The Hows and Whys Of Level Design

by Sjoerd de Jong

This book covers both the visual and artistic side as well as the gameplay aspect of level design. Don’t expect any technical how-to tutorials in this book, this book is about the "why". Rather than writing yet another tutorial/book about how to create a virtual room this book is about how to make that room look cool and play well. Expect tips and techniques as well as explanations of the logic and reasoning behind art and design decisions. How does the gameplay in a level work? What’s the reason this kind of architecture gives this kind of feeling or looks better in situation A or B? Why does this color combination work so well? What kind of floorplan can I best use to improve gameplay and why? What type of sound setup should I use? The book is well illustrated and offers many examples with pictures, nearly 120 to be exact. The book is intended to be universal.

Genres: Game Design

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Reviews

[Eddie Duggan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really good book about level design: while many books with the words with "level design" in the title seem to fill page after page with a lot of generalised waffle (sometimes after a couple of chapters of "historical context" to get the page count up), De Jong really gets stuck in and offers examples to illustrate the points he discusses in the text. There are lots of screenshots as well. I like the way level design is discussed using specific examples, and I also like the way the empahsis here is on unified, coherent, design.

There are some bits that I didn't like so much, but for anyone seeking a useful book on the design aspects of level design applicable to creating levels for a 3D first person shooter, they won't go wrong with this, whether they are new to level design or have some experience.

It has nothing to say on 3D modelling, texturing or game engines: it doesn't tell you how to make a model in 3DS Max, it doesn't tell you how to create a texture in Photoshop and it doesn't tell you how to build a level in a game engine--for that kind of information you'll need to go elsewhere--but it does tell you what to think about when designing a level.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

While a bit outdated, this is a very useful level design text that provides helpful guidelines for all aspects of creating great levels and illuminates how level creation at professional studios transitioned from a one-person job to a multi-team effort. It's really a shame there aren't more books like this that don't tell you how to use a specific engine or mod for a specific game but instead focus entirely on the craft and study of level design as a discipline and art unto itself. I'll mainly take away the author's emphasis on composition, harmony, and balance in all parts of a level. Designers sometimes forget that great visuals enhance gameplay in a lot of ways, and this book was a helpful reminder to work more on visuals in my own maps. I would definitely recommend this book for a beginner or intermediate designer, but experts will probably have a handle on all the topics covered already.

[Angelino Desmet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Must read for beginning level designers.