An awesome list of resources and tools for game level design. 😎
Some resources listed are not completely genre/tool agnostic. However, you may find useful information to apply in your own work regardless of the context they are used.
Go map! 🏞️🔨
- Websites
- Books
- Blogs
- YouTube
- Talks
- Podcasts
- Tools
- Combat
- Game Examples
- Inspiration
- Not Categorized
- Communities
- Tips
- Level Design Book - A WIP book on level design. Definitely worth a read if you're just starting out.
- Level Design Site - A big list of links and specific articles on enhancing level readability.
- Push and Pull - A great post on guiding players through and environment.
- The Level Design Compendium - Reddit post with tons of links.
- Level-Design.org - Knowledge/Reference database for level designing.
- In Pursuit of Better Levels - A big Google Doc on level design from @TychoBolt.
- Next Level Design - Tons of articles and educational resources on level design principles tools.
- The Design Den - Official website for the level design Discord community. Hosts community challenges.
- An Architectural Approach to Level Design
- Level Design for Games: Creating Compelling Game Experiences
- Level Design: Concept, Theory, and Practice
- TimDoesLevelDesign - Short and to the point videos on different LD concepts.
- Steve Lee - Steve is a level designer with previous experience on Dishonored 2 and Bioshock: Infinite. Their videos focus on case studies for specific maps they created and how to improve your level design portfolio.
- Jacob Mills - Jacob was a level designer on the Division 2 and several other titles. They have a couple walkthroughs on how they approached specific missions.
- Art of Level Design - A channel dedicated to making engaging game levels and various tips.
- Corwin - Creator of the "Push and Pull" website. Has a couple videos on level design worth checking out. The videos are a decade old but there is great info here.
- Game Maker's Toolkit - Mark has several videos on level design. Specifically "Why Nathan Drake Doesn’t Need a Compass" and "Why Nathan Drake Doesn’t Need a Compass".
- Max Barnyard - Has a series on great levels in gaming worth checking out.
- Sykoo - Several great videos on level design principles.
- World of Level Design - A channel from AlexG dedicated to LD workflow and environment art.
- 10 Principles of Good Level Design - Probably the first video you find on YouTube regarding the subject but I added it for completeness.
- The Importance of Nothing - A talk about negative space in map design.
- How to Tell Stories and Guide Players Through Level Design - Using level design architecture tips for leading player navigation.
- Level Design with Impossible Geometry - William Chyr explains the struggles in designing levels with impossible geometry in Manifold Garden.
- CGSky's Open-World Level Design Talk
- Building Believable Urban Environments
- LDtk - A modern 2D level editor.
- PureRef - PureRef is a wonderful tool to collect your visual ideas for each sequence of the map. Even if you are not a dedicated environment artist, you may find this useful. I usually gather several images to represent some visual ideas/architecture to propose for the block-in.
- Probuilder - A free Unity extension that is great for rapidly building initial 3D level geo.
- The Door Problem - A blog post teaching how to build more engaging combat encounter rooms (specifically in first person shooters).
- Ex-BioShock Dev Shares 'Welcome to Rapture' Secrets - IGN First - Review of the first level of Bioshock with designer Bill Gardner.
- One Level Design Mistake I Learned to Avoid From Playing "Mirror's Edge" - A discussion of "Runner Vision" and how Mirror's Edge suffers from disruptions of navigational flow in some levels. Avoid placing where the player needs to go "outside" their view. You could argue flow disruption can be deliberate at times, requiring the player to investigate. This doesn't work very well in high-intensity moments where player "runner vision" and panic obfuscate the way forward.
- 6 Instant Level Design Flow Tips as Seen in "Mirror's Edge" - More tips on improving level flow with examples in Mirror's Edge.
- 8 More Practical Level Design Ideas from "Mirror's Edge" - Even more level flow tips on Mirror's Edge to use in your own projects.
- A taxonomy of Weenies: the landmarks that define Ghost of Tsushima - Discussion of landmarks in Ghosts of Tsushima and approaching organic navigation in open world experiences.
- How to study a level - From The Level Design Book. There are a few case studies here (including Thief) you can learn from when creating our own level design studies.
- LevelDesignInspirationMachine
- 121 Level Design and Game Environment Location Ideas
- Amazing Architecture
- Bubble Maps - Very handy way to get an flow, goals, pacing, scope, and main ideas communicated to your team without worrying about geo architecture. It also can help quickly communicate initial design language, like knowing where certain mechanics will be employed per room.
- Creating Prototype Kits - Used to build up a library of building block, modular "primitives" to rapidly prototype room ideas.
- Norberg's Twitter - Lead LD at Starbreeze. They post a lot of helpful information. They are also working on an LD book.
-
Find the levels that you are inspired by and do a case study. You can learn a lot just by breaking down someone elses work. Are there any specific parts that stand out? What mechanics are they teaching and where? It's especially helpful if they provided developer commentary.
-
Get playtester feedback early and often. What makes sense to the LD will not always make sense to the majority of players. Catching design flow issues early is easier to correct.
-
You can't play documentation. Start blocking out your ideas. Through play-testing, you will discover what works and what doesn't.
-
Understand the difference between level design and environmental design. It's important to learn both so you can differentiate the two. Level design is worried about context of gameplay, the purpose of each room, designing from a mechanic perspective, and the overall flow between each room. Environment Design is visualization of centerpieces, how the level "looks", theming, and using props/textures/colors to differentiate rooms.
-
Level design is deeply coupled with gameplay design. You cannot have one without the other. List your mechanics and be mindful of how they are introduced and reinforced across your level.
-
Good level design guides the player naturally through their first playthrough. When we play a level once, we become biased with an existing mental map (The Curse of Knowledge). This makes it difficult to look at potential level flow problems. Keep this in mind when getting playtester feedback.
-
Nothing is set in stone. Stay loose and be willing to change your block mesh if you believe it will improve its readability or flow. Your original plan will often never represent the final product.