Ten Principles for Good Level Design

[@jaimemagnum]

04:23 1- Good level design is fun to navigate. 06:47 2- Good level design does not rely on words. 10:46 3- Good level design tells what to do but never how to do it. 13:35 4- Good level design constantly teaches. 16:06 5- Good level design is surprising. 21:07 6- Good level design empowers the player. 25:16 7- Good level design is easy, medium, and hard. 28:13 8- Good level design is efficient. 32:55 9- Good level design creates emotion. 37:26 10- Good level design is driven by mechanics. 41:50 Recap

[@not_herobrine3752]

Thanks, dont have time to watch this vid rn

[@curranh.8328]

@@not_herobrine3752 You spelled design wrong from #5-#10 but thank you :)

[@not_herobrine3752]

@@curranh.8328 welcome

[@curranh.8328]

@@not_herobrine3752 oh god I tagged the wrong person my bad 😂😂

[@not_herobrine3752]

@@curranh.8328 You are welcome anyways ;)

[@seangdovic4967]

41:50 Recap For any level designers who come back to refresh their minds but don’t want to watch the entire thing again.

[@southoceann]

Thanks!! That helps a lot!

[@drgore1797]

Not all heros wear capes.

[@greggeverman5578]

You’re My new best friend!

[@whatthefuckesque0]

@@greggeverman5578 That is very sad.

[@fabianoperes2155]

Thanks bro. This guy walking from side to side is really annoying me.

[@letMeSayThatInIrish]

"If the player does something you didn't expect, you should not chastise him, you should design it into the game." -- Dan Taylor

[@ihonest5355]

Well said bro

[@Keyecomposer]

Wish Rockstar games followed that rule.

[@K3vyB]

>implements in-game gold store to counter RMT (:

[@frozenfenix0]

He forgot rule 11 always add a water level

[@TheConceptBoy]

Don't forget the sewer level

[@bombardier0543]

Don’t forget the cave level

[@antigrav6004]

Where my poison swamp squad at?

[@gumfireparalax1371]

You guys are forgetting about a lava level.

[@donpaisa8627]

Don't forget the ice level with slippery floor

[@sunnyboi3867]

This made me realize that a Civ game is just one really long level

[@AlexMakesGames80]

I've rewatched this talk at least 13 times by now

[@EduardoYukio]

This was awesome! A real lesson by an experienced designer AND speaker. The way he connected each point of the presentation was gold.

[@Enduror19]

The Ishimura scene in deadspace 2 is the most horrific part of all horror games i ever played. nothing happened all the time but the psychic terror to go throuw that ship that nearly killed me in the first game ... and remembering all the terrors ... it was horrible ... the worst i ever felt while playing a game .. i loved it!

[@awedsy3195]

Physchological horror is best horror, and the scariest one

[@Enterstainers]

18:00 One of the greatest paradigm shifts has to be Halo 1, with the Flood mission. The buildup to that was so out-of-nowhere and terrifying, wondering why the Covenant were afraid, or dead before you got there.

[@NeverduskX]

This remains one of the most important and relevant game design talks I've seen. I find it useful to see the recap at 41:50 from time to time, but once in a blue I'll watch the whole thing again to catch small but very useful things I might have neglected in my recent designs.

[@OaksCU1]

Go to 41:49 for a summary, if you don't wanna watch the whole video.

[@umartdagnir]

I clicked 41:49, saw the text on the stone tablets, paused, tried to read it, thought "Ha-ha, good joke. But too bad there is no summary and I will have to watch the whole video now", then unpaused and the actual summary appeared.

[@WnIyLkLvIiAsMt97]

I started the video, got bored quickly as he was going over nothing new (so far) looked at comments for a summary, found this. xD

[@greggeverman5578]

Youre my new 2nd best friend! Congrats! :)

[@greggeverman5578]

Just dumping another comment to promote this one. These comments are entirely helpful!

[@greggeverman5578]

I think so anyway.

[@tiagodarkpeasant]

i guess one way to provide ammo for a boss without spoiling is putting the armor on the boss stage, or through minions that drop ammunition, maybe even increase the drop rate on normal monsters before a boss instead of straight giving the ammo, like an unaware enemy that is actually just there to give you the items you need for the next battle

[@harrysanders818]

One of best level design talks ever recorded

[@fl260]

This is gold, thanks a ton!

[@danecustance2734]

What he said.

[@neptuneleveldesign]

Love hearing insightful, simple to follow and practical tips from industry pros, thank you as always.

