So You Want to be a Level Designer - An Introduction to Level Design in Video Games - Extra Credits

Throughout your gaming adventures, I'm sure you have some memories of exploring lush jungles, venturing through the ruins of otherworldly civilizations, or climbing high mountains and witnessing a sprawling fantastical world below you. But, have you ever wondered what makes some levels and game spaces more memorable than others? Well, part of that comes from level designers, the architects of these virtual worlds. And today, we get to peek inside one of their brains and learn some world-building secrets. Thanks so much to One Day University for helping us get smarter. Real quick up top, please welcome today's guest writer, senior level designer on The Division and Cyberpunk 2077, and the host of the podcast Level Design Lobby, Max Pierce. Thanks, Max. While we've discussed level design before, we've never really dove headfirst into the digital building blocks of what exactly a level designer does, or the skills they need to be one. For the uninitiated, level designers are game designers who specialize in crafting the spaces in games where players explore, fight, and overcome

challenges. You know, basically any digital space where the player plays. And these areas they design can take a ton of different forms, from the bombastic islands of Fortnite, to the sneaky pig bill towers found in Angry Birds, to the massive sprawling open worlds like in Breath of the Wild, or the more linear levels you see in The Last of Us. But, when we say design, we don't just mean geometry, though of course that is certainly a major component of the job. While building, level designers must also take into consideration the game's pacing, forms of combat, types of puzzles, methods of movement, and story beats, all while creating a visually compelling environment that keeps the players hooked as they explore. However, these lively locales aren't created in a vacuum. In order to forge levels that drive games forward, level designers need to work closely with their interdisciplinary teammates, balancing the needs of narrative design, game design, environmental art, lighting, effects, audio, and others into their own plans. Because nobody wants to have to rebuild an entire area because they forgot to integrate core mechanics or important gameplay principles. So,

there's a lot of communication and information collection through design docs, pacing, flow diagrams, mood boards, and more before level designers even begin planning out their levels in earnest. Then, once all the info is collected and everyone's on the same page, the level designer begins blocking out their level in a variety of different ways depending on their game. Sometimes using 3D software such as 3D Studio Max or more modular kit pieces in commercial game engines like Unreal or Unity. And you can think of this blocking step as a sort of rough draft, something that can be made and edited quickly, which is important because a level designer will iterate on their blockout a lot. It'll constantly be reviewed not just by themselves, but also by their team to ensure it meets everyone's needs. After the blockout has been approved, they can move on to crafting the finer details within the level, weaving together any puzzles, narrative, and combat scenes, or whatever other finishing touches the game calls for. And as development progresses further, a level designer's work shifts to testing the pacing, feel of the encounters, and clarity of player goals until finally the game locks and goes live, ready to have their levels

experienced and explored by players all over the world. Now, you might be saying, "Dang, that sounds neat. I want to be able to harness the power of my imagination to craft exciting worlds that players will never forget, that push their skills to the max while making them wish to never return to the lackluster realms from whence THEY CAME." UM WELL, YOU'RE IN luck because Max wanted to share a few fundamental skills he's found to help great level designers rise above the rest. The first and often overlooked fundamental is that while it's extremely tempting to jump right into the editor and start working on your level blockout, the best practice as a level designer is to research key elements of your levels first. You need to study the types of environments where your levels are based, gathering photo and video references, and looking at your team's concept art. Max's rule of thumb is to gather around 50 references for himself as this not only fuels his inspiration for what ideas to pursue, but also helps keep them in line with the project's overall vision. And because your job as a level designer is to make sure your levels feel right,

you'll find that key aspects of said research will center around architecture and geology. Be they from a fictional realm like Middle-earth or somewhere real like New York City. Additionally, through your research, you'll build up a repertoire of architecture and geology that you can use to communicate emotions to your players. For example, based on your previous tone of excitement, let's say you want to instill your players with a feeling of dread. Well, you might start by researching brutalist architecture. Or if your aim is to overwhelm your players with awe, Art Nouveau might have you covered. Remember, your goal is to make something believable, but not necessarily realistic. Part of your job as a level designer is learning how to take creative liberties with the source material to make spaces that best suits gameplay. Next, remember to always conceptualize and build your game with its specific metrics in mind. Things like required environment dimensions, polygon and texture budgets, and NPC and player movement abilities. Because these allow you to plan for things like how wide a corridor needs to be in order to facilitate combat in it in conjunction with the size of character models. Or

how large to make a chasm so that the player can or cannot jump across it. Or that you'll need to design side paths for your players to utilize via different skills that they unlock in your game. Understanding your game's specific metrics allow you to create an environment perfectly tailored for your game's desired experience. And once you've nailed that down, you can more easily design your levels with side intention. For example, designing smaller corridors to make the player feel timid and weak. Or panoramic ledges that funnel players in a desired direction. Also, strong communication skills are another important fundamental. Since as a level designer, you'll be working closely with members of different departments and disciplines to produce a fantastic level. So you'll need to be able to communicate your ideas and sell your vision, while also listening to your team's thoughts and needs as well. Because you never know where the next bolt of inspiration may strike from to make the game even better. And finally, one last fundamental Max has found crucial in his level design is learning how to provide players with guidance. A ruined tower or a well-placed torch revealed as a player

turns a corner can give the player an indication which direction they should head next, helping to ensure they aren't frustrated as they traverse their levels and aren't completely beholden to maps for navigation. Luckily, you have many tools at your disposal for helping guide your players through your levels. Things like landmarks, signposts, shapes and color, lighting, visual language, and composition. These and more, in the hands of an experienced level designer, provide subtle nudges of clarity and direction that make even complex environments easy to navigate. And they can help ensure that players are engaged by the game's intended challenges and not distracted by poorly planned game space. Of course, we realize there's a lot more we could say about level design. But we hope that you enjoyed this 101 overview. And if this element of game design has awakened your inner world builder, you can get a deeper look into all of these concepts in Max's latest book, Let's Design Exploration. Just promise me all this reality crafting power won't go to your head. Oh, boy. But let's say for the sake of argument that you aren't a megalomaniacal cat with a penchant for world domination and

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