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Levels For computer games, level duration should be fairly short, 15-
minute spurts for children, to approximately two hours of continuous
• Level Design: Level design is defined as the creation of environments, concentration for hardcore gamers. Console game levels usually
scenarios, or missions in an electronic game. A game developer should run for about 45 minutes. If you’d prefer to develop a game with
consider what function the level fulfills in the game. The level could much longer sessions, make sure you provide milestones of
introduce a new character or object, focus on a plot point (such as achievement, such as advancement or task completion, on a
discovering a secret or preventing an attack), or create a mood through regular basis.
visuals or a storyline. The level’s function should center around an idea o Availability: You need to consider the various gameplay goals in
that becomes a unifying theme. the game and ensure that each level covers one primary goal. If you
• Structure: Levels can be used to structure a game into effective were to allow only one level to be available at a time, this would
subdivisions, organize progression, and enhance gameplay. When work for games that require first-person immersion. If you were to
designing levels, consider their goal, flow, duration, availability, allow only a small number of open levels at a time, this could
relationships, and difficulty. alleviate frustration for many role-playing game (RPG) players, who
o Objectives: Each level should have a set of objectives that the might have several quests to fulfill and need to shift their focus. If
player understands. Sometimes developers ensure that players you were to allow many open levels at a time, many players might
understand the objectives for each level by creating a briefing in the become confused—but these levels would work well in process
form of a cut-scene or interactive tutorial at the beginning of each sims and RTS games.
level and by providing access to a status screen during the course o Relationship: This answers the question: "What are the
of the game. The players might also be immediately thrown into the relationships between levels in the game?". Think of each level as
game’s action, engaging in tasks that are easy to solve and a scene or even an episode within a larger story. Levels in puzzle
situations that immediately illustrate the rules of the game in the games are often related only through some increase in difficulty.
context of the game’s environment. Some levels are related through storylines—like traditional media
o Flow: There are two things that the game developer should address such as television. In this episodic relationship, each level is self-
while designing a level. contained, with its own internal plotline and conclusion.
1. You want to make sure that a player stays in a particular area o Progression: This answers the question: "How do you pace the
of a level until he has accomplished the necessary objectives. game’s progression through level design?". You want to make sure
For example, in open-world levels, there are no existing barriers that a game’s difficulty slowly increases as it continues. Also, make
to the player’s movements. A player can then run past sure that each level builds conflict in a series of arcs. Vary the pace
opponents rather than engage them in battle (which is of your levels—allowing the player to alternately struggle to stay
sometimes a strategy in itself). This problem can be solved by alive, systematically explore the environment, and reflectively solve
creating natural barriers that are destroyed as a by-product of challenging puzzles. Always keep the player occupied with things
the player’s progress in the level. to do. Challenge is a good thing, but do not make your levels so
2. You also want to prevent the player from returning to a difficult that only experts can survive while other players die again
particular area once the objectives associated with that area and again.
have been met. A method for doing this is to close off the area • Time: Time can also be thought of with respect to real-world time.
after the player has completed it (creating a one-way barrier, “Game time” can move slower, faster, or not any differently from real-
such as a door that locks after the player walks through it), world time. In many turn-based and action games, there is no concept
which lets the player know that he is making progress. of time passing at all. Everything idles or runs in a continuous loop until
o Duration: This answers the question: “How much time should be the player interacts with it in some way.
spent on each level?”. One universal rule seems to be that a player o Authentic: Some games try to portray time authentically and use
must complete at least one level of any game in a single session. the passage of time as a gameplay characteristic. The cartridge for

