Roblox Speed Run 4

Mario Kart 8's Yoshi Circuit is really well done. None of the tracks really accommodate for inside drifters on higher ccs but Yoshi's feels like it was made to be done on 200cc with an outside drifter. There's a part where you can jump over a bendy part of the track instead of go through it and it just feels so right to do.

CE and Halo 1.5 had good level design. Easily on par with Unreal Tournament 2003 in my mind. Facing Worlds 3 is one of my favourite maps of all time. Oi Pip I'll 1v1 ya in CE sometime.

Banjo-Kazooie and Tooie are textbook games on how to make singleplayer levels great (with the exception of Grunty Industries). They're pretty large without being lifeless or easy to get lost in. Great level design formula

I appreciate this thread topic.
Tabletop rpg's are a good platform for the aspiring level designer (or really any game designer) to test levels in a barebones system with rules and systems, which they can tweak and adapt for player experience. It's like the open-source coding of game design.

I find it difficult to discuss level design because the idea involves the holistic synthesis of other game elements.

Specifically in videogames... Supermetroid is a good example. Take the station you initially arrive in for instance. It's a place for you to familiarize yourself with the controls and the premise of the story. From the moment you enter the station the design shows through. The shaft you first enter into is littered with platforms. It may create the expectation in a vigilant player's mind of navigating those platforms to get back to the ship. The intervals on the platforms are spaced so that the player can't fall straight down unless they've trained to do it. The placement forces players to get a sense of how Samus moves across them and how easy it is to fall off of them. Next are a couple rooms of mostly horizontal movement across the screen, though if memory serves I think you have to jump in at least one of them, which specifically showcases the mechanics of Samus' jump. These rooms are also important in establishing the atmosphere, particularly the room with the dead scientists. Entering the room with the metroid larva first shows players the objective of the game, then Ridley provides players with a simple test of combat mechanics and a clear antagonist for Samus to pursue. From sequencing the 3 or 4 rooms, the player has experienced: movement mechanics, atmosphere and tone of the game, the objective, an antagonist, and combat mechanics (though only briefly). The level design takes advantage of all core aspects of the game and combines them into a seamless experience. What follows after is a test of mechanical precision back up the entrance shaft, preparing players for the traversal they'll commonly experience on SR388 (though not under the same stress). It sets a foundation and means of mechanical progression for the next areas.

I appreciate this thread topic.
Tabletop rpg's are a good platform for the aspiring level designer (or really any game designer) to test levels in a barebones system with rules and systems, which they can tweak and adapt for player experience. It's like the open-source coding of game design.

That was definitely something you showed when we were doin D&D, you loved designing it.

And it is something I have come to develop as we have been playing d&d, our next game is going to be the first time I ever really put everything I have learned so far into one thing(as you have seen).

However in video games levels have to specifically cater to the mechanics, while in an tabletop RPG some workarounds can be made.
I think the worst mindset that can happen though is going into a level feeling confined to specific mechanics. Instead of working with them to create something great.

Destiny

Destiny

I will say that a lot of the levels they have created are great and fun to play on.

The fact they repeat it sometimes though...

Operation Locker.

Literally the only good map on BF4.

Not as good as Operation Meatgrin- Metro, I mean. Hands-down best map in competitive gaming history.

Ok seriously though, BF3/4's less linear maps were a lot better with the 5-flag setups, like Caspian Border and Gulf of Oman (although originally that's from BF2).

World at War also had some decent ones, but through symmetry which doesn't really feel natural. Seelow Heights and many of the larger tank supported maps weren't so one sided, although there would be some contended hot spots and camping areas.

Fuck the haters

That map was awesome.

Fuck the haters

It's great for shotgun FFA's

Isla Innocentes from Bad Company 2 rush was 10/10.

Honourary mention for Damavand Peak in BF3.

CE
CS

I'd probably lose but sure

I hope you enjoy the playing with the shittest connection of all time on a product by the worst netcode writers of all time :^)

Guardian is still my favourite map of all time. I love it