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Game Development vocabulary · Level Design

Level design

Meaning in game development, with examples

/ˈlevəl dɪˌzaɪn/nounCore term

In game development, level design means: The work of creating the spaces a game takes place in, such as maps, missions and stages, and deciding where players go, what they meet and how hard it is.

In Turkish: bölüm tasarımı, level tasarımı, seviye tasarımı

How it is used

Means both the job and the result. A level designer builds layouts, places enemies and items, and works closely with artists and game designers. People praise or criticize the level design of a single map or of a whole game.

Example sentences

  1. The level design guides you to the exit with light and color instead of arrows.

  2. She moved from QA into level design after building maps in her free time.

Common collocations

  • level designer
  • good level design
  • level layout
  • level design document
  • greyboxAn early version of a level built from simple grey shapes with no final art, used to test layout, scale, routes and timing before artists spend time on it.
  • pacingThe rhythm of a level or game: how action, exploration, story and quiet moments are mixed and timed so that players stay interested without getting tired.
  • critical pathThe shortest route through a level or game that the player must follow to finish it, as opposed to optional side areas, secrets and side quests.
  • checkpointA point in a level where the game saves the player's progress, so after failing or dying they start again from there instead of from the beginning.
  • open worldA large game world that players can explore freely and in almost any order, instead of moving through a fixed series of levels.

More terms: Level Design

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