[@zill4_]

Respect how he handled the first “question”- I’d not be sure how to respond.

[@lanceuppercut8220]

Seriously, seemed kind of like a slight directed at the presentor, he basically called him some kind of emotionally unintelligent brute who doesn't consume enough estrogen enriched soy.

[@cozymonk]

55:40 I had that problem even before I started learning game design, even as a small child. You can almost always tell when a boss is coming. If it's not items, it's something else, but there's always a strong tell. I don't think I've ever been surprised by a boss (except maybe the fish that ate me because I kept shooting the water in RE4, but the legit boss fight was not a surprise).

[@trevorgustavgreen8148]

6 minutes in and I already learned so much. Such a wonderful and useful resource.

[@walterwelches4188]

41:49 is the recap if you’re the TLDR type although I’d recommend watching it through because he gives great examples and elaborates on them.

[@timdoesleveldesign]

This presentation contains an absolute wealth of important information! Thanks for making this available to everyone that wants to learn more about level design

[@sprazz8668]

37:09 DAMN THAT'S AMAZING

[@markoos88]

If you close your eyes this sounds like a games lecture delivered by Simon Pegg.

[@GlowingOrangeOoze]

haha, you can really feel the age of this talk when the Q&A begins and he struggles with questions about about games that pursue experiences outside of player empowerment, or how to deal with the paradox of giving the optional bonuses to players who've proven they don't need the help. Still, a solid set of guidelines, I think. Just don't forget to apply your own critical thinking.

[@itsaUSBline]

Glad I wasn't the only one thinking this when he got to talking about player empowerment. It's funny how his answer seems to imply that Journey is the first game that's ever made him consider that games could be about something other than purely player empowerment. Kinda amazing how far we've come in just the past several years.

[@Fjuron]

Very nice Talk! Excellent general guiding rules; not just level design but for game design in general. Especially beginning from the desired emotional response and then selecting the elements that together create that emotion, is a really helpful way to do it / think about it.

[@silverlight2677]

what a convenience..this is what i need to study

[@antonmuffin6214]

so far this is one of the better level design videos iv watched, the last video i watch one of the parts told me to stare at old maps... like bruh i looked at camping grounds for 20 minutes, this didnt make me any better. there was some good points in there, but this video was full of things i could write down

[@chriswahl1337]

"If you want to make the player feel persecuted put an enemy AI into the level that constantly hunts him." *E.M.M.I. has entered the chat*

[@David-zy1lr]

God the E.M.M.I in Dread really made the game live up to its name

[@josephcantrell]

This is in Middle Earth: Shadow of War....great AI in that game. I was impressed playing it.

[@silvernightpuma]

Looked up Dieter Rams' "Good design" principles on wiki, very nice.

[@ciriak]

Halo 3 thumbnail, Final boss of clickbait :D

[@kjj26k]

It got me...XP

[@greggeverman5578]

Me too.

[@squishybuspr]

Someone give this man an award for drinking like 5 bottles of water in less than 45 minutes. 🏆

[@ЗайкаУшастик-п9у]

33:06 "Last year the US supreme court declared gay videogames were legaly art"

[@chernobylthing3932]

"Bless their cotton little socks"

[@tobyk5091]

What does this mean

[@VsevolodKhusid]

I feel motivated to make some art then

[@chadrichjellming4911]

This is a ton of good information. Thanks for the presentation!

[@StitchfaceAirsoft]

he sounded like such a small little guy at 22:06 when he said almost as many people that played dead space 2 lol

[@roninbadger7750]

"Real life sucks" - tell that to the Farm and euro truck sim players.

[@SteveHolmesDrums]

6:34 MW2 was Infinty Ward, not Treyarch.

[@Nebulaoblivion]

36:58 I remember that, It was so annoying. I fought so hard, and kept restarting the level before I got down to those last two guys because I thought I failed. I was kind of pissed when it ended up being waste of time trying to win it.

[@akillith6841]

I can't figure out if i've commented already. KZbin hard. But, i can't get past the "I'm about to spoil Deadspace 2" part. Been meaning to play it for years... And I always turn the video off at this point. How bad is the spoiler? I spend way more time learning than I do gaming and I really wanna finish this video lol.

[@QuassGamer]

47:30 That's actually good question I want see what he would say about multiplayer level design!

