Hey all, I recently put together a team for a game we are all working on and it became painfully obvious to me that I can't fill in for every role that is missing. I originally thought I would do the level design on top of the rest of the work I do already, but I underestimated the difficulty of the work and overestimated the amount of time I would have to dedicate to it.

So my question is, where is the best place to look for new or inexperienced level designers? As my team is made up of people who are doing this on the side as a hobby in hopes of launching the game one day. We would rather someone who is familiar with level design, but is also kind of just starting off as well. No one is getting paid unless the game is published, so this really would be a hobby more than a job.

Anyway, sorry for the rambling.

Edit: Our game is called Year of the Wolf and it is a metrovania type action adventure game.

I'm currently learning the craft, and started wondering what tools/workflow other people use. I believe it was Steve Lee to say in one of his videos that level design is a niche without a proper dedicated tool to this craft.

So, how do you approach level design?

Me personally, I use Unity and its built-in features, ProBuilder and a bunch of assets from the asset store. All combined, they cover practically everything I need, except for advanced 3D models, for which I'll need to learn Blender.

I'd love to know whether someone had experience with the same set I have, and perhaps your thoughts on whether it's good enough, or why you switched from it.
Alternatively, I'd love to know about other approaches, maybe flaws you face, or any tips your have:)

Have you ever wondered what is a strategy that companies like Playrix in Homescapes/Gardenscapes or Dream Games in Royal Match use to release their levels? The games I mentioned have well over 10k levels, what does it take to release so many levels and keep the players engaged? I heard that Playrix redesigns their levels in a way that they change the way the board looks. What makes them do that, difficulty tweaking or...? What kind of strategy do they use when releasing so many levels?

You have to get the green square to the top of the black zone by placing down the pentominoes(coloured ones), the brown squares are squares that start in the position and cannot be moved. The green square can only move through 1 wide pathways with no forks because of the story. I suck at level design how to make them better

Sorry if this is a stupid question. Is there a free/open source site/software/app/tool to draw in detail a map for your level? I have the level in mind but I think It would be better if I could draw it to have more clarity on what I'm going to do. To trasform the vague idea of the level from my mind to a first draft that I can see from up top and work on "on paper" before doing It in engine. I don't know if I made myself clear, I'm not great at expressing myself 😅

Basically the title, what kind of concept art(s) would make your lives easier or smoother / more fun lol. For a God of War / Cyberpunk type mechanic game ? Working on my portfolio rn. Wanting to choosen shots. Any help would be appreciated.

Level breakdown: https://youtu.be/c5jjWLl9WAQ

https://reddit.com/link/1hpu24x/video/c3kcv823u0ae1/player

By “chugging” I meant slowdown/lag. I heard SRB2 already lags like crazy on the fan-made SRB2 Switch port in later areas, heck, even the 32X port right now removed slopes entirely and made huge level design changes.

Huge level design that the Saturn wouldn’t be able to handle isn’t the only issue, we all know that game’s DOOM engine hates the idea of loop-de-loops, which mind you, even Sonic X-Treme showcased in it’s trailers, though that felt kind of automatic at the time, kinda what fake SRB2 loop-de-loops did aswell, completely automatic.

Though what I do like about SRB2 is it’s use of slopes in 2.2, but that STILL isn’t used that often, so you are mostly met with generic platformer design and typical gameplay with occasional Sonic cues, whilst the Classic Sonic Games, 24/7, had you dealing with either constant fast speeds/trying to manage it, or dealing with constant gimmicks/shenanigans (like the flowing water in Hydrocity, or the MANY things to do and avoid in Marble Zone.)

If you had a SRB2 level translated into 2D, expect exploring flat land at first, jumping onto multiple flat platforms, all this being in a mostly linear format, with the occasional “gimmick” every few minutes, and if you are finally lucky, A SLOPE! YIPPEE! Only for it to end fast as hell.

Even if we did get a Saturn Sonic game where the devs actually locked in like SRB2, it would instead be under a new engine and have none of the flaws mentioned above.

One of the things I struggle with while doing levels for my game is level design. It is easily the thing I find most difficult.

One aspect that really gets me is the order of the levels I create. I'm not going to know the desired difficulty of level 4, if I only have done level 1. If I did levels 1, 2, and 3, then I can "feel" what the difficulty curve is like and have a good idea of what will suit for level 4.

