRINCIPLES
 Construction and Management Simulations
 Offer an interesting variety of initial conditions and
goals
 Adventure Games
 Construct challenges that harmonize with their
locations and the story
 Artificial Life Games
 Create many interaction opportunities for the
creatures in their environment
 Puzzle Games
 Give the player time to think
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7. LAYOUTS OF THE GAME WORLD
 Open Layouts
 Linear Layouts
 Parallel Layouts
 Ring Layouts
 Network Layouts
 Hub-and-Spoke Layouts
 Combinations of Layouts
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8. EXPANDING ON THE PRINCIPLES OF LEVEL
DESIGN
 Atmosphere
 Lighting
 Color Palette
 Weather and atmospheric effects
 Special visual effects
 Music
 Ambient audio
 Special Audio effects
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9. PROGRESSION AND PACING
 Designing the Progression
 Mechanics
 Experience Duration
 Ancillary Rewards and Environmental Progression
 Practical gameplay rewards
 Difficulty
 Actions available to the player
 Story progression
 Character growth
 Designing the Pacing
 Vary the Pacing
 Overall Pacing
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10. TUTORIAL LEVELS
 Tutorial Levels
 A scripted or partially scripted experience
 Explains
 Game’s user interface
 Key challenges
 Actions to the player
 Use voiceover narration, text superimposed on the
screen, special mentor character to explain things to
the player
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11. THE LEVEL DESIGN PROCESS
 Planning Phase
 Gameplay Planning Phase
 Layout
 Areas devoted to major challenges
 Pacing
 Termination Conditions
 Resource placements
 Player start and end points
 NPC positions and spawn points
 Elevations
 Secret areas
 Special event issues
 Landmarks
 Destruction
 Storytelling
 Save points and checkpoints
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12. THE LEVEL DESIGN PROCESS
 Planning Phase
 ART Planning Phase
 Plan Performance
 Plan Coding
 Prototyping Phase
 Level Review Phase
 Scale
 Pacing
 Placement of objects and triggers
 Performance issues
 Other code issues
 Aesthetics
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13. THE LEVEL DESIGN PROCESS
 Level Refinement and Lock-Down
 Level Design to Art Handoff
 First Art and Rigging Pass
 Art to Level Design Handoff and Review
 Content Integration
 Bug Fixing
 User Testing and Tuning
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14. PITFALLS OF LEVEL DESIGN
 Get the Scope Right
 Avoid Conceptual Non Sequiturs
 Make Atypical Levels Optional
 Don’t show the player Everything at Once
 Never Lose Sight of Your Audience
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15. SUMMARY
 The level designer is responsible for actually
presenting the game experience to the player by
designing
 The space in which the games take place
 Deciding what challenges a player will face
 Creating the atmosphere of the game worlds
 Planning the pacing of events for each level
 Level design is governed by
 Some universal principles
 Some genre specific principles
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16. SUMMARY
 Designing the actual layout of the level is
important
 Enhance the playing experience
 Level design requires interaction among
 The game’s design team
 Artists
 Programmers
 Audio team
 Attention to detail and a methodical approach
 Will help to prevent level design pitfalls
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