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The Level Design Book
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  * The Level Design Book
  * What is level design
  * Book 1, Process
      + [?]How to make a level
      + Pre-production
          o Pacing
          o Research
          o Worldbuilding
          o Scope
      + Combat
          o Enemy design
          o Encounter
          o Cover
          o Map balance
      + [?]Layout
          o Flow
              # Circulation
              # Verticality
          o Critical path
          o Parti
          o Typology
              # Gates
      + Blockout
          o Massing
              # Landscape
              # Composition
              # Prospect-refuge
          o Metrics
              # Modular kit design
              # Doom metrics
              # Quake metrics
          o Wayfinding
          o Playtesting
              # Player persona
      + Scripting
          o (stub) Navigation
          o Doors
      + [?]Lighting
          o Three point lighting
          o D6 lighting
          o Lighting for darkness
      + Environment Art
          o Shape and color psychology
          o Texturing
          o Storytelling
          o Optimization
      + Release
  * Book 2, Culture
      + Level design as culture
      + History of the level designer
      + Zero player level design
      + (unfinished pages)
          o History of architecture
          o Structural engineering primer
          o History of environment art
          o History of furniture
          o History of encounter design
  * Book 3, Studies
      + How to study a level
      + Single player studies
          o Undead Burg (Dark Souls 1)
          o Assassins (Thief 1)
          o (STUB) The Cradle (Thief 3)
          o (STUB) Sapienza (Hitman)
          o (STUB) Silent Cartographer (Halo 1)
      + Multiplayer studies
          o Chill Out (Halo 1)
          o (STUB) de_dust2 (Counter-Strike)
      + Real world studies
          o Disneyland (California, USA)
          o (STUB) Las Vegas (Nevada, USA)
  * Book 4, Learning
      + Notes for educators
      + Project plans
          o Classic Combat
          o (Unfinished WIP pages)
              # Modern Combat
              # Modern Stealth
              # Exercise: Direct Lighting
              # Exercise: Whiteboard 2D
              # Level Design Portfolio
              # Design Test: Adaptation
              # Exercise: Layout
              # Exercise: Verticality
  * Appendix
      + Tools
          o TrenchBroom
      + Assets & Resources
          o Recommended talks
          o Recommended books
          o Quake resources
              # How to package a Quake map/mod
          o File formats
              # FGD file format
              # MAP file format
              # MDL file format
      + Communities
      + About this book / authors
      + License / copyright

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The Level Design Book

The Level Design Book gathers level design knowledge for 3D video
games in an approachable, up-to-date, and critical way. It is for
designers of all experience levels and game engines.

NextWhat is level design

Last updated 4 months ago

This book is heavily under construction. Structure may change a lot,
and some pages may have little / no content yet.

 
Recent major updates

  * 
    January 2025: added

 
Read the book

This online book is free to read forever, under a license. We will
never sell or paywall access to this book. If you translate parts of
this book, you may not sell copies or access to the translation. For
more info, see our page.

Recommended talks
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0
International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
license and copyright
 

What is level design?

Start reading here!

 

How to make a level

Overview of the process

 
Cover

Studies

Critical essays & design analysis of levels.

 

Tools

List of level editors and moddable games

 

Assets & resources

Links to free 2D/3D assets, info, other books, etc.

 

Notes for educators

Advice for teaching, how to use this book in class

Cover
Cover
Cover
Cover
Cover