What makes good level design?, Please tell me.

I am making a fan game using a modded Hello engine (don't be mad- I changed some gfx and added stuffs) and I was wondering what makes good level design, seeing as I'm not that good at the level design. Please help and give level design ideas, levels, and suggestions if you can.

This topic should help:
http://archive.mfgg.net/index.php?showtopic=61423

Try and make you areas uneven, possibly backing up on themselves. A good level requires going back occasionally because you did something going forward.

May I ask the same thing about doing 3d levels.

good level design keeps the player interested. don't just make a flat plane, add things that require the player to think before he continues!

Here are a few guidelines I try to follow when I make levels:

DO NOT MAKE IT SO THAT THE PLAYER CONSTANTLY GOES RIGHT, add platforms above and below the player, secret passages, tunnels, moving platforms, pipes, ANYTHING that require the player to turn around and actually wind his way through the level, instead of constantly moving to the right. A great way to enforce this: place the exit in a location that you normally wouldn't put it, then build the level so the exit works.

DO NOT DO THE OBVIOUS. people have seen moving platforms, people have seen enemies that you can jump on, people have seen exit flags before. the best levels are the ones that completely throw everything standard out the window.

TEST TEST TEST. a level with good design MUST be playtested constantly. when testing, make sure to do things that normal players wouldn't do, go out of your way to exploit your level. a good level is a level without any holes or mistakes that the player can use to his advantage.


I hope this helps

consider yourself lucky you caught me in a good mood today otherwise I wouldn't have written this >:C

play level 6-5 of smb3 to get an idea of the levels you should throw in every once in a while

EDIT: and just about all of world 7 gives you some "what the ****" type gimmicks, like having to wrap between the sides of the screen or complete the whole level under star power

This post has been edited by Xgoff on May 28 2009, 06:31 PM

awww yeah world 7 was great

thanks
when I first played 6-5 it was a real pain in the ass but now when I look at it, there's good level design right there.

And world 7 is great maze design.

something that isn't linear, looks good and catches the spirit

Hello I'm Rockerfrick and I'm new to this forum.

For me, a good level design is not bombarded by enemies and it is not overcrowded. A good space for stomping enemies and looks good in the eye.

And some perks though - I suggest that every level must have a certain fun stuff - weird-moving platforms, new type of blocks etc. (I was bored in SMB3 because it was all the same, almost)

Don't bump this far in future.