Level Design

After several programming lessons, it is time to return to design. With alpha release around the corner, we need to talk about how we do proper level design.

NOTE: Due to GDC this week, this lecture is replaced by a video. Click on the video link below to watch the lecture. Class time will consist of open office hours.

The challenge with level design is that it is specific to your individual game mechanics. You need to discover design patterns that work for your mechanics. But once you have those design patterns, level design is not that challenging, as we show in this lecture.

To complement this lecture, we recommend the following reading and/or viewing:

Reverse Design: Super Mario World (Optional)
No Twinkie For You (Bad Design) (Optional)

March 18, 2024

slides

no demos