creating your level. As you work on levels that are received well by your peers or play-
ers, try to analyze the levels to see what you did well. Then try to abstract these
accomplishments into a list of goals to keep in mind as you work on subsequent levels.
This list does not necessarily need to be formally written down; just keeping a mental
checklist may be sufficient. The options I listed here may be a start for your own list, or
you may find yourself coming up with a completely different set of goals. Every
designer approaches level design in her own way.
The Process.................................
The process of constructing a level can vary greatly from designer to designer. What
works for one person may not work for another. Each team is likely to have its own pro-
cess and method for building an environment. That said, I have found the following
progression of steps to be one that works well for me. I may not always follow the steps
precisely, but generally speaking, this progression produces more consistent and effi-
cient results than just cranking out a level without any plan of what to do first or how to
proceed.
Step 1. Preliminary............................
Before starting to design a level for the game, ask yourself if the gameplay is in a
close-to-final state. Do you have a solid foundation to build upon? Are your game
mechanics nailed down? Is the game going to change so much that the level you design
will no longer be fun to play? Or worse, will the level no longer be playable? For
instance, suppose you are developing a third-person action/adventure such asTomb
Raider. Before you start making a level for the game, you need to determine how final
the movement of the main character is. Will more moves for the character be added?
Will the game’s hero someday be able to do a double forward flip that will radically
change the distance she will be able to jump? Often when you begin working on a level
Chapter 23: Level Design 467
Before starting
development on an
action/exploration game
such as those found in
theTomb Raiderseries,
it is important to have a
clearly defined set of
moves for the player.