Bonus chapter: tips from professionals
I tried to find professionals with more experience in level design than I have to give out some more helpful information and tips. I messaged multiple people and in the end I did get a reply from someone. Thanks to him I have more helpful information to share with you guys. This already helped me getting another perspective on level design and things I still need to think about or didn't yet think about. I will be linking directly what he told me and he also linked an exercise he did for a design course.
I can start by saying that there is no "correct" way to do level design: there a level designers who are more focused on the aesthetics, level designers who are more interested in the technical aspects and generalists. However, I'd say that every level designer should focus on what makes their level(s) good: be it the pacing, the flow or just what makes it fun to play. Never just make a level because it's cool, just by placing some assets around without a real purpose! (I learnt it the hard way). What I'm trying to say is that every level designer should focus on what the player experiences when playing (some examples: does this path lead to frustration? why? Are there any rewards? How does it reconnect to the main path? How can I avoid backtracking?)
My suggestion is to also start with sketching paper maps, blocking out, representing visual flow on the map and events the player encounters.
Good levels are often levels that make sense to the player and that pose some kind of challenge for them to overcome.
The level designer is also responsible for avoiding player frustration by guiding them throughout the levels with vistas, landmarks, lights, recurring objects and small implicit aides: nobody likes getting stuck in a level.
Here is a link to a level design analysis he did on a level in the game Ryse: son of Rome.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fP8TD43d6pQvupbgguN8scxzFVWeotz7/view
Thanks to Jacopo Colangelo for this useful information. You can find some of his work on artstation: https://www.artstation.com/jacopocolangelo
I can start by saying that there is no "correct" way to do level design: there a level designers who are more focused on the aesthetics, level designers who are more interested in the technical aspects and generalists. However, I'd say that every level designer should focus on what makes their level(s) good: be it the pacing, the flow or just what makes it fun to play. Never just make a level because it's cool, just by placing some assets around without a real purpose! (I learnt it the hard way). What I'm trying to say is that every level designer should focus on what the player experiences when playing (some examples: does this path lead to frustration? why? Are there any rewards? How does it reconnect to the main path? How can I avoid backtracking?)
My suggestion is to also start with sketching paper maps, blocking out, representing visual flow on the map and events the player encounters.
Good levels are often levels that make sense to the player and that pose some kind of challenge for them to overcome.
The level designer is also responsible for avoiding player frustration by guiding them throughout the levels with vistas, landmarks, lights, recurring objects and small implicit aides: nobody likes getting stuck in a level.
Here is a link to a level design analysis he did on a level in the game Ryse: son of Rome.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fP8TD43d6pQvupbgguN8scxzFVWeotz7/view
Thanks to Jacopo Colangelo for this useful information. You can find some of his work on artstation: https://www.artstation.com/jacopocolangelo
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