What makes games appealing? It’s the same concept that makes other forms of entertainment so popular with the mass public – the ability to provide an escape from reality into a world full of fiction, adventure, action, mystery, and thrill. To ensure that your Game is captivating and maintains the attention of your target demographic, it is important to streamline the gameplay so that each level flows smoothly into the next while providing new and exciting features as the game progresses.
This is where the Level Designer comes into play, while they are often confused with Game Designer, the roles of the two are not the same. Game Designers focus on the concept of the game as a whole, maintaining and documenting the creation of the Video Game while working on general mechanics, creating an interesting gameplay narrative, and maintaining the vision of the game on a larger scale. Level Designers on the other hand focus solely on the development and design of individual levels, they take the brief provided by the Game Designer and use it to create an interactive and unique gameplay experience for the level they are working on – focusing on aspects such as characters, action sequences, objects, and the environment to name a few.
The Level Designer has to work using the perspective of the player, mapping out all the possibilities. It is important to consider the logic and flow of actions when designing a level. They must also consider what conditions need to be met for impactful events to happen, and the challenges the player will encounter based on the general difficulty of the game.
The next question you have is probably, “What skills are required to be a good Level Designer?” Well, the main focus has to be on creativity. Players want a unique experience when they delve into a new game, this is where the Level Designer’s creativity will shine. Having a good sense of communication, general gameplay, and art are also extremely important factors that will be essential in the development process. The more technical requirements include a good knowledge of programming and physics, so if you aren’t particularly good at math then you might need to put in some extra effort!
Speaking of technical requirements, the tools for a Level Designer range from basic to complex. The design of a level can begin with something as simple as a paper and pencil, where the Level Designer can draw the concepts and ideas they have in mind for a level. Aside from this, the same can be done using 2D/3D animation software and graphics software like Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Blender, Maya and many others. The design step often intermingles with the programming process, everything from creating fictional beasts inside the gaming world to developing the process of gameplay, requires a great deal of coding with various programming languages. The most popular languages used for games are C# and C++ depending on the engines used. One other important factor is Game Engines, which can help turn the complex task of game development simple, by providing an abstraction layer, which makes a lot of big tasks look very easy, while the game engine does all the hard work in the background. While Level Designers themselves might not have to deal with Game Engines, it is still important to have the knowledge as it allows them to cater the individual levels to the software and hardware requirements defined by the Game Engine. Unity and Unreal are few of the most used game engines out there.
While the technical and graphic aspects are essential to creating a Video Game Level, that is not what defines the final outcome. What attracts players in the flow of the gameplay, and how it can hold their attention. Creating a sense of suspense and wonder is important, but to construct an unstable environment where the story or design factors are inconsistent will disrupt the flow of the game. The idea is to provide an exciting journey for the player with a set standard of difficulty, but maintain the general vision of the Level so it all comes together smoothly. It is also important to consider the parameters and target audience for the game. For example, if a game aimed at 60 year olds is solely released for PlayStation Kinect, the sales will surely be taking a hit. Aside from these basic factors, at the end of the day it will all depend on how well the story, characters, and environments are constructed. If it is a fantasy, then what new monsters or weapons have been revealed in the level, if it is a mystery then what clue or suspense has left the player dumbfounded, maybe it is an action thriller where the player has to scale a building and fight the bad guys on the roof. How does the Level integrate into the one before it, and how will it build up to Level ahead of it. These are all things that a Level Designer has to be responsible for.
If your game has been a hit and you want to extend it into more levels, or if you want an outsider’s perspective into a new level, or even if you are simply on a time crunch, a very cost-effective way to achieve this is through outsourcing the level designing to external companies like GameCloud Technologies Private Limited. The idea is to enjoy quality work on a flexible schedule, with a cost-cutting method where the payment is based on every milestone achieved. This also allows Game Developers to take the backseat but still be included in the process of the development of each Level.
To put it simply, a Level Designer is an essential member in the development of a Video Game. A Video Game won’t succeed if only one part is what attracts players, it’s a package deal, and a Level Designer ensures that each Level is a unique experience that brings the game together in the end.
