What are the critical ingredients for good level design?

[J T]

People often claim that they like a game's "level design", but fail to say much more than that. It's kind of a buzz word, but it catches on to one of the most important aspects of game design, so what makes for good level design in your opinion?

Also, given that good level design means something different depending on which genre we are talking about, are there any important aspects of level design that cut across genres?

[equalsign]

A good camera (whether fixed or free). I know you could really extend the argument to good controls and everything else in the game, but I just feel like the camera is such a critical partner with level design. If it's bad it can really make it feel like the challenge comes from the level and poor design working against you.

Pulling it out and zooming it in at critical moments can allow you to better appreciate the levels too. Thinking SMG here.

I also think having multiple ways to clear a level speaks to good design. Not necessarily multiple paths, but more of a "as challenging as you want it" sort of thing. I just finished playing DKCR and I thought many of those levels were designed very well. They really were built with speed runs in mind, but it is subtle. If you want you can go slowly and cautiously, taking on only one enemy and challenge at a time. But you also have the choice of flying through the levels, bouncing from enemy to enemy because they've worked out the enemy timing/placement so well.

[DinnerX]

A lack of invisible walls is good. I hate going all the way to the edge of a map just to find an invisible wall. There are so many ways to block players that would actually make since.

[MrPopo]

If at any point the player can feel the hand of the developer then I think the level design has done a bad job. In other words, if it feels like the things placed in the level are done specifically to herd you or to screw you over then it makes the player conscious of the developer.

[DinnerX]

If at any point the player can feel the hand of the developer then I think the level design has done a bad job. In other words, if it feels like the things placed in the level are done specifically to herd you or to screw you over then it makes the player conscious of the developer.

I get that feeling in a lot of new 3D platformers. In old 3D platformers I was always trying to collect the items in some fast clever way the developer didn't intend. Now, I repeatedly run into invisible walls, strangely frictionless surfaces, random objects that prevent you from making a jump, posts you aren't really able to stand on etc.

It's like they're saying "You'll play this game how I intended it to be played or you won't play it at all."

[pakopako]

I always liked levels that had a "I wonder if I could reach there" quality. Like in SMB 1-2, to walk along the ceilings. Or in Mega Man, ladders that required special weapons to reach. Or in Metroid, some of the inaccessible ledges (once reached via glitches, sadly, nothing was there except a portal in to more glitched worlds).

What was the trope called again? "Conservation of detail"? (Oh wait. Chekov's Gun.)

[J T]

As long as it's not an open world game, I actually like the developer to nudge me along a bit. I like platformers that have something to collect (stars/coins/etc) where those items are strewn about in lines that will help you connect your jumps in a way that encourages speed and flow. The Klonoa games do this really well, as does Sonic Generations. If you just keep jumping for the items, they naturally pull you towards a perfect set of lines for reaching the end of the level in no time.

I'm also a big fan of the level design in the Portal games. They take a simple concept, and run you through a series of increasingly difficult levels that teach you how to use the gameplay mechanic while simultaneously exploring just about everything that gameplay mechanic is capable of. You feel like you are breaking GlaDOS' system, but in actuality, you are always doing what the designers wanted you to do, even when you're behind the panels.

[BoringSupreez]

I'm also a big fan of the level design in the Portal games. They take a simple concept, and run you through a series of increasingly difficult levels that teach you how to use the gameplay mechanic while simultaneously exploring just about everything that gameplay mechanic is capable of. You feel like you are breaking GlaDOS' system, but in actuality, you are always doing what the designers wanted you to do, even when you're behind the panels.

I've played games where I've "gone behind the panels" and I wasn't supposed to be able to do that. It can make a bad game somewhat fun, sort of like how MST3K's dismantling of terrible movies makes them enjoyable.

[GameMasterGuy]

Kind of a vague question, what genre?

[MrPopo]

As long as it's not an open world game, I actually like the developer to nudge me along a bit. I like platformers that have something to collect (stars/coins/etc) where those items are strewn about in lines that will help you connect your jumps in a way that encourages speed and flow. The Klonoa games do this really well, as does Sonic Generations. If you just keep jumping for the items, they naturally pull you towards a perfect set of lines for reaching the end of the level in no time.

I'm also a big fan of the level design in the Portal games. They take a simple concept, and run you through a series of increasingly difficult levels that teach you how to use the gameplay mechanic while simultaneously exploring just about everything that gameplay mechanic is capable of. You feel like you are breaking GlaDOS' system, but in actuality, you are always doing what the designers wanted you to do, even when you're behind the panels.

See, I see those as properly done level design. For example, take a Sonic game. Initially you'll have a couple of sets of rings in the air that you grab. Rings are good, so you get in the habit of aiming your movement towards rings. Now that the hook is in you the level designers use the rings to pull you into the right direction. It's them subtly leading you rather than dragging you with a leash.