Level Design

Level design is a very important aspect of video games. It decides the core gameplay; a game with bad level design will be a bad game. The game needs to have good playability to keep the player interested, if it is enjoyable at the most basic stage before there’s lots of fancy assets and graphics it will always be. But if a game isn’t fun to play at its basic stage then it will probably never be no matter how much stuff is added. I think single player level design and multiplayer level design are different in many ways.

When creating a single level for a certain part in a game the designers must know where the environment is, what the objectives will be, how will they be completed and what are some interesting layouts. Single player levels are usually more linear because the player is being guided to a certain place, and the game designers want control over what they see. Although often there are spaces which might not necessarily have a purpose, but are there to add to the immersion.

Multiplayer levels tend to be more open and give the player more freedom with the environments. Some games tend to keep them relatively symmetric for balance. Because there isn’t a story or a set path,  they carefully thought out for all the different possibility’s and flow of the game. Balance is important so everyone starts equal. The designers will think about where players will clash, what areas could be important and how everyone will move around. 

Power ups/weapons are common with games like Unreal and Halo. This gives players ability to choose what to do and work as a team.  Often levels like this will have areas where players can defend/hold, which are strong positions to hold and give the players an advantage – offer a reward for taking control and working as a team.

Games like COD, battlefield, team fortress, will have pre chosen classes. This allows players to play with their chosen style with no weapon pickups. Games like this can afford to have less symmetrical levels/maps because weapon balancing is an issue outside the level. 

Lighting is probably the next most important thing. Especially for single player/co-op levels. This can guide the player to take the correct root. It is vital for setting the mood of areas. It’s also used as a gameplay element in many games, especially ones where the player is able to sneak around.

Almost all level designers will start out with blueprints and quick block outs. They will think about the player’s objective or goal and design the level with this in mind. The will think about scale, how big will buildings be if they are in the scene, can the player go into them. What is the playable area, where do we want the player to try and go and what don’t we want the player to try. Areas with little use we usually try to be obvious they aren’t too important, depending on the lighting and objects in the scene. If the level has inside areas they will have to think about what rooms are open, which corridors are blocked off etc. A lot of games block off doors and corridors and areas in a few different ways. The way they do this has changed over time, but the most common one is simply having locked doors. This can also add a gameplay element if the player has to progress through the level, but can’t get through the door, then maybe an idea would be to go back and find a key, or get something to blow open the door.  A lots of games will block off areas with rubble. This is common in shooting games, where there aren’t any civilians, NPCS would get in the way in some places, so there is usually a reason why they aren’t there. This can be because it is a war zone, in which case having a destroyed wall or blocked path is more believable.  Or if it’s a horror games places might be blocked off because npcs have barricaded places to protect themselves etc

As games and technology have become more sophisticated and there’s no longer simple rooms and corridors like games used to be. Player’s usually expect there to be open environments and more freedom. This provides more of a challenge when a game has a level which is quite linear, and is trying to guide the player through the level to a certain objective. But the environment could be a massive city, or a big building. This might mean the player wants to explore more, but can’t because they must follow a path. So making the player follow a path without realising it is a key point of level design and what a lot of level designers will try to do. Often things like explosions, power ups, enemies attacking etc. are used to give a reason for a new area to open up, when it wasn’t available before. This often changes the lighting in the scene so the player is guided that way.

Games will often try to have contrast in many different ways, this can be contrast will lighting, like cold blues and warm reds. Or I can be the contrast of a big open space into a closed confined space to give the game more variation.

Each level usually has a unique selling point, this is what the player will hopefully find interesting and want to explore. It could be at the end of a level, or to highlight a key part in the story.