[@bruceparab2102]

Its totally different for multiplayer games, there are choke points, boosts and other aspects of the gameplay session to consider

[@____uncompetative]

(( | )) is all _Halo_ arena maps | | | is all _Call of Duty_ maps . * , • ' is all _Battlefield_ maps

[@0u73rh34v3n]

I personally feel there's more emphasis around strategy when it comes to multiplayer games. Whether it's a 60vs60 shooter, or a co-op game like LBP, it's commonly down to players to find the best positioning to progress.

[@greggeverman5578]

This guy's pretty brilliant! Wonderful talk.

[@mammothfurfur774]

Great Talk and great questions at the end!

[@chriswahl1337]

25:28 YES! This man gets it! I knew I wasn't the only one.

[@a5hen]

First half of DS1 just peaks everything

[@Drecon84]

Honestly, I think when designing a prison, the last thing you want is to make inmates feel imprisoned. If you make the whole thing feel open and inviting without compromising safety and security, you'll have a much better prison population.

[@nerychristian]

True. It works with public schools. Create the illusion of freedom, while imprisoning the mind and body.

[@Scroteydada]

No, it's to keep them out of society. Inmates get released, hopefully a little less crazy than before.

[@johnnyfreetanga5506]

Are you sure about this idea? Actually, there are people who will commit crime to improve their live, living in that prison. It will be better than their current lives.

[@oklol496]

"See! I told you we'd find advice on how to build the prison in comments sections! I told you!"

[@Fualkner]

​@@johnnyfreetanga5506 If your society is awful enough that people are willing to sacrifice their autonomy and freedom for the "comforts" of prison, then your society is the problem.

[@QMDLevelDesign]

Very much appreciated, thanks!

[@F2t0ny]

I think level design would be my dream game dev job

[@John-996]

this guy has crazy CV the amount of big studios he has worked at.

[@unrealhabitat]

This is gold

[@jeffreyjumisko5165]

Great talk. I'm unsure why it is so blurry from the audience view.

[@rompevuevitos222]

imo, Level design is everything on a game, no matter how much you put in a game, without a good playground to use those features the game won't perform well at all

[@mezzmar]

I'm a bit late but, What can you do have a magnificent playground but lack the ability to use it properly? I think that, games rely on its level design and its gameplay, how you move and what you can, whether you run, swim, fly, roll. So, gameplay gives you the abilitiy to play and then you're released on a playground to test them alongside with your skill. You can't have one without the other.

[@rompevuevitos222]

With good enough levels, you can even make gameplay meaningless like Abzu for example, so the level is the most important thing. Someone could make a very simple shooter and still be amazing just by having very interesting and fun levels wich aren't just a road with a bunch of walls

[@sprazz8668]

Well, I agree with you, but as far as I'm aware everything is very important including level design. If you have good level design but your mechanics are bad, that's gonna be equally rubbish.

[@UltramanII]

That problem is probably a lot more prominent in RTS than other genre. There're quite a few new RTS games out there that looks pretty decent but I don't even want to play them, like Empires Apart, because they don't have levels at all, only random map skirmishes. For some players it's not a problem, but for me, an RTS game without a campaign story kinda feel pointless.

[@4ll3sb4n4n3]

I absolutely agree! Gameplay and level design. My favorites: - Thief 2 - Shadow Warrior - Half Life 2 - Portal (probably the best level design out of all of these) - Super Mario - GTA 5

[@josephcantrell]

Also I think good level design is that it builds on the previous level, and prepares you for the next one.

[@Tekkai50]

Rockstar should take some notes. Let's look at RDR2 for an example. When it comes to the open world of that game, the level design is excellent. but in main quests it's so on rails it almost feels like QTE.

[@michaelcostaphoto]

loved the influencer references- great talk, but lol, dry crowd

[@civilwarfare101]

Not many of them played Dead Space 2, shame on them.

[@scheve1994]

GDC crowds are dry almost 100% of the time. It's a bit of a shame when the presentator puts in the effort to make the talk engaging.

[@misterchief5378]

i love that there is no cheering and laughing. i hate those kinds of talks, it almost seems to me that they need shitty references because they think their topic is not interesting enough.

[@owenrivers16]

This is my dream job

[@raph2550]

Very great talk!

[@jonasdietrich8109]

Thanks for the insight!

[@leetNightshade]

Modern Warfare 2 wasn't done by Treyarch, but you gave them credit for good level design on it. [Edit] Though it sounds like Treyarch may have helped out on some maps around that time, hard to verify which games. Where'd you get this info?

[@adamlee2550]

That note about Bethesda making modular levels is why I always get bored of their games and put them down.

