General Principles of Level Design

What is level design? Process of constructing the experience that will be offered directly to the player, using components provided by the game designer.

Level designers create : The space in which the game takes place - 2D or 3D modeling tool - what features will be The initial conditions of the level - number of artificial opponents - amount of any resource that the player controls - where resources may be found

Set of the challenge the player will face - many games offer challenges in a linear sequence Termination condition - characterized in terms of victory / loss Interplay between the gameplay and story - interweave gameplay and narrative events Aesthetics and mood of the level - decide how to implement art

Types of Design Principle Universal Level Design Principle aim at designing levels in any kind of game Genre specific level Design Principle focused on the design issues specific to the different genres

Universal Level Design Principle Tutorial level Make early levels that teach the player how to play → Explains the game’s user interface, key challenges and actions WOW

Key principles for tutorial level: - Introduce the game’s feature in an orderly sequence - Don’t make all the features available at once - Introduce the information over three tutorial levels - Highlight user interface elements - Allow user to go back

Universal Level Design Principle 2. Vary the pacing Pacing of a level refers to the frequency at which the player encounters individual challenges. → A fast pace creates stress, offering challenges at a rapid rate Flappy bird ←_←

In different Genre - depend to a extend on the genre Vary the pace - alternate between fast and slow periods - produce a more balanced game - variety of ways - easiest trough a linear space - remain steady - become more difficult as player near the end

Universal Level Design Principle Provide more resource When the player surmounts a challenge that consumes his resources, provide more resource → The player should not face another demanding challenge immediately after the player surmount a challenge that costs him a lot of resources

Universal Level Design Principle 4. Avoid conceptual non sequiturs Should build things that make sense → Don’t put dangers or reward in places in which no sane person could possibly expect to find them Cat Mario

Universal Level Design Principle 5. Short-term goal Clearly inform the player of his short-term goal → Should never leave your character wondering what to do next, the current or next short-term goal should be obvious

Universal Level Design Principle Risk, rewards and the consequences of decisions Be clear with risk, reward and then consequences of decisions → Player should not necessarily know every detail of what consequences his decisions will produce, the player should be able to make a reasonable guess based on the context.

Universal Level Design Principle Reward Skills, imagination, intelligence and dedication distinguish a good player. Good players deserve to be rewarded → Many forms: Power up, other resource, shortcuts through level, secret levels, mini games, etc.

Universal Level Design Principle 8. Reward in a large way, punish in a small way Primary objective is to give players an enjoyable experience. Build more rewards in to level than punishments

Universal Level Design Principle 9. Purpose of an artificial opponent The purpose of an artificial opponent is to put up a good fight and then lose → Design level so that the player will get better and better at overcoming the challenges until he succeeds at all of them

Universal Level Design Principle Multiple difficulty setting Accessible to a wider audience by allowing them to switch the difficulty of your game to easy, normal or hard setting → Be able to tweak the numbers to adjust the difficulty to accommodate the player’s preference

Genre Specific Level Design Action game vary the pace   Diablo Ⅲ

Genre Specific Level Design Strategy games reward planning Medieval 2 Total War

Genre Specific Level Design Role-playing Games offer opportunities for character growth and player self- expression World of Warcraft

Genre Specific Level Design Sports Game verisimilitude is vital NBA 08

Genre Specific Level Design Vehicle Simulations reward skillful maneuvering V-drift

Genre Specific Level Design Construction and Management Simulation offer an interesting variety of initial conditions and goals The Sims

Genre Specific Level Design Adventure Games construct challenges that harmonize with their locations and the story Doctor Who: The adventure game

Genre Specific Level Design Artificial Life Games create many interaction opportunities for the creatures in their environment Dragon City

Genre Specific Level Design Puzzle Games gives the player time to think 2048

Layout Open layout → entirely unconstrained movement → corresponds to the outdoors, wander in any direction

Layouts Linear layout → require the player to pass through one-way doors that actually prevent them from going back

Layouts Parallel layouts → a more modern variant of the linear layout → Not require the player pass through every path

Layouts Ring layouts → In a ring layout, the path returns to its starting point → shortcuts that cut off a portion of the journey

Layouts Network Layouts → Spaces connect to other spaces in a variety of ways → Freedom about what path to take

Layouts Hub-and-Spoke Layouts → the player begins in a central hub that ordinarily does not present significant challenges or dangers. → Gives the player choice about where he goes

Layouts Combination Layouts → Combine aspects of each type of layout → Corresponds to the story structure of many large RPGs

Atmosphere Lighting Color palette Weather and atmosphere effects Special visual effects Music Ambient audio Special audio effects

Level Design Process Note on duties and terminology - create levels for a game using a 3D graphics engine Design to level design handoff - generate features you want to appear in the level create a rough overview map Planning phase - gameplay - art - performance - code

Planning Phase Gameplay - layout - areas devoted to major challenges - termination conditions - resource placements - player start and end points - NPC positions and spawn points - elevations - secret areas - special events issues - landmarks - destruction - storytelling - save points and checkpoints

Planning Phase scope : magnitude and complexity of the level Art scope : magnitude and complexity of the level decide how much artwork it will need Performance performance of the programmers’ problem Code coding

Level Design Process Prototyping - at least part of the game engine be running Level review - scale - pacing - placement of objects and triggers - performance issues - code issues - aesthetics

Level Design Process Refinement and lock-down - make refinement pass and lock the level design Level design to art handoff - build geometry, animations, and textures in real game First art and rigging pass - enter first art and rigging pass Art to level design handoff and review - conduct another review

Level Design Process - begin alpha testing Content integration - assemble all the assets into the completed Bug fixing - test, look for the mistakes User testing and tuning - begin alpha testing

Pitfalls of Level Design Get the scope right Avoid conceptual Non Sequiturs Make atypical level Optional Don’t show the player everything at once Never lose sight of your audience