5 TIPS for Designing Better Maps & Levels | Game Development Tutorial HOW TO

Are you a game designer, struggling to improve your map/level creation skills? Wanna know how to make better maps? BenderWaffles is here to give you his top 5 tips for designing better maps and levels.

No matter what genre of game you are making, you’ll have to make maps. I mean, unless you are making a text adventure, in which case I have no idea why you are watching this video…Whatever, you do you.

Enough people have asked me for my advice on map making so I figured I would help you all out by giving you my top tips for creating great maps.

So I could go on and on for hours on this topic, but these are a few of my top pieces of advice for map makers and level designers. If you want to see more videos like this, toss this video a like and comment down below, I’d love to hear from ya.

Don’t forget to subscribe guys and have a good one!

Twitter: @BenderWaffles

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[BenderWaffles]

Obviously don't go outside right now. Wait until this all blows over. And wash your hands.

[EmyGrachy]

tips 6: get a pc that can actually run your designed map. i designed a map with multiple biomes and stuff, but then because my pc is potato, it is now just a massive snowy mountain.

[HealyHQ]

Regarding the mistake in the first 20 seconds: text adventures (of the parser kind) definitely have maps, which are also usually designed/mocked up on paper first before the areas and their contents are written into the game.

[thekingslayer]

I will DEFINITELY use this...
In Mario Maker.

[znty]

i been making a Farm Sim 19 map for 1 year now, i restarted the project multiple times, every time a better map, with more details and content.
It's a map that tries to represent the center - north of my country, Uruguay, it mostly based in the rice farms that are here, i started without knowing nothing, and now, the map is looking like real life, every day is getting better with new content even to the game.
it's a 64km2 map and with your tips it will improve a lot more!.
btw it's the first map about my country for the game, hope one day i release it!.

[lukelader]

" Go outside "
Me as an introvert : here we go again.

[Jonaelize]

I think, this would even be better with some level design examples. Maybe a more step by step mapping tutorial?

[corytinsley]

Kinda glad this video popped up. I needed these little tips for school. It is crazy how you don't think about the little details when designing

[sosasees]

i think that it's wrong that you don't need to make maps for text adventures.i think oyu need to make maps especially for text adventures.

[hambeet]

Bender: Go outside
Me: *Laughs in quarantine*

[smolspaghettorium]

I can appreciate the short video. I'd add the following from the top of my head:
* have chill and intense zones with reward in mind (fighting / protected zones) so players can go between them and have that relief feeling when they are safe, for example you could have a big treasure chest in an area where a boss is, to reach the boss you need to fight some enemies that get stronger and stronger, after you loot the chest the enemies shouldn't respawn on you
* make point of interest locations visible from afar, somewhere in the distant, blurred if possible (the mountain you must pass through, a tower with the end boss, the doomed castle up on the biggest hill you can make, or have stuff happening deeper and deeper in a valley from which the player can see as he starts on the top of a mountain)
* have path guiding elements: signs, roads, torches lighting the way - the player is more likely to follow these than wander around aimlessly, and if he does, add thick forest and brush to deter him
-- JeFawk

[e.c]

I ended up here because I want to learn how to level design landscapes with an emphasis on a topological but logistically sound routing through it. A lot of openest world type games have redundant dead space in them that can technically serve as travel wastes, but I want to sort of avoid that unless it's becoming of the set pieced area/environment, and not have it be a transitive property for the whole world I want to build. Your first point I feel is the strongest towards that, because my imaged memory of certain places I have experienced have certainly inspired me a great deal in idealizing the vertical harmony I want to achieve. Not to say I haven't seen this in a game before, but it is exceptionally rare to find, and is usually through layers of abstraction such as a mod, or fanmade level, stuff like that. Older games that have to use simple geometry in order to -fill- feel* large and grand are the highest volume of success in that category, so I am finding it hopeful I can probably both get into this, and perhaps even stick with it.

[Eltro]

I was expecting some examples of tiled maps (whether it'd be platformers or adventure games with a topdown view) and the reasoning behind their design (usually in a show-don't-tell way). Out of the 5 tips, I found 3 of them a little vague. I liked the tip of using real world references and making it as non-linear as possible though.

[blizzard]

YOU ARE SO u make my head go boom with good game design ideas thank you!

[mantacid]

All of these tips are things my art mentor has told me. It’s nice to be Able to draw parallels between the two disciplines.

[orangeTadpole]

Another tip is to have people test play your levels. Hand them the controller and ask them to verbalize their thoughts. Only explain the basic controls. Don’t tell them anything while they play. Observe their behavior in the level and take notes.

[Xocrona]

Ty bro, I was kindda stuck since I got sick and really loss the rythm, but this for sure helped

[arjanpelle]

dude, your tutorials rock. Really, really helpful in getting started and actually inspiring to get started at times.

[h-man]

I am making a lab map so since you told me to go outside to get ideas for the map, I'll break into area 51 to learn how laps are structured.

[HeroicHarishOfficial]

that's a great inspiration to me! thanks a lot! you earned a sub!