Level Design

What Is Level Design? Level design: constructing the experience for the player using components from the game designer

What Is Level Design? Space in which the game takes place Level designers create: Space in which the game takes place Initial conditions of the level Set of challenges within the level

What Is Level Design? Termination conditions of the level Level designers create: Termination conditions of the level Interplay between gameplay and story Aesthetics and mood of the level

Learning Curves Practice (Time) Skill Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3

Learning Curves Stage 1 – Players learn lots, but progress slow. Often can give up. Designer needs to ensure enough progress that continues Stage 2 – Players know lots, increase in skill at rapid rate. Engrossed. Easy to keep player hooked. Stage 3 – Mastered challenges. Skill levels off. Designer needs to ensure challenges continue.

Key Design Principles Universal level design principles Make the early levels of a game tutorial levels Vary the spacing of the level When the player surmounts a challenge that consumes his resources, provide more resources

Key Design Principles Be clear about risks, rewards, and consequences Clearly inform the player of his short-term goals Reward in a large way, punish in a small way Spend more resources (polygons, memory, CPU time) on the foreground than on the background

Key Design Principles (Cont.) Genre-specific level design principles Action game—vary the space Strategy game—reward planning Role-playing game—offer opportunities for character growth and player self-expression Sports game—verisimilitude is vital Vehicle simulation—reward skillful maneuvering Verisimilitude means having the appearance of truth. Sports games must be realistic.

Key Design Principles (Cont.) Genre-specific level design principles (cont.) Construction and management simulation—offer an interesting variety of initial conditions and goals Adventure game—construct challenges that harmonize with their locations and the story Artificial life game—create many interaction opportunities for the creatures in their environment Puzzle game—give the player time to think

Difficulty Curves Difficulty Practice (Time) Stage 1 Stage 2 Easy Medium Hard

Guidelines Decide how many levels (virtual or real) Divide into equal groups of EASY, MEDIUM, HARD (in order) Design each level and decide which group All players complete EASY Design these for those who have never played before Most can complete MEDIUM Casual game-players here Good players complete HARD

Have levels played, arranged in order, easiest to hardest Guidelines If not enough in each group, redesign to make harder or easier so about an equal number of each Have levels played, arranged in order, easiest to hardest Test on different players Adjust based on tests

Level Flow Model: Linear Start End Start on one end, end on the other Challenge in making a truly interesting experience Often try with graphics, abilities, etc. Ex: Half-life, ads great story

Layouts Linear layouts Require player to move in a fixed sequence Player can move only to next or previous area Used traditionally in side-scrolling action games and rail-shooters

Level Flow Model: Open layouts Allow unconstrained movement Correspond to the outdoors Used in war games and role-playing games Start Objective Objective Objective Objective End Player does certain number of tasks Outcome depends upon the tasks. Systemic level design Designer creates system, player interacts as sees fit Sometimes called “sandbox” level. (Ex: GTA)

Layouts (Cont.) Parallel layouts Modern variant of linear layouts Variety of paths can go through the level Can reflect a fold back story structure

Layouts (Cont.) Ring layouts Path returns to its starting point Oval tracks or twisting road-racing tracks are rings Used for racing games

Level Flow Model: Bottlenecking Start Bottle- Neck A Bottle- Neck B End Various points, path splits, allowing choice Gives feeling of control Ex: Choose stairs or elevator At some point, paths converge Designer can manage content explosion Ex: must kill bad guys on roof

Level Flow Model: Branching Start Branch Branch Branch End A End B End C Choices lead to different endings User has a lot of control Design has burden of making many interesting paths Lots of resources

Layouts (Cont.) Network layouts Spaces connect to other spaces in different ways Give the player freedom to take any path Stories must be able to tolerate player experiencing events in any sequence

Layouts (Cont.) Hub-and-spoke layouts Central hub is usually a safe zone Provides some choice of where to go Lock off some areas to control sequence a little

Level Flow Model: Hub and Spokes Level A Level B Start Level C Level D Hub is level (or part of a level), other levels branch off Means of grouping levels Gives player feeling of control, but can help control level explosion Can let player unlock a few spokes at a time Player can see that they will progress that way, but cannot now

Layouts (Cont.) Combinations of layouts Combines aspects of several layout types Role-playing games and adventure games often use combination layouts

Level Components - 1 Action Designer needs to know how much is expected and what type of action What enemy AI functions and maps can lead to interesting conflicts? How can the level be set up to encourage players to develop their own strategy for victory?

Level Components - 2 Exploration Designers often don’t understand that players like to explore game fields Give players surprises to find Make sure a player’s struggle to get through a level is rewarded Decide whether or not to punish players for wandering through a level

Level Components - 3 Puzzle Strategy Adding puzzles to first person shooters is not always a good idea Make puzzle style fit game (e.g. have player shoot through crystal to solve puzzle) Don’t throw in “arbitrary” puzzles

Level Components - 4 Story Telling Knowing story goals for each level is important Make story goals loose enough for level designer to build best level possible Make sure interactive fiction goals don’t stray too far from proposed master plot

Level Components - 5 Aesthetics Balance complexity of art work with game play If artwork is beyond game engine capabilities use shortcut as compromise (e.g. use lighting or color to indicate steepness of slope or hidden doorways)

Level Location outline where the level will take place, for example: 2.1 Geographic Location 2.2 Time of Day 2.3 Current Weather 2.4 Architecture or Terrain Style 2.5 Visual Reference

Level Objectives The vital information about that the player needs to do to win the mission or finish the level successfully. 4.1 Main/Primary Objectives 4.2 Secondary Objectives 4.3 Bonus Objectives 4.4 Hidden Objectives

Expanding on the Principles Level designer assembles components to create the atmosphere Lighting Color palette Weather and atmospheric effects Special visual effects Music Ambient audio Special audio effects

Expanding on the Principles (Cont.) Tutorial levels teach the player how to play Somewhat scripted experience that explains the game’s user interface, challenges, and actions Introduce features in an orderly sequence Switch off features not yet introduced If the game is complex, use more than one tutorial level Highlight screen elements when you introduce them Let player go back and try things again conveniently Voiceover narration or text can explain the game

The Level Design Process (Cont.) Prototyping Construct temporary models of the landscape and objects Models serve as blueprints for the art team Level review Review the prototype Feedback from the design, art, programming, audio, and testing teams

5 Card Dash The designer's challenge Devise a sequence of levels that makes the player feel successful AND challenged WITHOUT losing them to boredom or frustration Remember Flow? A casual game Poker crossed with Tetris Video (5CD_Intro.avi)

5 Card Dash Levels (1 of 2) Level 1: introduce the concept Level 2: Easy minimum hand Easy required hands Add some prompts along the way -- but not all at once Level 2: More prompts with new features Still easy

5 Card Dash Levels (2 of 2) Level 3 Level 8 Level 9 Add wildcards Prompt bonus cards Teach a straight Level 8 Prepare for level 9 Level 9 Same as 8, but: facedown cards sequential goal

Topics Game for children Game Engines Programming language for game Defining rules Game Design Patterns © 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc. Chapter 12 General Principles of Level Design