Game levels are the building blocks of any game experience. They set the mood, the challenge, and the reward for the player. But how can you design game levels that are memorable, diverse, and coherent? In this article, you will learn some game design principles and tips to create game levels that stand out and engage your audience.
Before you start designing your game level, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve with it. What is the theme, the genre, the style, and the tone of your game? What is the core gameplay mechanic, the main challenge, and the desired outcome of your level? How does your level fit into the overall narrative and progression of your game? These are some of the questions you should ask yourself to define your goals and scope for your game level.
I usually focus on mechanics. So if I have a new mechanic I follow Koichi Hayashida's philosophy of dividing the mechanic into 4 steps inside the level: -Teaching it in a safe environment. -Developing it in a not safe environment and together with something more. -Twisting it, having the player think about it from a fresh perspective. -Conclusion, ending the level with the mechanic. I learned about it on GMTK's Youtube channel.
In my experience with designing levels for games, making a memorable level comes from having a design that touches players' emotions. There is a quote I heard once that went something like this, "A person will not remember what you have said to them, but they will remember how you made them feel." Now incorporate that into your level design and you will have a memorable game. I try to always avoid designing levels that are obvious, or too easy. Depending on the game genre, I want players to always have a challenge but with multiple ways of achieving the objectives. Having a challenge always tends to get players hooked much faster because people always have a competitive side that will not let them walk away without finishing the level.
More than a goal I use a strong theme. A theme is only interesting or not, compared to the other level of the same game. So I always think of the place of this level into the game to determine the theme and experience I want the player to live. It's counter intuitive, but the contraints of production define a framework in which we can express our level design. And if there is no constraints from the outside, I impose some myself. Also, the clichés are a strong and quick way to communicate a level to the player. I rather focus on the realisation, "my view" of this cliché, than on an original idea. Indie games tend to have more memorable levels, because they have so many constraints, they end up pushing only the core idea of the level.
Games are built with just Ideas and an infinite of ideas exist in the Human Brain: what he watches, Sees, Feels, Tastes, and listens. Games have a good relationship with the real world, which helps us learn about user behavior. With Quality, Real Educational Content, we can enhance the new generation's living experience. - One time at work, I felt that Content designing is the backbone of any product, service, or business. Content Design can help you in retaining the Users on your portals. - Research plays a vital role in Content design and development. - Everything is united in the world, and this formula applies to all existing things. Formula: Impression +> Click Through Rate +> Conversion
Once you have your goals in mind, you need to create a layout for your game level. A layout is a rough sketch or blueprint of your level that shows the basic structure, the key elements, and the flow of your level. A layout helps you to plan your level design, test your ideas, and iterate on your feedback. You can use paper, digital tools, or prototyping software to create your layout. You should consider aspects such as the size, the shape, the balance, the pacing, and the difficulty of your level.
The theory tends to be quickly overflown by practice, that's why I usually ask the teams to only create a macro layout, and avoid details. In a certain measure, we must let RNG do it's job ; when we want to control every pixel, the production costs tend to explode and we loose from sight the bigger goal: the overall game experience. The macro layout, "the scenario", is what a player remembers. Iit's actually what he will tell his friend when describing the level or the game to someone. A layout should show and express what must be of a "good enough" quality level, what needs to be "polished to the moon and back". I deeply think RNG must be exploited by letting it having a life, but still seizing the oppotunities it can create.
I like to use references, like a moodboard. I take screenshots from segments of layouts that I like, that use mechanics similar to the ones that I have. Then I separate the ones that I liked more and put them together. This helps me to get a general idea of how the level should look like. It's like when artists use images as reference for their art, we should use some images too to help us get some ideas. If my mechanics are too original to have something similar, I just think about what I need to teach the player about it and make a small tutorial and pacing based on that mechanic.
I love to read Educational books and history and watch movies and Cartoons. A storyline always starts with Characters and their roles. So, I can quickly write a game story based on characters, history, educational content, or movies. We should know User Trends and what users love to play in Gaming. Following is the standard flow of a Game Layout: 1: Select a game Title such as [Car Racing, Exploration, or Fighting]; you should stay with your title in the game design work. 2: Design an engaging Environment and Levels according to your title 3: Goal 4: Decisions 5: Immersion and Presence
After you have a solid layout, you can start adding details to your game level. Details are the elements that make your level more immersive, realistic, and appealing. They include the graphics, the sounds, the lighting, the animations, the props, the enemies, the items, and the effects of your level. You should use details to enhance your level design, not to distract or confuse the player. You should also use details to create contrast, variety, and harmony in your level.
In the current development I'm working on, I'm still battling against details. We usually tend to add detail everywhere instead of choosing our battles. To create a noticeable moment for the player I believe that it is stronger to accumulate details into one area instead of having some details a bit of everywhere. It's linked to the notion of flow into a level. The flow is all about making the player him grinding and wishing for the next awesome stuff/level/sequence/thing. What I think relly matters is the detail of the factory Ii've seen from miles away, not the generic forest. For this generic forest we have gimmicks and a decent pacing, it's enough. The difficulty is finding a good balance between the two.