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Boktai, developed for the Game Boy Advance, contains a sensor ability to view different parts of the game world and can take actions
that detects the amount of light where the game is being played. in many different locations of the world (even if parts are hidden at
The object of the game is to drag vampires out of the darkness into times). The omnipresent perspective allows players to look down at
the sunlight. The game must be played outside during the day, and the game world from above.
weak sunlight negatively affects your character’s energy level. You o Aerial (Top-Down): The aerial (or top-down) perspective shows the
must enter the correct time of day to configure the game before player the game as seen from above—a bird’s-eye view.
playing. o Isometric: In the isometric perspective, the player can look slightly
o Limited: Time is sometimes implemented as a part of the setting of across the landscape at a 30- to a 45-degree angle. In an isometric
the game but not of the gameplay itself. Time creates an world, you can create many different angles of objects and then
atmosphere and provides some variety, but it does not alter place those objects on the screen. This allows you to create
gameplay. Game time can feel artificial because players can do the reusable objects rather than having to render them in real-time. This
same things at night that they can do in the daytime. However, there perspective also makes the player feel closer and more involved
are a few games in which time is meaningful. Sometimes a player with events than a top-down or aerial view.
is put under pressure by being given a limited amount of real-world o Side-Scrolling (or Flat/Side View): In 2D space, characters can
time to accomplish something. Example: In FarmVille, where a few run only from left to right or jump up and down. They cannot run
hours can mean the difference between a bountiful harvest and a toward the player or away from the player. Working around these
field of wilted crops. limitations, classic 2D arcade games used side-scrolling navigation
o Player-Adjusted: In many sports games, players may modify the to create the illusion of space. The player character would travel
time associated with game levels. Players can sometimes play from left to right horizontally across the screen as the background
shorter (5–10 minute) quarters instead of the standard 15-minute moved from right to left. In a technique known as parallax scrolling,
quarters in a football game. It is important to provide time options to the camera moves vertically or horizontally, with different layers
players when possible. Many players do not want to devote a whole moving at different speeds—which gives the feeling of depth.
hour to play a simulated football game. o Terrain & Materials: Environmental materials—such as metal,
o Altered: Several games incorporate altered time as an effect. Max glass, sand, gravel, sky, and clouds—directly influence the look and
Payne was the first game to use bullet time—the technique of going feel of the game. A shading model defines how materials behave
into slow motion while retaining the ability to move the camera’s when they are lit. It combines the attributes of each material—such
viewpoint at normal speed. (This technique was introduced in the as texture, color, shininess, and translucency—with the attributes
film, The Matrix—and it was later used in games based on the of light sources, including color and direction. Terrain refers to
franchise.) This same effect is seen in some action movies where textures that appear on ground surfaces—such as dirt, grass, tile,
the main character has the power to stop time during the game so and pavement.
that he can avoid being defeated by opponents. o Radiosity & Effects: Radiosity or lighting is just one effect that is
• Space: Space incorporates the physical environment of the game— used on game environments. Without the proper application of
including its perspective, scale, boundaries, structures, terrain, objects, radiosity, players will not be able to navigate through the game
and style (color, texture, look, and feel). environment— nor will they be able to see and interact with details
o Camera & Perspective: Camera systems are used in video games that might determine whether they can progress through the game.
where their purpose is to show the action at the best possible angle; Radiosity can also be used to give the effect of reflection (on water,
more generally, they are used in 3D virtual worlds when a third glass, and other elements). Other environmental game effects
person point-of-view (POV) is required. POV is related to the include climate (rain, snow, lightning) and other natural movements
perspective of the game world—or how the player views the game (waves, wind, flotation) created through animation.
environment. o Scale: The scale of the game space includes the total size of
o Omnipresent: In the omnipresent perspective, the player has the physical space and relative sizes of the objects in the game. Since

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simulation games try to emulate reality, the space and objects
within this genre should be scaled to relative size.
o Realism: Actual photographic and land-height data is used to
create a realistic model for most flight simulators. Consider how
much detail you want to include in your game. As you add detail,
you often must subtract speed and efficiency. Many simulation
games attempt to model the real world—and players often rely on
real-world common sense when playing them. But all games
represent some abstraction and simplification of the real world.
o Style: The style of the game world influences everything from the
character, interface, manual, and packaging. There are two main
style forms that need to work together in the game: the style of the
objects in the world, and the style of the artwork that will depict the
world. For example, the neighborhood in the game could consist of
Spanish-style homes, while the style of the art could be anime. As
long as each style is consistently used for its purpose throughout
the game, it will not detract from the gameplay.
Many styles have been overused in games. Do not borrow a style
or setting from another game, but instead try something new. Forget
the same old villains and environments. Think about the emotion
you would like the world to bring out in the player: awe, fear,
excitement, amusement? This will help you formulate your style.

References:
Buttfield-Addison, P., Manning, J., & Nugent, T. (2019). Unity game development cookbook.
Sebastopol: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Novak, J. (2012). Game development essentials: An introduction (3rd ed.). New York: Delmar,
Cengage Learning.

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