[@jefawksspaghettorium]

so true in ESO this happens a lot: a zillion dungeons looking similar with no real feel to them because they're modular and lifeless and look similar if they're in the same theme basket

[@ThinkCitric]

That was a great talk, thank you for sharing it!

[@D0ubleRadiation]

How can, in 2013, do a conference on Level design and not talk about Dark Souls? Still, amazing video, lots of very interesting points!

[@DavidBulczak]

Very good point. Especially since Dark Souls breaks a lot of these principles in a good way.

[@civilwarfare101]

I am glad that someone actually acknowledges Ratchet and Clank.

[@DoomsDay117x]

Does 4. Pattern Analysis contradict with 5. Surprising level design? If the enjoyment is derived from when the 14:01 "human mind enjoys processes patterns for retrieval later", then how is "fun created through uncertainty"? 17:18

[@Lovuschka]

A good designer does not punish the player for doing something unforeseen. The best designers anticipate even that which is impossible and create something unique for that occasion that 99.9 percent of players never will see playing themselves.

[@ty_teynium]

Does every slide have to have picture of a game? Also it obscures the words a bit.

[@blind_neighbourhoodNerd]

Loved this talk

[@unfa00]

6:28 It's funny that a different talk by an Epic artist was given referring to this same level as visually incoherent and being highlightes as a major drop-off point for players. Of that data is true, this level is significantly less fun to play (it may still be fun to navigate - without enemies I suppose?) as players seemed to have been abandoning the campaign during this level.

[@analogGigabyte]

If the player does something you don't expect, my friend, that is interesting gameplay

[@thrivenugget]

In the year 2040, someone will look back at this video and realise where the worlds fresh water reserves went

[@amac333]

One of the principals for describing something is to not use the word you're trying describe in the sentence.

[@daggawagga]

You can add an exception to than when talking about recursion

[@Maouww]

So like: "One of the principles for communicating the different aspects of any abstract concept is to not use the word identifying the concept that you're trying to indirectly reference in that sentence." Yes?

[@josephcantrell]

What about always gives you experience points in your stats?

[@Ralke1]

very cool tips

[@morecarstuff]

Feel so late to this video. been watching these. although i may not get into game dev super seriously i love the insight. it provides understanding and appreciation for the story telling as well as the thought process in creating these games.

[@morecarstuff]

on a side note though, older games incorporate most of these features better then most of the new ones. imo.

[@ZoeyTheSobble]

Cod campaign designers should watch this

[@Randor11]

Outstanding !!!

[@tysonasaurus6392]

I enjoyed watching the whole thing but if you want to jump straight to his ten principles 4:21

[@lauralai9694]

Very interesting! Thank you! :-)

[@aerodynamic1440]

Useful principles.

[@twosoulfox]

Yes.

[@cabreram.4734]

God, this is a very good talk! 😳

[@zefile]

>skyrim >nebulous objectives i'm sorry but WHAT

[@WhereIsTheIntruder]

Skyrim is awful

[@shiftyjim4138]

Quetzalcoatl Skyrim and it’s waypoint objectives actually ruin exploration or any challenge found in discovery.

[@hypno_ibram]

@@shiftyjim4138 There's probably a mod to remove it.

[@FerintoshFarmsPhotography]

Must have meant morrowind lol

[@fernandoramos187]

@@WhereIsTheIntruder You have not understand nothing about this video...

[@repman597]

The Original Ghost Recon level design as the first and only tactical open-terrain (not open-world) level design. Unfortunately the sequels deviate from the level design and tactical gameplay mechanics.

[@resurrectedsunlight155]

Is it me or does Dan sound a lot like Simon Pegg?

[@kjj26k]

29:50 is when that Halo 3 thumbnail you came for comes into play.

[@tiagodarkpeasant]

the part about a good design teaching something new is how i approach every dungeon in zelda botw, what is this sage trying to teach me ? and when i "cheat" i don't think the levels is bad, because the sage says " you are resourceful"

[@MEGA_TREE]

Very attractive

[@gabrielchavarria760]

What is the name of the book he tells on number four?

[@sofiemagko5911]

43:55 Q&A

[@gargamellenoir8460]

It's weird to see Skyrim used as a good example for any form of story telling, but the Dark Brotherhood quest was way above the rest of the game in that aspect.

[@larry3828]

skyrim's "story", as in the quests and dialogue, is pretty boring. but the "story" of skyrim, as in the massive, beautiful open world of skyrim, free to be explored in any order, is still enchanting to this day i guess it would be classed as emergent story rather than explicit

[@nintendude794]

6:38 Treyarch? You mean Infinity Ward?

