Struggling to practice level design? This is why.

I agree with you 100% that it's so hard to get into level designing roles these days, studios want people with AAA experiences with shipped games that they can play the levels you made, but there just isn't any good level editor tools out there for making portfolios for people to just get their foot in the door. I remember doing my first level design with pen and paper back when I was grade 4. It was when Super Mario Bros and side-scrolling arcade games was a thing. I love drawing levels but there was no Mario Maker back then. Growing up as a CRPG fan, FPS simply gave me a headache and makes me nauseated so I completely missed out the golden age of the Doom level editor. Neverwinter Night editor was the one that really drove me into planning and designing an actual game level. I also love to use RPG Maker to do JRPG game levels even though I don't think anyone would use those as show pieces in their portfolio, especially not towards the AAA studios as it looks too "amateur".

At my university, we made a level with Post-it notes on a whiteboard. Then one of us in the group had the job to transform the level into something playable in Mario Maker.

3D artist here-
I mistakenly saw blocktober as a level blockout challenge from an art / greyboxing perspective.
I realized that I wanted to make an interesting player controller way too late and ended up burning out and stopping blocktober pretty early. (Realizing that I couldn't work on levels that would be playable without a somewhat refined movement set was ... silly of me) But I'm planning on taking a better approach next year and coming more prepared. I appreciate hearing more people's thoughts on the challenge and I'll definitely post more videos next time around!!

I’m using Fortnite creative, does this count?.

When you allude to writing/drawing being "easier", I'd disagree but perhaps the word you're looking for is "straughtforward", in that it's easier to tell if something is good. With level design, the untrained eye/ear/mind may not immediately be able to tell if a game level is good. Perhaps that?

Interesting to see someone talking about LD. It's funny how I got a hobby as LD and never get a real job from it. 😂 I agree that LD is difference on every type of game and you need to know in advance of that genre. I'm working in a LD team that focus on RTS ladder & tournament mappool. When I try explain it to other people, they seem struggle like why would they need this career position in their team. I'm struggle to find a path of like where I should go, there aren't that many game that goes to the level of esport/competitive scene either. Which mean that it's even harder to find a job relate to this.+as you know RTS is dead to most community outside. I look forward to FPS scene for a while now, just to get an idea, but most of them say that u need to be good at modeling which is suck for me as a data analysis level design. Bruh, I also does has a experinece with single player game - (rpg, platformer, turn base, horror) but yea I still doesn't get a job since no one want a level design. Almost end up as a Programmer now. I hope I has a way out of this loop :/
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Anyway I got into LD because there was a LD contest just to showcase the idea and the game flow. I got like third from below, got invite into a team because they like my creative idea. I'm lucky that this is actually a LD team, I actually spent like a year to prove myself and finally my work got present into the pro scene. I never stop drawing a layout after that, I got into layout analysis deeper and deeper and just like that somehow I end up so far in the responsible position for ladder mappool. I don't think that u are weird cause I also start drawing and design like 15 years ago as well, even though I never really get paid from it. I hope that one day I will earn money from this job. The one I love 🥹. Thx to u, I think I know now that what do I need to do when I got my next chance.

I am very grateful that 4a games made an SDK for metro exodus.

Otherwise thank you for the video. It gave me a few helpful ideas

I am making maps in fortnite creative/uefn do you think i could aply with those levels? And my second question is if the engine of big companies are more complecated to design the levels than in fortnite creative? Am not too sure how i can start level design i have no good pc to test stuff with

So since it’s so hard to even get to make a level with out a significant amount of work to even work in a game with levels, should we just aspire for other avenues in gaming?

What I could recommend to deal with this, is to work with preexisting cores that the engine provides as learning tools.

Both Unity and Unreal, and I bet GMS too, have learning resources with fully functioning characters and cores.
It's not the same as a level editor, but in today's industry a good level designer is required to understand how to interact with the engine itself and build from scratch with tools like probuilder, megascans, tilemaps, etc...
And this can be practiced with generic cores from the store.
This could also be a way to learn on how to adapt to different cores, and demonstrate that specific skill.

I totally agree with you. I'm also a level designer and what people showcase these days is not level design work in most of the cases; is environment design, which is nice to see, but it doesn't have any interesting gameplay, which is precisely the goal of the level designer. The level designer doesn't create a nice environment, it uses the existing gameplay mechanics to create fun situations to test the player's skill.

I would recommend Dreams PS4 PS5 for building quick playable experiences to show off your level design chops. Dreams is very cheap to buy as is a PS4, you can export video easily to showcase your levels.