If the details don't interfere with the gameplay nor is it a clue or feedback for something I don't think too much about them. Deadlines are too important to lose much time on details. But if you finished everything and don’t have anything more to do, feel free to add the details, but focus them on segments where the player stays for a long time, like a boss arena. If the player passes through a segment at a high speed don’t put details there for example.
Some important finishing factors enhance the game quality and User engagement with your game. Game Graphics, Sound, 3D and 2D Animations, Probs, Particles, and other little game elements such as cinematic effects play a vital role in Game design layout, which helps the user to learn about game flow.
In order to make your game level more memorable, diverse, and coherent, you should apply some game design principles. These guidelines and best practices are designed to create effective and engaging game levels. For instance, using three elements to create a pattern, a rhythm, and a climax is known as the rule of three. Additionally, the golden ratio of 1:1.618 is used to create a balanced and aesthetically pleasing level. Following the KISS principle of keeping it simple and straightforward is also important to avoid unnecessary complexity or clutter in your level. Finally, providing clear and consistent feedback to the player through a feedback loop is essential to reward their actions, inform their decisions, and motivate their progress.
In my experience there is two major things when it comes to principes, guidelines and rules: - KISS is universal and simple and really, a good idea is not necessary a complicaed one. The realisation is often most decisive. Also, "Simple with a twist", is something I use a lot: "It's a regular gun, but it uses your health as ammo. The more you use it, the weaker you become" - And creating your own guidelines by benchmarking and analyzing the market. Every game is different, and every team is too. So really the best is to create your own guidelines and stick to it, whatever happens. Simples, strong, credos: Never mislead the player. Visibility is the first difficulty slider. No more than 4 workshops per level. ...
There are many game design principles, here are some of the basic ones: 1: Player-Centered Design: The player's experience is the most important aspect of game design. Designers should consider the player's preferences, skills, and needs when creating a game. 2: Clear Goals and Objectives: Games should provide clear goals and objectives that players can understand and work toward. This provides a sense of purpose and direction. Balance: Games should be balanced in terms of difficulty, pacing, and rewards. This ensures that players are consistently engaged and challenged. Feedback: Games should provide feedback to the players, letting them know how they're doing and what they need to do to progress. Feedback can be visual, auditory, etc.
The final step of designing your game level is to test and polish it. Testing is the process of playing your level and evaluating its quality, functionality, and fun factor. You should test your level yourself, with other developers, and with your target audience. You should collect feedback, data, and suggestions to improve your level. Polishing is the process of refining your level and fixing any bugs, errors, or issues. You should polish your level until it meets your standards and expectations.
We usually think about external testing ; but one of the strongest skill as a level designer is to learn to play by visual, instead of memory. Being able to play 20 50 100 times the same level and still acting as it is the first. Some of us, not me, have a great memory and it's a flaw for testing, because they lose the capacity to create feedback early. Linked to the memory there is the capacity to accept it's not good enough, to accept you can do better, not taking the harsh feedbacks for you, but only to improve the outcome. Really it's the hardest things for juniors in my opinion. And finally when testing there is ony two rules in my book: The player is always right AND if I do the same mistake twice, somethign needs to change.
Since we know our level very well, usually we think our level is easy, but when other people test it usually they have a hard time. One thing that I like to do to minimize that effect is "nerfing" myself when I test it alone. For example: -Making everything be an instakill for me. -Changing the game's input, like inverting the movement. -Counting some numbers before doing an action. -Taking some hits on purpose. -Putting the camera upside down. -Etc. If I can play with some of these restrictions, I think I'm a bit closer to the difficulties players are going to face when playing my level for the first time.
Usually, we prefer the production testing, which needs to be corrected. Following are the best final steps to testing and polishing a game: 1: Test your product in-house with your production teams, such as designers, developers, and Quality Assurance persons. [Collect Feedback and Improve] 2: Launch your production in Pre-Launch [Collect Feedback and Improve] 3: Launch your production Alpha Testing [Collect Feedback and Improve] 4: Launch your production in Beta Testing [Collect Feedback and Improve] 5: Finally, Launch your product in final products with bug fixing polishing [Collect Feedback and Improve]
1. Clear Theme or Concept:Start by defining a central idea or story that ties the level together, making it memorable and purposeful. 2. Difficulty and Pacing: Ensure a balanced progression of challenges and rewards to keep players engaged without becoming frustrated. 3. Variety in Gameplay Mechanics: Introduce different types of gameplay elements or obstacles to prevent monotony. 4.Visually Distinct Environments: Make each section of your level visually unique so players can easily differentiate areas. 5.Memorable Landmarks or Challenges:Create standout moments, like unique boss battles or iconic scenes, that players will remember. 6. Optional Objectives:Offer side quests or challenges to add diversity and replay value.