8 Common Problems with Level Layouts / Blockouts

00:00 - Intro
00:12 - Too big
00:49 - Too symmetrical
01:42 - Too flat
02:08 - Too open
03:45 - Too linear
04:27 - Too samey
04:54 - Too generic
05:29 - Desperate begging

#leveldesign #gamedev

[stevelee_gamedev]

Did I miss anything out? What kind of challenges do you have when it comes to designing good level layouts?

[vinnmarty]

It's funny how true the "too big" bulletpoint is. As someone who's having his first professional experience with level design for a project at work, initially I was doing the level blockouts on a separate project from the actual game we're working on, and as soon as I got access to the actual project and started moving things over, I realized my maps were huge and I shrunk everything by like 50%, if not more!

[aminmontaze]

LD community need contents like this to speed up their learning progress and put time more on meaningful and more polish stuff in their layout.
Thanks for it Steve, keep it up 👍🏼❤

[RickHenderson]

A really great video. I’m working on a small project that started as “open world”, but even I get lost and get bored running from one section to another. The point about verticality really hit me when I started playing Uncharted recently. The level design is great (imho) and so different from me just trying to make reasonable hills and land that isn’t too flat. The point of having blocked areas where the layer doesn’t need to go but the environment still “looks” open is crucial. I came up on the hidden problem when laying out a starting area where I want the player to walk through a canyon before they see the cool building… so I had to move the building 😂

[BlueJeebs]

This channel is one of the most underrated I've seen this year so far. Watched the 3 part level design guide, great breakdown and iterative process! The more mistakes are discussed, the more ways one can improve.

[NZMPlays]

Awesome stuff, I am designing my first attempt at a game currently and I absolutely love discussion of these topics. I subscribed to support because Im glad to find more people talking about designing games! Nice to meet you!

[JohansLundgren]

Never change your pronunciation of the word linear!

[timdoesleveldesign]

Each of these topics could be a great basis for a video of their own with some examples from other games and a showcase of you fixing the issue in a blockout example!

Also thanks for yet another wonderful and informative video :)

[spacetowastee]

Unbelievably insightful. Thank you for this high effort

[dominikdalek]

I feel like for every game that's open, samey, and empty, there's another one that's claustrophobic, cluttered, and chaotic. Balance is hard.

[rwieqdg]

My professor recommended your channel to us last quarter. Your channel is so good!

[gukiopkip]

YT just recommended your video and it's been really useful and helpful to me, some of the tips were new for me and I'll surely take them into my account for the future. My main problem is the urge to build up "too big" spaces, I already knew about this problem before, because of how demanding and stretching it is to fill up, elaborate, test, etc just for one big room. Even though in some of my maps I've managed to build up and elaborate on my desired enormous spaces, I'd still prefer to shrink them down by 50% at least from their original size, but I guess it's still experience and challanges after all. Anyway, Thank you so much for your succinct, but really helpful video for level design!

[cardo]

Enjoyed the video Steve! I thought you were going to touch on it a couple of times but I’d say, the use of contrasting scale is a very powerful tool. For example, taking the player through a tight enclosed space before emerging out into a large open area to really emphasise the difference in scale and the feel of an area.

[Calixj]

This video was EXCELLENT, simply EXCELLENT...!!! This is exactly what I've been asking you to do in a lot of my questions. Tell us what to do and how to do it and what not to do, just like you did here. This was a fantastic guide to helping us design better levels. Some of the things you put forth here are so important, but often overlooked, that this is what makes your channel so useful to aspiring level developers or game developers THANK YOU!!!! Keep more of this coming.

[Nipah.Auauau]

The issues of "Too Big" and "Too Open" became really obvious to me when going from Hotline Miami 1 to 2. For whatever reason the levels went from expertly crafted puzzle boxes to baby's first CS map.

[SaltyKoalaBear]

You may have the best level design philosophy videos on YouTube. This is coming from a 15 year hobbyist level designer for Halo games. Steve what would is cost to get you in on a level design talk podcast/interview?

[Neox]

I did notice that the first version of a blockout tends to be a bit too big. For myself it's usually not realizing how big everything actually is even when using a reference model.

[Nyllsor]

Great resource! :) Also really like ur style of the vids, like the positive video examples of how its done Right.. and thats a cool way to say 'linear';)

[yadav-r]

Very Insightful, yes I made all those mistakes. Thank you for sharing your experience.

[TorQueMoD]

Great video Steve. Thanks for sharing your tips :)