This is one of the most grounded and sensible video on the topic I've seen. Great job! 👍

I resonate with the skills you acquired as a kid, I specifically remember level editors in a lot of games, even flash games that were designed around making a platformer i was drawn to. I made many maps in Red Alert 2, there was a level editor for Command and Conquer renegade, a level editor for Warcraft 3 that I really spent a lot of time on trying to make a playable RPG. Even now Ive made good Mario Maker levels in the past and am working on making a platformer in game maker studio 2. It seems like a massive wall to go over these days, especially as a hobbyist but thank you for the insights!

This hits on a lot of points in my current... predicament.

I'm making a game for myself, mostly because I find gamedev fascinating and it's fun to try making sort of an "interactive sculpture" or something, and the level design aspect really has me sort of blocked. I'm doing it in unity, partly because there is such a wealth of tutorials (for most areas) and partly because I like making assets in blender. And making individual assets is fine, importing them and setting them up for use is just a set of steps really. But then comes the level itself, it's such a crucial part of the game, basically what makes the game a game and not an assortment of rules and 3d models, and my attempts as getting into a good or useful mindset in relation to level design have been less than successful. This is the first channel I've found that talks about level design on a more fundamental level, no pun intended, and I'm surprised that it's not talked about more given how essential it is to, well, basically any game. Thanks for making this series!

What are your thoughts on Mario Maker or Fortnite Create Mode?

What do you think of the cool Bioshock 'Arcadia Demade' by Jean-Paul LeBreton? Since you mentioned making Doom II levels (awesome), I thought you may have heard of this one. Bioshock is known for some extremely memorable level design, Fort Frolic, Arcadia, Smuggler's Bay..

Do you think that demaking a level from a blockout or a 'still image' sort of prototype into Doom would be a good idea for pitching someones' interest in you?
I understand it's far from the same as making say, a third-person shooter shootout akin to the game Gears of War, but I'd love to hear any thought on it honestly.

I know you don't want to sound like a dick or upset anyone, but I think this makes perfect sense. I feel like a block-out is just an idea, a first draft. A vague concept of a level design until you actually put it into practice and test it, and iterate on it. You can't know whether the design is GOOD or not until you use it (aka play it).

That’s a good Video Chinese version of Elon Musk.
i'm not racist, I promise.😂

I would even say level design is the hardest thing in the industry and im not the only one that thinks the same way and that is why i love it so mutch

And these day starting in level design is even harder
Like the time you started thats 3 years earlyer then me the requierments were not as heigh as now

Also i get youre point on blocktober lbut if you go back a view minutes in youre video you say why solo level deisgn is hard
And then you expect fully playeble levels in blocktober
That is a double edge sword
Again as a level designer i understand you view but youre statement is off

Both Unreal and Unity have learning kits you can download from their asset stores. Unreal has Lyra Starter kit which comes with pre-built playable game mechanics & environment assets but i found it hard learning how it's configured. Unity's starter kits(can't remember the name) is much easier to work with and build levels for.

I haven’t checked recently but I know Quake 3 game engine is open source. Radiant (if I recall the map editor’s name) should also still be available.

I’d say make levels in older games. Q3 engine had a ton of different games from quake 3 to Jedi knight 2, return to castle Wolfenstein, etc… all still playable on PC

I also grew up in this era but was really bad at making maps. Was hoping to find some suggestions on how to get into it 🙃

I do my own programming though so that part is easy(-er)

What current level editors (for games) do you recommend? Practicing level design as someone who wants to really get into it has been somewhat frustrating. Like you said, making levels in Unity/Unreal is starting from zero and its difficult to feel motivated starting from the ground up.

So grateful for your videos about level design. I've been leading a team of 5 for a Unity-based indie game, and what you said about the lack of tooling and game engines =/= level editors could not be more true. Level design has been, by FAR, the most difficult challenge of our project. We're building a 3D platformer game with two characters with different movesets for context. It feels like you just have to build your own tools. Once you've built the tools, you realize that you've barely gotten to practice the actual LD itself :( then to make things more complicated, preexisting "good" level design reference for your game is something that doesn't exist! You only can only look at somewhat adjacent titles and start from there.

Does this mean I actually had a background in level design, as a hobby? I once played around Delta Force BHD Mission Editor, and tried to recreate Codename Irene in it, was tons of fun back then, trying to align tunnels, roads, making waypoints for blackhawks and little birds, trying to make AI do a fast rope out of a blackhawk, men such memories.

After watching a dozen or so of your videos I think we need a new word or phrase.
Current use for level design has been confused with environment design. I imagine we could start using Level Crafting to mean actual layout and play-ability of level crafting.

Man, I keep hearing stories like yours and kicking myself that I never got into game making same way you did.

