8 Common Problems with Level Layouts / Blockouts

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Did I miss anything out? What kind of challenges do you have when it comes to designing good level layouts?

[@achillesmaziotisvasileiou9309]

Player Navigations without ui , navigation with : Environment , Lighting , Items , Npc , etc. In general if the player can navigate without ui , i think your Level is in very good condition and also you need to have in mind the problems that you mention . . . btw much love , I love your videos and the discord community .

[@timdoesleveldesign]

As opposed to going too big, you'll also often see levels that are exactly fitted to the size that the intended gameplay and content requires. This tends to feel unnatural and "gamey" and can make the level feel too busy. Don't be afraid of using some negative space to balance out your composition and help bring the attention to where you need it! :)

[@timdoesleveldesign]

Ooh, one that comes up every now and then: dealing with verticality in the early phases of design when working with node maps/bubble diagrams/top-down layouts etc.

[@RickHenderson]

A really great video. I’m working on a small project that started as “open world”, but even I get lost and get bored running from one section to another. The point about verticality really hit me when I started playing Uncharted recently. The level design is great (imho) and so different from me just trying to make reasonable hills and land that isn’t too flat. The point of having blocked areas where the layer doesn’t need to go but the environment still “looks” open is crucial. I came up on the hidden problem when laying out a starting area where I want the player to walk through a canyon before they see the cool building… so I had to move the building 😂

[@aminmontaze]

LD community need contents like this to speed up their learning progress and put time more on meaningful and more polish stuff in their layout. Thanks for it Steve, keep it up 👍🏼❤

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Cheers Amin 👍

[@NZMPlays]

Awesome stuff, I am designing my first attempt at a game currently and I absolutely love discussion of these topics. I subscribed to support because Im glad to find more people talking about designing games! Nice to meet you!

[@Neox999]

I did notice that the first version of a blockout tends to be a bit too big. For myself it's usually not realizing how big everything actually is even when using a reference model.

[@timdoesleveldesign]

Each of these topics could be a great basis for a video of their own with some examples from other games and a showcase of you fixing the issue in a blockout example! Also thanks for yet another wonderful and informative video :)

[@melc311]

Hi, I am really curious on what Dishonored 2 levels you worked on. I recently played through it and I really enjoyed the level design.

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Hi - the Dust District was the level I was the main LD on, and I also helped out a teeny bit with the first mission, and one of the later ones :)

[@jerryatricks4168]

Spaces way too big? You mean like Starfield?

[@vinnmarty]

It's funny how true the "too big" bulletpoint is. As someone who's having his first professional experience with level design for a project at work, initially I was doing the level blockouts on a separate project from the actual game we're working on, and as soon as I got access to the actual project and started moving things over, I realized my maps were huge and I shrunk everything by like 50%, if not more!

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Hehe yeah, I did it too - there's a level in Bulletstorm that I worked on (Jumpship Takeoff) and I shake my head whenever I think about how excessively big some of the spaces are, even in the shipped version :)

[@JohansLundgren]

Never change your pronunciation of the word linear!

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Haha - I know I'm saying it wrong, but maybe I'll stick to my guns anyway

[@BlueJeebs]

This channel is one of the most underrated I've seen this year so far. Watched the 3 part level design guide, great breakdown and iterative process! The more mistakes are discussed, the more ways one can improve.

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Great to hear, cheers :)

[@SaltyKoalaBear]

You may have the best level design philosophy videos on KZbin. This is coming from a 15 year hobbyist level designer for Halo games. Steve what would is cost to get you in on a level design talk podcast/interview?

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Cheers! I’ve been on the Level Design Podcast, and also Pete Bottomley’s Realtime Roots podcast, if that helps :) Or do you mean your own podcast?

[@AsasinoManik]

I Just realised.. I'm doing the exact opposite of some of the problems that he mentioned. But it's also a problem 😅 so guys keep a balance always

[@dominikdalek]

I feel like for every game that's open, samey, and empty, there's another one that's claustrophobic, cluttered, and chaotic. Balance is hard.

[@bogdanvasile5460]

Such an interesting video, thank you! When you first design a level, what are the steps that you follow? Do you go directly into blockout? Or make a kind of "blueprint" of how the level would look?

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Hey Bogdan, glad you like the video :) My first steps in the level design process is often to understand what I'm doing and plan things out in a text file - I made a video about it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Zne2pKZ6jKp5gsU

[@matheusguilhermoni1441]

This channel was just recommended to me and just in time as I started a layout blockout of my game's levels. Thanks so much for the info!

