We already have a (somewhat chaotic) Level Design Tips thread, but I thought something catered more towards resources, including tutorials and ideas/inspiration for level design, might be useful to have as well. I've started off with a few useful resources below. Feel free to post some stuff below and if it seems reasonable and useful I'll add it to this post. A great website that I've used a bunch of stuff from is Tutsplus that despite its generic name has some very useful content. In terms of the ideas/inspiration part, feel free to post ideas about visuals, gimmick ideas, etc. in the form of a video, image, words, or basically anything that you think someone else might find useful or inspirational.
The following is also a selection of important, basic tips I've compiled from the section below if you don't want to brave all of it:
- Introduce gimmicks in a safe environment.
- Explore breadth and depth to develop gimmicks (make sure the player understands the concepts and then throw in one or more twists).
- Make your level easy to comprehend and a challenge to complete (make sure the player understands).
- TEST YOUR LEVEL! Thoroughly.
- Reuse elements.
- A colour scheme should strengthen the mood or theme you're trying to convey.
- Challenges should test the player's ability until they master the challenge.
- Get feedback on your level.
- Watch the difficulty curve in your level. (It should increase or stay the same.)
- Consider what happens when a player fails and what should be the result. (Should they go back to the beginning of the level or just to the beginning of the challenging part they just failed?)
- Know your audience.
- Find ways to create challenges that build off of previous ones.
- Allow experimentation and self-learning where allowed.
- Understand the feel/atmosphere you want your level to portray.
- Avoid saturation (overuse) of the same asset, especially decorations/BGOs, in the same area; use variations to break patterns.
- Be wary of the presence of side bosses and how they fit into the level.
- Try to avoid repetition; it can be difficult to make the player still have to move a lot and experience the variation moving through the rest of the level presented in an enclosed boss room, however this makes the boss fight significantly more enjoyable.
Four-Step Level Design Tutorial:
A very useful tutorial about a universal level design structure useful in gimmick development, seen in various more recent Nintendo games.
Key ideas:
- Introduce gimmicks in a safe environment.
- Explore breadth and depth to develop gimmicks (make sure the player understands the concepts and then throw in one or more twists).
- Throw in a final challenge as one last demonstration of the gimmick.
Portal 2 Level Design: https://gamedevelopment.tutsplus.com/tu ... medev-4828
Explores processes for designing levels and important elements in puzzle games which can even be applied to platformers.
Key ideas:
- Start by choosing a mechanic you want to focus on.
- Begin broad then dig deeper when working with new mechanics.
- For more complex scenarios try drawing things out (not always necessary though and doesn't need excess details).
- Make your level easy to comprehend and a challenge to complete (make sure the player understands).
- TEST YOUR LEVEL! Thoroughly.
- Reuse elements.
Importance of Palettes: https://gamedevelopment.tutsplus.com/ar ... medev-1174
Looks at the creation of palettes and how to use them to support the theme of a level.
Key ideas:
- A colour scheme should strengthen the mood or theme you're trying to convey.
Making Difficult Fun: https://gamedevelopment.tutsplus.com/tu ... -cms-25873
Examines how to create challenges that still provide enjoyment for the player.
Key ideas:
- Avoid "bullet sponge" bosses; don't just increase a boss's HP to try making it more difficult; there is a large difference between difficulty and effort. Don't make challenges tedious and repetitive.
- Challenges should test the player's ability until they master the challenge.
- A challenge can have variations within itself and all challenges should vary.
- Get feedback on your level.
- Watch the difficulty curve in your level. (It should increase or stay the same.)
- Consider what happens when a player fails and what should be the result. (Should they go back to the beginning of the level or just to the beginning of the challenging part they just failed?)
- Know your audience.
The SMW Method of Level Design:
[spoiler]
https://gamedevelopment.tutsplus.com/ar ... -cms-25177
https://gamedevelopment.tutsplus.com/ar ... -cms-25722
https://gamedevelopment.tutsplus.com/ar ... -cms-25295[/spoiler]
Explores the importance and usages of skill themes as well as evolutions and expansions of level design concepts.
Key ideas:
- Consider a level's genre (action, puzzle, etc.) and what skills it requires (timing, speed, precision, etc.).
- Exploring multiple genres and skill sets can give more depth to a level.
- Find ways to create challenges that build off of previous ones.
- Consider the extent to which a challenge becomes too packed with ideas or variations and hence annoying.
How to Teach Concepts: https://gamedevelopment.tutsplus.com/tu ... -cms-22719
Looks at various ways to portray important information to the player that they need to know to play the game. The techniques explained will not be listed below since the article isn't very lengthy.
Key ideas:
- Don't scare the player away and don't bore them either.
- Know the attention span of your audience and allow experimentation and self-learning where allowed.
Creating a Polished Environment: https://gamedevelopment.tutsplus.com/tu ... -cms-21012
Explores the importance of asset (graphical) choices and how to choose them for your level.
Key ideas:
- Understand the feel/atmosphere you want your level to portray.
- Avoid saturation (overuse) of the same asset, especially decorations/BGOs, in the same area; use variations to break patterns.
Designing Good Boss Battles: https://gamedevelopment.tutsplus.com/tu ... medev-2373
Explains various aspects that contribute to a good boss battle.
Key ideas:
- Use music and sounds that support the theme of the boss.
- Be wary of the presence of side bosses and how they fit into the level.
- Have some indication that a boss is coming up and build up to that point; the boss is the climax of a level.
- Consider the weak points of the boss.
- Make sure that the boss is consistency with the difficulty curve of the level; an easy boss at the end of an increasingly hard level is disappointing.
- Try to avoid repetition; it can be difficult to make the player still have to move a lot and experience the variation moving through the rest of the level presented in an enclosed boss room, however this makes the boss fight significantly more enjoyable.
- Find a way to make the boss fight feel rewarding when it is over.
Other Various Resources:
Mark Brown's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqJ-Xo ... jn6z2XwYAw
Level Design Ideas/Inspiration
- An interesting means of treating the player when they collide with a specific enemy in Yoshi's Island DS.
- Lots of interesting, gimmicky ideas could be extracted from this level.
- It would be interesting to see some kind of 2D integration of pull-stars from Super Mario Galaxy.
