Level design is an important part of the game design process. No matter how good the gameplay or the graphics, the level a player is faced with determines a large part of the player's enjoyment of the game. A badly designed level can be frustrating at best and a game killer at worst. So in order to design a game level that captures and maintains players' attention, while leaving them with a sense of accomplishment from its completion, you should familiarize yourself with the techniques used to make a level a success.
Tutorial Subjects
Level design is more than creating a map. Good level design requires that you be knowledgeable of all aspects of the game for which you are creating the level. Level design tutorials will give you that complete breadth of knowledge.
Tutorials are available in such diverse subjects as pre-production planning, workflow, originality, pacing and story elements. Everything that goes into making a good game is involved in making a good level for that game and will be covered by tutorials.
Tutorial types
There are two basic tutorial types you'll come across when searching for game level design tutorials. Those dealing with level design theory, and those dealing with level design application. Theory tutorials tend to go into the functions of game levels. You'll want to study these to find out the various goals to reach for in your design. Things like, what to include in a level based on the game type being designed for, and what to emphasize in a design are both topics widely covered in tutorials aimed at game level design theory.
For the actual nuts and bolts of game design, you'll want to seek out those tutorials geared towards design application. These tutorials will cover everything from 3D object and character design for games to obstacles and layouts. You can find application tutorials that are game-specific, covering level design for already existent game engines like the Unreal Engine 3 used for such games as "Gears of War" and "Bioshock". Or you can find application tutorials that cover general level design techniques usable in any game engine.
Tutorial Locations
Tutorials can usually be found at sites specializing in a single game or game engine. Half-life level design tutorials can be located at The Valve Developer Community Site, for instance. Or you can locate tutorials through sites devoted to 3D modeling and animation, like 3DBuzz.com or CGSociety.com (see Resources). Anywhere people who are interested in level design congregate and communicate, you're likely to find a listing of files dedicated to the sharing of ideas through user-created tutorials.
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