FUNDAMENTALS OF GAME DESIGN, SECOND EDITION

Don’t Show the Player Everything at Once

As they say in theater, "Always leave them wanting more." This advice applies to the overall progression of the game, so both game designers and level designers need to be aware of it. If your players have faced every challenge, seen every envi­ronment, and used every action that you have to offer—all in a single level—then the rest of the game will be old hat for them. You have nothing further to offer but variations on a set of play mechanics and game worlds that they already know everything about. Let your game grow from level to level. Introduce new features
gradually. Just as it all starts to seem a bit familiar, bring in a twist: a new vehicle, a new action, a new location, a new enemy, or a sharp change in the plot of the story.

Never Lose Sight of Your Audience

Level design, more than any other part of the game design and development pro­cess, brings with it the risk of building a game that your audience won't enjoy. You assemble all the components that the others provide, and when the player starts up the game, she finds herself in your environment. The game designers may decide on the types of challenges the game contains, but you decide when the player will face them, in what sequence, and in what combinations. Consequently, you, more than anyone else on the team, must apply the player-centric approach to every design decision you make. Go inside the mind of your player and try to imagine what it will be like to see it all for the first time.

Always remember that you are not the player. Your own personal circumstances have nothing to do with the game. You may be a 22-year-old male, but your player may well be a 10-year-old girl or a 50-year-old man. Understand the game's target audience and what that audience wants from the game; then make sure you give it to them—at all times!

Summary

In this chapter, you explored level design, a key stage in the development of any video game. The level designer is responsible for actually presenting the game expe­rience to the player by designing elements such as the space in which the game takes place, deciding what challenges a player will face at each level of the game, creating the atmosphere of the game world, and planning the pacing of events for
each level. Level design is governed by universal principles as well as principles spe­cific to the game's genre. In a strategy game, for example, the level design should reward planning; in a vehicle simulation, the level designer creates levels that test a player's skill at maneuvering her vehicle. An important aspect of level design is the actual layout of the level. Different stories require different layouts, but every lay­out should be designed to enhance the playing experience.

The level design process requires interaction among the game's design team, including artists, programmers, and the audio team. Attention to detail and a methodical approach to the steps of level design can help to prevent the kind of level design pitfalls that will make your game infamous rather than famous.