Abstract:

The role of the level designer is indispensable in video game development. Designing a level is creating the space where players interact with the game mechanics. Every genre of video games requires level design in some capacity.

In this paper, I present an example of how to design an introductory university-level course in level design. The course outline I provide here is the outcome of my experience teaching the level design course 19 times. This paper is designed for instructors that plan to write their own introductory level design courses.

Level design is an extremely broad discipline, encompassing the design of games across a multitude of genres. The first key to a successful introductory course in level design is to define an appropriate scope. One valid approach involves crafting a course that focuses on introductory material for a specific game genre, such as first-person shooters or 2D platformers. However, I did not adopt this approach. When designing this course, I chose to take a more comprehensive and high-level approach, covering topics applicable to a wide range of game genres. I made this decision because, at the time I was developing the course, it was the only level design course that would be offered in the major. Subsequently, additional level design courses were developed, positioning this one as the inaugural course in a sequence. As a result, some of the topics in the introductory course underwent modifications. So it is important to consider, when developing an introductory level design course, whether the course will function as a standalone offering or if there will be downstream courses that will build upon the foundation established in the introductory course.

To provide plenty of hands-on learning opportunities, I chose a project-based teaching approach. Throughout the course, students worked through a sequence of level creation assignments. While I specified a game genre for some of these assignments, I did not mandate the use of particular level creation software tools, such as Unreal Engine, or the Skyrim Creation Kit. Given the diversity of available tools, I was not personally familiar with all the tools students chose to use. Therefore, I was not always able to help the students when they had problems with the tools. I refrained from delivering lectures on tool operation. Instead, the majority of course lectures focused on theory. My emphasis was on the theory of what makes a good level, information that would apply to any tool used. However, this did require the students to be proactive with their own learning; they were responsible for acquiring software tool-related knowledge from external sources.

This paper presents a week-by-week breakdown of the course topics and the rationale behind their selection. It also elucidates project assignments and grading considerations. Course topics include: the level design process, techniques to guide the player through the level, teaching the player game mechanics through level interaction, 2D platformer game level design, level flow, narrative pacing, environmental storytelling, first person shooter level design, generic game engine basics, lighting, modular level design, procedural level design, influences of real-world architecture in video game levels, metrics and analytics.

The principles and resources outlined in this paper offer a framework that can be adapted for the creation of introductory level design courses by other instructors.

Keywords:

Level Design, Video Games, Game Development, Game Design, Pedagogy, Teaching, Course Writing.