A bit about Level Design
Welcome dear Reader,
You have landed in a place where you won’t read about fashion trends, culinary recipes nor news from the world of celebrities. You have reached a place where given examples will be served on a silver platter, yet they will be related to Level Design in video games. To start off, I will explain what Level Design is really about, what is its purpose, and why would anyone actually need it. I will regularly elaborate on the topic presented herein in the coming blog entries.
What is it all about?
How would Doom look like without its corridor-like levels filled with hordes of demons from hell? What if events presented in Far Cry 4 took place in Polish Tatra mountains instead of an open world resembling Tibet, and we would be chased by dudes in polar bear outfits rather than regime soldiers? The final shape of a game is impacted by many factors: the story, graphics, mechanics, and levels. The last aspect sometimes plays a key role in video games. After all, every game must be composed of levels, in which we move around, travel and experience our adventure. Level design is an indispensable part of a video game production cycle. It is as important as the general game design or the story. Generally (to put it simply even), we can say that Level design combines and takes by the handful from both those elements. Building a road, providing emotions, creating a story – when made well, those elements will save the gamer from the monotony of backtracking in levels that do not pose any challenge to him or her, i.e. levels that are simply uninteresting
Carrying the entire the world on one’s shoulders
When we have a game concept and its mechanics ready, we have to pack it into a single, consistent and playable product. Who are people responsible for designing levels then? As it is easy to guess, such people are called Level Designers. Designers are responsible for creating a player-friendly environment – a path that a gamer will follow from the beginning to the end. Now, let’s go through this step by step. Concepts and ideas for games are not created overnight. On the contrary – game development is a long and complex process, which sometimes involves many, many people who play different roles in a team, for example: Game Designers, Level Artists, programmers or Concept Artists. Level Designer is in the very centre of the eye of the storm.
Level Designer develops our path, tries to capture our interest and make us immerse in the game’s world. Such a world is not composed from random elements – it is based on a well-thought-out action plan that aims to provide as much fun as possible and make us want to play again and again.
Is it for you?
Now that we are through with short description of what is Level Design and who are Level Designers, we can consider how this translates into knowledge needed to create levels in games. There is no single definition. If you like games, you love to completely immerse yourself in their worlds, and do not restrict yourself to a single genre – good for you. Today, we have a variety of different options we can choose from, since games have a lot to offer, and not only the top-end ones. We draw the knowledge needed to create games from dependable and proven practices, to which we add a little bit of unique, personal touch. Books, movies, board games, the world around us and, of course, other games – these are the sources from which we should learn as much as possible. If you have time and motivation, do not hesitate – download a game editor and try your hand. Build, create, program – practice makes perfect. Thanks to free editors and tutorials, it is easier than ever before. Below, I provide links to selected free editors you might want to check out:
● Unreal Engine
● Unity 3D
● CryEngine
What’s next?
I described only a small part of knowledge about Level Design. I want to regularly post entries to provide you with more information about the work of a Level Designer.
Also, feel free to follow me on X, where I publish interesting materials related to Level Design and more. I try to keep up with industry news, but there is more to life than just games :)
Cheers and see you next time,
Michał ‘Jerzyk’ Sobczak
Level With Design, wszelkie prawa zastrzeżone. 2023
Copyright. Level With Design, all rights reserved. 2023