...ignoring the fact that I didn't have internet until like 2010s, didn't know anyone who made games or mods until like 2016, and in general didn't get the same opportunities. How cool would it be to have an option of a game dev college around here, huh.

And now I know what I need to do but I have a dayjob and no energy or time to really focus on it.

Hi Steve, I'm really enjoy your videos. I watched at least five of your videos in one day, and it really inspired me! :D And I wish to ask for a question. Like you said in the vid, applying for a LD job is quite tough nowadays, like people really need to show some playable levels to their employers; so, is it the same as applying for a game design college? (I was planning to apply to graduate certificate of LD, Sheridan college when I finish my bachelor's degree next year)

I was making my first levels on UE for Unreal Tournament 4 and on Creation Kit for Skyrim.
It was a great experience!
It is also gave me an understanding about base knowledge of instrumental for level design.
And I completed the courses, were we was making our prototype based on UE4. So it can be the way for Level designers.
For my portfolio I have made a videos and gifs for my website, I think everyone NEEDS to do this.

I just got into game design, been studying Unreal and doing blockouts. I honestly thought I was just being a no-good-noob that's just a baby in the industry. This is how I've been feeling about blockouts so it's good to know I'm not just some noob and a world of titans. I'm seeing what you're seeing as far as level design goes. Thanks for the vid. Glad I saw this. I won't beat myself up as much now 😅The way I describe it is like building a skyscraper without the rebar. I feel like i'm missing something essential and just trying to squish a masterpiece and get it to work without its rebar.

I'm not technically hired but I joined a group of people with the aim to create a game dev studio. So I can make proper level design because other people are willing to do the assets and tools so I can do playable levels.
Before joining them I had the chance of making a small game in computer science studies where I've done the LD, then I joined a game dev school to further learn Game & Level Design. From that I made a game jam with students from the school and we made another game (3 months of work) for the end of the school and I was fully in charge of the Level Design with some other friends.

In short, the best way for me to practice LD was by being with group of people to create small to increasingly bigger games.
And it's kind of bad in a way as it's not easy at all to find people to work with to make a game. I got lucky to have the opportunity to make those games with cool and dedicated people.
So don't let go opportunities to make group projects because there are not many if at all and it's a comfortable way to practice proper LD

Thank you for the video! It is important thing for me, and i complete thoughts about how made smth great for portfolio. I think that great practice is a creating levels for crpg games, because they have very much interactive activities

Basically you need gameplay mechanics ironed out before level design. I'm not a level designer so i used chatgpt to give me a starting point, which also contributed to your struggles

Just discovered your channel. Appreciate you sharing your experience and insight.

Are their games with built-in level editors for anything in the open-world 3rd person action/adventure genre?

This is such a helpful channel Steve, thank you for putting out this content

Hi, I just came across this video and I find it really insightful, and I agree on what you say about the showcases of levels, or environments made in an engine that shows no gameplay, but in a way is level design? Blocktober could be bigger for level designers, by showing paper design to blockout and test run in short made videos, like you say at least that way you see the game play through the level design and not just environmental art. I left University with a Masters in Games Design back in 2017, and it wasn't until last year I finally got a job in a studio, working in QA. The studio makes mobile games, and doesn't have level designers, instead they have designers doing all areas with artists and programmers. Lucky enough, I am not working on a game as a designer (whilst still in QA) and talking to the veteran staff, they all agree that they need level designers specific.

You made some good points here that I never even thought about. I'm not a level designer (I'm not out of uni yet even), but I've spent a lot of weekends designing levels for different games. I've always felt like I could be spending that time more efficiently and learning level design 'better' by building games in Unity/Unreal, but it sounds like that's sort of a trap isn't it? I'm realizing that I'm not appreciating those games with great level editors as much as I could be. Maybe I should go back to them and design some more maps.

It might not be the golden era for level editors anymore, but some indie games have surprised me with their level editors. It's a bit of a double edged sword though because the games are a lot more niche; it's a big jump from designing levels for these games to the kinds of levels you'll actually be designing at a job. Anyway, here are some of those games if you're curious:

- Planetary Annihilation - spherical RTS where you build levels out of CSG. Always a favorite since it gets you thinking about sculpting out 3D space in a genre that's typically 2D
- Distance - racing platforming/speedrunning game; the background is the level so it blurs the line between environment art and level design. Level design for speedrunning games is always fun, making levels that are meant to be broken
- Ultimate Chicken Horse - like Mario Maker, but you competitively design and iterate a kaizo-style platforming level together with friends. Also a great substitute for designing Mario Maker levels for broke college students who could save $345 :)

1) there are no tools special for level design.
2) you should show your levels in action.

