Constructing the Stage to Play

 To be a good level designer ain't easy. Based on my experience on various games that have level building features such as Age of Empires II and LittleBigPlanet it's easy to come up with an idea that sounds good to you, but when you build it and then publicly release to for others to play those players may not share the opinion.

Lets get this straight first, the main focus of level design isn't the way it looks rather the way it functions. Pretty as level may seem but if the player understand what to do and how to complete the task given then there is absolutely no point in playing as far as the player is concerned. This is usually the problem I have when building levels on LittleBigPlanet. Usually I plan out the layout the level on paper so I have a rough idea how it will appear in the game, I include some sections of platforming and some easy puzzles to give the player something to interact with and give the level some dynamic feel to it. Then what usually happens next is I publish the level, wait for others to play and then view the feedback only to discover that less than half of the total players have actually fully completed the level.

So what makes players bail out from the game so quickly? Remember how I said that I included easy puzzles? Yeah well they are easy in my eyes, but perhaps not to others. Difficulty of a stage is fickle thing in level designing. Players love a challenge but levels of toleration varies among them. Finding the right balance between challenge and accessibility may take several revisions to see what best suits the majority, however that takes time and patience thus I felt I never could be a good level designer.

Level design isn't strictly about the architectural shape of the level. Placements and frequency of pick-up, enemy, checkpoints, etc is a common but important factor in level design as it can affect the difficulty and accessibility of the level. Ever wondered why many bad games in the old days really (and I mean really) suck? Because absolutely no thought and testing was done before the devs released it. Some games are so bloody cluttered with dangerous obstacles and enemies it is damn well near impossible to complete. If you have the time check out the two videos posted below both of the AVGN and both of games I and whole lot of gamers feel has absolutely horrendous level design.

Basically to sum up everything, as level designer visual aesthetics are the least of your problems (you have game artists to help fix that). It is important to build a level that is functional and understandable to your target audience. Remember you are not building a level for yourself to play, but for others so always think about what they want to see and experience.

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