FAQ: How can I make my level design not suck?

I originally posted most of this in a topic a month or so ago. I'm reposting it here for the benefit of anybody who wants a few pointers on level design.

Of course, everybody is welcome to post their own tips as well.

• Use sense when scattering power-ups. If you use too many, the level will be too easy. If you use too little, the level may become overly difficult. Don't put health power-ups near the beginning of the level, it's useless. Likewise, it's useless to place a health power-up at the end of a level, unless your health carries over to the next stage.
• You don't have to measure everything out, but at least try to make things appear orderly. If you're going to group three or more enemies together in one part of the level, try to make them the same kind of enemy, otherwise it just looks like you're throwing enemies together randomly.
• Be sure to scatter secrets here and there. A nice trick to do every once in a while is to place some kind of item (especially a rare or valuable one) JUUUUST out of reach of the player initially (of course, you shouldn't make it so that the item can never be retreived -- just make it so that there's no way to get to it at first). An example of this would be in the Ghost House of SME2, towards the middle of the Light Room, where the Advance Coin is hovering just beyond Mario's reach (the only way to get the coin is to find the right door that leads to the platform next to the coin).
• Multiple paths. There are two kinds of these. The first kind is the "secret path" that is usually hidden and diverts from the normal path, and allows the player the opportunity to either skip most of the level, find power-ups, or both. The other kind is the "fork in the road" variety, in which the level splits into two clearly visable paths at some point and both lead to the same goal.
• Give your levels defination. Atmosphere should be built with more than just the backdrop -- for instance, if you have a desert level, that level should have desert-themed enemies, items, etc., rather than just being a normal grassland level with desert backgrounds.
• I'm sure you're smart enough not to make this mistake, but just in case, NO UNFAIR PIT LEVELS.
• Your first level should not be too gimmicky. The main purpose of a first level is to show the player what's in store for him throughout the rest of the game, so your first level should only have features common to most other stages.
• Don't make promises you can't keep. In other words, don't make the player think there's going to be a huge battle with BOSS A but it turns out to be a cut scene (i.e., Paper Mario World).
• There should be at least some continuity between levels. For instance, if Level 3 is a grassland level and Level 5 is on the moon, Level 4 needs to be a launch pad or rocket ship.
• You should never have a level that's flat all the way through. There should be obstacles to overcome, changes in terrain, etc.
• Don't overuse one theme, especially a gimmicky one. In fact, most level gimmicks should probably only be used once or twice per game.

This post has been edited by Captain Jeff Silvers on Jul 29 2005, 06:01 PM

-ALWAYS put energy restoration items on a route to a major boss, or better yet, a checkpoint/save point.

This post has been edited by Skull Kid on Jul 28 2005, 09:07 PM

I didn't even think of that.

Why don't the admins stick topics that are stickied (and this one) in the Vault and make a topic linking to all of them. Since there could be quite a few more stickied topics and it doesn't need to be all clustered.

This post has been edited by BlazeShad on Jul 28 2005, 09:48 PM

Because people are more likely to see them if they're in the forum they're supposed to be in.

I like this topic. Here are my tips, mostly for platformers:

-A neat (and slightly sly) way to encourage replaying of levels is to give players a glimpse of an enticing hidden area, access to which is now denied, but was avaliable earlier in the level (the player has since passed some sort of one-way barrier).

-Don't hide things in arbitary places. For example, hiding a red coin in one red tree, while leaving seven other identical trees empty. Use things like odd arrangements of blocks or coins as subtle pointers to where secret things are hidden. The exception to this are hidden 'Easter Egg' secrets which are not essential to fully completing the game. (several of Mario Sunshine's dreaded blue coins break this rule >:[ )

-Never force the player to progress my making a leap of faith. If the player has to fall down into some area, show that it's safe by letting the camera show the ground, putting some items there, or some other clue. If jumping into nothing can lead to death, this should always be the case.

-Never let the player get physically stuck in an area, forcing them to manually restart. Ideally, the player should always be able to progress somehow. At worst, (but acceptable) the player should be able to escape a hopeless situation by committing suicide (perhaps by jumping into a pit, e.g SMB and Lost Levels).

-Rewards should be proportionate to the effort the player puts in to find the secret/kill the boss/complete a tricky area. Small reward are coins, 1ups, minor powerups or shortcuts. Serious rewards are things like access to secret levels or rare or permanent powerups.

*endorse*

Also, I'm pretty sure I totally broke that last rule with SME2 (see: Room 12 )

I've been thinking of doing something like this. I'll probably try it out this weekend.

I would say... study levels that you like and try to use similar layout designs

or something