Not much for 17 minutes

A comment about unreal engine specifically (i think unity is similar but im not sure). Unreal Engine has a couple different "games" available out of the box. 1st person, 3rd person, top down being the 3 big ones. These provide basic functionality that at least gives you a controllable character. While not a perfect solution, it does at least provide some functionality that allows you to "play" your level.

I totally agree with everything you say in this video, I really struggle with creating a level design portfolio. It's easy enough if you design levels for first person shooters or third person action adventure games because unreal and unity have templates you can use (although you may still need to learn some coding - I really recommend Unity's Visual Scripting, I learned it fairly quickly while I couldn't learn C# if my life depended on it), but designing levels for a game like XCOM or an RTS is next to impossible unless you cooperate with programmers.

Many "levels" I've seen in videos, although appealing aesthetically, they really don't look like a playable level. More like level art most of the time. To really capture a feeling it reaaaaaaaaaallly helps to have a playable game and to constantly jump in and test.

All great points. As a fellow industry professional, I prefer to see levels in older games for the reasons you mention as well as the clarity and focus that the lower graphical capabilities bring.

I still tend to make levels for old games from time to time when I want to explore an idea and it doesn't make sense to apply that idea to what I'm working on at my job.

I love the study of level design. Any FPS, I like to answer the question: why is this level fun and this one isn’t? I don’t design much myself. I tried when I was about 11, then again around 15. I wish I had stuck with it. I was decently talented with the tools but didn’t really understand what makes a level fun at the time. Some tenants I’ve picked up along the way: The combat in the level has to facilitate improvisation, because that’s the fun part. That’s why DOOM is so good. You have to bob and weave, get surprised, improvise, analyze threats, strategize on the go, abandon one strategy and pivot to another. It’s also why I loathe the Serious Sam franchise, because that’s just circle-strafing while holding M1. Next, the complexity and difficulty of the fighting has to be proportional to the player’s familiarity with the space. If you’re going to ramp the pressure up on the player, you have to introduce them to the space in a low-pressure. If it’s a horror game and the player is going to be running for his life, he needs to understand the space. Same if he’s going to be attacked from multiple directions. I think also key to making levels pretty is understanding framing. What vistas is the player going to have when he or she enters the space? These are the opportunities to show off the beauty of the level and communicate the information the player needs to navigate. I also think that underlying all of this is the psychological pleasure of solving a puzzle. The level should in some form be a puzzle that the player must solve.

I just discovered your channel and seriously love your content about level design. Bit of a long read here, but I have to share.

I have been trying to get into game design pretty much my whole life. I'm 30 now, working a dead end job in retail and barely have time to work on game design, but I really relate to your comments about Unreal and Unity not really working for level design as a whole. I was trying to make a FPS game a couple years ago (you can see vids of it on my channel actually) and it took me an ABSURD amount of time just to piece together the level shown in those videos, we're talking weeks. In retrospect it has a lot of terrifyingly bad design flaws on my part, but that's ok, I learn from those mistakes.
I pretty much gave up on that project for a few big reasons: One being that I just don't have the financial stability to have the time to learn what I need to learn and actually work on projects, two being that trying to design an optimized level in UE4 was proving to be impossible without some forbidden knowledge that nobody online wants to share, and three being that despite how much I've learned about coding and blueprints, I am not good at coding, and probably never will be, so I'm unable to get the core movement/mechanics needed with which would drive my level design.

Any suggestions on what I should do? I want to make games, I want to design levels, but I have no idea what tools to use.

Thank you for sharing your genuine and honest experience on this topic. I really want to work in game development, but it can be a little tricky figuring out exactly what I should be working on to help me work towards my particular interests.

love your talks!!

I really enjoy these videos, and especially your insights. My childhood experience with level design was quite similar, but instead of Doom levels I was doing HL2 levels in Hammer. Instead of continuing that however I became a full time software dev and continued to do game dev as a hobby ever since. The hardest part of me is still the level design aspect, and especially trying to find tools that I "enjoy" using to make levels in the current age of modern game engines (i.e. Unity, Unreal, Godot) that really lack the tools I had become accustomed to when I was younger.

These days I mostly experiment with Quake levels in Trenchbroom, and also importing those Trenchbroom levels into Unity/Unreal, but I find that this style of level design doesn't scale well into the modern era (and fidelity they require). Source 2 Hammer looks to have really developed on this area in a great degree, but again, these tools are all so disparate and disconnected across every game; and the games that ushered in entire generations of mappers & modders (Doom, Quake, HL2) are sadly not the same anymore, and it seems like these editor tools are held more and more closely held to their creators chests, with no-one really willing to share or risk losing IP to competitors.