The number of level designers required for a project is directly proportional to the
complexity of the levels to be used in that project. For a 3D game with extremely
detailed architecture that all must be built by the level designer, it is not unreasonable
to have two levels per designer, perhaps only one. Sometimes the game’s primary
designer also serves as a level designer, sometimes she draws up plans for the levels
for the level designers to build, and sometimes she merely oversees the team of level
designers working on the project. For a simpler 2D game, it is not out of the question
for the game’s lead designer to craft all of the game’s levels. Even with a very detailed
and complex 3D game, it is not out of the question for the lead designer to first build the
prototype level to which all subsequent levels are compared.
Level design is where all the different components of a game come together. In
some ways creating a level is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle; to build the levels,
the level designer must make use of the game’s engine, art, and core gameplay. Often
level design is where a game’s problems become most apparent. If the engine is not up
to snuff, the levels will start behaving erratically in certain situations, or the frame rate
will not be able to support the planned effects. If the art is made to the wrong scale or
has rendering problems of any kind, these difficulties come out as the level designer
starts placing the art in the world. If the title’s gameplay is not able to support a wide
enough variety of levels to fill out an entire game, or, even worse, if the gameplay just is
not any fun, this problem will become apparent during the level design process. It is the
level designer’s responsibility to bring these problems to the attention of the team, and
to see that the difficulties are resolved properly. Often this can result in the level
designer being one of the least liked team members, since she must always be pester-
ing people to fix problems, but if she instead tries to ignore the problems she
encounters, the game will be worse as a result. The job of the level designer is one that
comes with great responsibility.
With all the different aspects of the game’s content to worry about, the level
designer’s job is certainly not an easy one. Beyond making sure all of the game’s com-
ponents are up to snuff, if the level designer’s own work is not of the highest quality,
then the game is likely to fail miserably. If the levels do not bring out the best aspects of
the engine, the art, and the gameplay, it does not matter how good those component
parts may be. Without good levels to pull it all together, the game will fail to live up to its
potential.
Levels in Different Games .........................
The definition of a “level” varies greatly from game to game. It most commonly refers
to the game-world of side-scrollers, first-person shooters, adventures, flight simula-
tors, and role-playing games. These games tend to have distinct areas that are
referred to as “levels.” These areas may be constrained by geographical area (lava
world versus ice world), by the amount of content that can be kept in memory at once,
or by the amount of gameplay that “feels right” before players are granted a short
reprieve preceding the beginning of the next level. Though many classic arcade games
such asCentipedeorSpace Invaderstook place entirely on one level, others such as
Pac-ManorJoustoffered simple variations on the game-world and game challenges to
prolong their gameplay. Thus, the different mazes inPac-Manconstitute its levels. In
450 Chapter 23: Level Design