[@kikijewell2967]

Reflecting on these with TLoU as an example - and they use every bit of this advice!

[@CoreFlux]

Subtle trick to bend linear into a different word just to make sure we stay attentive. ☺

[@Nipah.Auauau]

The issues of "Too Big" and "Too Open" became really obvious to me when going from Hotline Miami 1 to 2. For whatever reason the levels went from expertly crafted puzzle boxes to baby's first CS map.

[@brandonmccowan]

Imagine how much better Starfield could have been if the devs had watched this video first.

[@spacetowastee]

Unbelievably insightful. Thank you for this high effort

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Aww cheers - great to hear you find it useful 👍

[@cardo128]

Enjoyed the video Steve! I thought you were going to touch on it a couple of times but I’d say, the use of contrasting scale is a very powerful tool. For example, taking the player through a tight enclosed space before emerging out into a large open area to really emphasise the difference in scale and the feel of an area.

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Yeah totally - I kinda held that it back as something to talk about more fully in a separate video sometime ;)

[@cardo128]

@@stevelee_gamedev I look forward to watching that one 😊

[@Kosari4242]

Thank You!

[@bencourtemanche]

Great video! Instant sub

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Cheers Ben, great to hear :)

[@bencourtemanche]

@@stevelee_gamedev Been watching a bunch of your vids they're all so good! Your videos are very inspiring and informative. I'm currently in my second year studying Game Design and I'm very interested in level design. I'll definitely have to check out the patreon as this seems like a great community to be a part of👍

[@stevelee_gamedev]

@@bencourtemanche Cool, would be great to see you on the Discord - any questions, let me know 👍

[@yadav-r]

Very Insightful, yes I made all those mistakes. Thank you for sharing your experience.

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Thanks, you're welcome 👍

[@donpilo20]

Hello, do you offer any level design courses? Do you have a forum for questions? Or can't you make questions in your course? Thank you

[@stevelee_gamedev]

I don't offer any courses, - the closest thing is that I run a level design Discord community, and we do level design jams every few months. Supporting the Patreon gets you instant lifetime access... ;) www.patreon.com/stevelee_gamedev

[@LirongLiang-c6g]

My professor recommended your channel to us last quarter. Your channel is so good!

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Awesome to hear, cheers :)

[@sidremus]

what's "lineer"? do you mean linear?

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Yes :)

[@gukiopkip]

YT just recommended your video and it's been really useful and helpful to me, some of the tips were new for me and I'll surely take them into my account for the future. My main problem is the urge to build up "too big" spaces, I already knew about this problem before, because of how demanding and stretching it is to fill up, elaborate, test, etc just for one big room. Even though in some of my maps I've managed to build up and elaborate on my desired enormous spaces, I'd still prefer to shrink them down by 50% at least from their original size, but I guess it's still experience and challanges after all. Anyway, Thank you so much for your succinct, but really helpful video for level design!

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Glad it was helpful, cheers :)

[@TorQueMoD]

Great video Steve. Thanks for sharing your tips :)

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Cheers, glad you like it 👍

[@Nyllsor]

Great resource! :) Also really like ur style of the vids, like the positive video examples of how its done Right.. and thats a cool way to say 'linear';)

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Haha I've started pronouncing linear properly, out of pure self-consciousness. Maybe I'll sneak my weird way of saying it back into some future videos though... (Glad you like the videos!)

[@Nyllsor]

@@stevelee_gamedev Looking forward to anything you wish to upload :) Thx again!!

[@Calixj23]

This video was EXCELLENT, simply EXCELLENT...!!! This is exactly what I've been asking you to do in a lot of my questions. Tell us what to do and how to do it and what not to do, just like you did here. This was a fantastic guide to helping us design better levels. Some of the things you put forth here are so important, but often overlooked, that this is what makes your channel so useful to aspiring level developers or game developers THANK YOU!!!! Keep more of this coming.

[@EveBatStudios]

Fantastic content, thank you

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Glad you like it, cheers :)

[@leplubodeslapin]

Great advices to keep in mind, thanks !

[@olninyo]

Greg Linnear

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Gary Linearker

[@AhmetIbrahim]

Thanks for another great video Steve, appreciate the hard work 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Cheers Ahmet, appreciate the kind words 👍

[@BlackBlur888]

+1

[@raeeskamaar6190]

Your videos bring a lot of value to designers. Keep up the amazing work 😎

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Cheers Raees :)