[@felipenovais8364]

Everytime he mentioned Bethesda was absolute bullshit. Pete Hines himself talked about FO4`s gameplay loop and it`s all about keeping the player engaged in the cheapest way possible with exploration and arbitrary rewards. The ""clarity of purpose" section mentioning Skyrim too, was debatable. It is almost the opposite of Morrowind's quest direction - which is verbose - with clear marks and "0/10" fetch quests. It's anti-exploration and immersion, which, for me, is a serious sin to be commited by such a big open world RPG. There's no connection to the world. That's bad.

[@3N1StaticGaming]

5:09 but sometimes I like a game that lets you get lost.

[@remingtonlewis2000]

Is that Errant Signal at 59:05?

[@austin0_bandit05]

14:00

[@jolanxblca]

38:30 too many HD words, he's lagging

[@TwilightPB]

great talk, but i couldn't help but notice the speaker was completely unable to decide whether to roll with 'him', 'him/her' or singular they. lol

[@Adrian-hj7ih]

PARA OS BR QUE NUM ENTENDE INGREIS :D Um bom Level Design... 1. É DIVERTIDO DE NAVEGAR cria uma linguagem visual clara porém se sinta livre de colocar um pouco de caos. 2. NÃO DEPENDE DE PALAVRAS use narrativa implicita e emergente do que explicita para contar uma história, sendo a implicita a abordagem que não deixa claro para o jogador e a emergente que tem envolvido as ações do próprio jogador. 3. CONTA OQUE MAS NÃO COMO Faça objetivos claros para assim o jogadores completarem de qualquer maneira ou na ordem que eles quiserem. 4. ENSINA CONSTANTE Mantem o jogador engajado com introdução ou subvertencia de novas mecânicas. 5. É SURPREENDENTE não tenha medo te correr riscos com estimulação estética ou outros elementos. 6. EMPODERA O JOGADOR videogames são uma forma de escapismo então faça o jogador sentir o impacto das suas ações. 7. É FÁCIL, MÉDIO E DIFÍCIL use risco e recompensa para então o jogador setar a dificuldade de forma dinâmica. 8. É EFICIENTE Feito para modularidade pelo direcionamento e "não-linearidade" e outros. 9. CRIA EMOÇÃO começa no final com as respostas emocionais desejadas e retrocede para selecionar a mecânica adequada para eliciar a resposta. 10. É DIRIGIDO PELAS MECÂNICAS Acima de tudo mostra as mecânicas do jogo através do nível para reforçar a natureza interativa unica de video games.

[@KimboKG14]

30:30 WRONG! 343Guilty spark is a completely linear level it may fool you by it's similar looking rooms, but If you don't get lost in the maze there's no room you have to enter twice and especially not the forest! you come out at an absolutely diffrent place than you got into the underground facility. the only bi-directional level might be "assault on the control room" / "double betrayal" but these are seperate levels with changed geometry.

[@KenTWOu]

5:58 - I'm not sure that MW2 mission was really 'fun'. I've heard in another talk that Favela level was number one drop point in MW2 single player campaign and multiplayer map based on it was one of the least popular maps. That's the talk: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fYucapp3l5mHZtEm7s

[@RaiceGeriko]

I vaguely remember the level, but I do remember it. Unfortunately, I remember it for a very bad reason: near the start of the map, I kept dying over and over and over. I seem to recall there was a metric shit ton of enemies all over the place with Aimbot turned on to Max and I continued to die because I didn't have time to react to them and continue. I eventually got past it, but I remember it being very frustrating in a bad way.

[@ADayintheLifeoftheTw]

29** mark note

[@shrewmastercomics]

I wanted to hear bad Yoda :(

[@blackdevilb]

Dark souls 1 blow my mind with lvl design

[@ManiX207]

though thats more of an level art kinda thing, to be fair alot of ds 1 was not perfected for mechanical playability. but yes DS1 really had and still has one of the best game level map design out there ( though demon souls kinda had a simular approch if you consider only the areas them self.)

[@tiagodarkpeasant]

i see no problem with speed running, unless it is a guy that never played the game before seeing another speed runner and just doing the same but faster, for example i fell sonic was made fr speed run, but you can only do that after knowing the maps, so it is a reflection of appreciation for the game and the correct way to be sonic in the game world, but i only think games with good replay-ability are worth it, and ds1 is such a game the gets better the more you know how to play, and it ties to one thing he said, good levels are easy medium and hard depending on how you want to play

[@FergusonHogan-c1r]

Domenica Parkways