The downside to this is that sometimes I get what may be a good idea for a later level but it's so far down in the game that I have no idea that it'll actually work once all prior levels are in place.

What's the usual way to go about this? Do people just make levels willy nilly and slap them in where they feel is suitable? Do they do it linearly like I've been doing?

I feel like I chase my tail more than necessary and also overthink it at the same time :D

Hi!
I work as Game Environment artist for 5 years at Tencent.
Things getting really boring specially since last 2 years as I have been assigned to prop creation only.
or sometimes buggy in-house engine from 90s

In my free time I do make games using Unity C# and have some knowledge on Unreal Blueprint as well.

I saw some Udemy courses's intro, felt very basic.

Any recommended guide/Youtuber to follow or suggestion?

I am wanting to work on another project, but I am awful when it comes to designing worlds/levels for games. I have a lot of really good assets to use, but I have no idea how to actually make something nice with them. Are there any books or something that you'd recommend for somebody like me (more of a programmer) to learn basic level-design?

Greetings,

To set the stage, I am from a non-game design background (architecture student). I am planning on pursuing a Masters course in game design, specifically in the track of level design, and I've started the process of getting work for my portfolio ready. Just wanted to know how much work and what are usually expected in these.

So far I have documented two levels, (brief>sketch>flowchart>rough 2D>detailed 2D>3D block out> 3D space with assets + AI for combat) one in Unity (a Fallout/Cyberpunk 2077 inspired FPS level, 8–15 mins of gameplay) and one in Unreal Engine 5 (an MGS/Halo inspired TPS level 15–20 mins of gameplay) and I am planning on recreating a level for an RPG from the DnD campaign I wrote, (fully played out with friends and recorded, first few eps edited released on YT, The Ash of Sidion Saga), which I will be making within the Solasta Dungeon Maker.

I'm not sure if this is enough or if I'm doing enough, and if you had any advice you would give to someone applying for a course, anything would be greatly appreciated.

TLDR; Advice on portfolio for a Masters course in Level Design for a non game design student.

I know I might sound desperate, but I’m truly passionate about what I do. Recently, I started a TikTok account to showcase my skills in level design. I understand it’s a big ask, especially with only a few videos so far, but gaining followers would really help me get my work noticed. It would mean the world to me as it could improve my chances of finding a job, advancing my career in this field or at least it would motivate me to keep on going. Thank you for any support you can offer!

Insta: void_405 TikTok: void.sam405

Let’s start with the basics: what exactly is Reward and Denial, and what is its purpose?

This technique is used to enhance the player's experience of moving through a space designed by a level designer. The designer essentially teases the player with a reward or goal, then leads them along a path where the reward is temporarily out of view, only to eventually bring them to the desired objective. At the end, the player is rewarded for their journey and, ideally, gets to see the starting point of the path where the technique was introduced. (In smaller-scale applications of this technique, as in the example below, it's considered good form to provide a shortcut back to the starting point.)

https://reddit.com/link/1h4qusk/video/o5lrixbtge4e1/player

Now, let’s look at an example from the very beginning of the game - don’t worry, no spoilers here! The location: the Arlathan Forest.

1. As we follow the path, we see a bright, large chest appear in the distance, framed by the rocky landscape
2. Looking around beneath the chest, we realize there’s no way to climb up to it from here.
3. Continuing forward, we see the main path leading us along the story, but off to the side, we spot a signifier (a visual indicator) for climbing. (Let me know if you’d like to read more about signifiers!)
4. We climb up and, along the way, find several lootable objects. Breaking them rewards us with in-game resources and currency in small amounts.
5. We navigate the "funnel" to finally reach the desired reward! We grab the loot, feel smart and accomplished, and maybe even a little smug!
6. We take a shortcut back down to the starting point where the technique began.

And there you have it - a neat and effective level design technique! Where else have you noticed something like this? Let me know in the comments!

Here’s a little puzzle for you: what happens if you scale this technique up significantly? Imagine the reward is far more valuable, the path to it much longer, and the challenges along the way much tougher.

Tiny spoiler: there’s a twist to the question!

Thank you for reading!

Hello looking for level designers proficient with assets like Kitbash Cargo/ Quixel Megascans to help finish level design for our indie project. Our game is looking to be released by January and will be a combination of Dark Souls/ Only up.

Send me a message if your interested in helping and communication. We will be moving straight onto another project after this so future work for the right person is avaliable>