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What Makes a Good Level?

I'm sure many, if not all, gamers will agree with this statement by Gaston Lahaut, creator of the Mordeth Doom II PC:

"Well, the only WADS I tend to avoid are those accompanied with a text file stating "this is my first WAD... as soon as I learn to make doors I put those in, too. For now, let's have fun with twenty cyberdemons and a berserk pack. You can only complete the level if you find all secrets".

We're not trying to discourage designers. That's about as far from the truth as I am to liking politicians. All we ask is that you hone your craft. Make a couple of test levels and try all the tricks before releasing anything. Show your work to some friends and ask what they think. Try and get them to comment on things such as asthetics, design and challenge rather than just saying "It's cool" or "It sucks".

General Tips
Whether it's a couple of levels or a major TC, NEVER give a specific release date for your project. Too many things can get in the way, be it real life committments or technical problems. In an attempt to make up for lost time, you'll have to rush things and this invariably leads to mistakes. At best, you'll probably have to cut some corners and your project won't be as good as it could otherwise be.

Don't try to do too much. There's a hell of a lot of work involved in producing a good mod. Either set yourself a sensible limit or better yet, keep an eye on the news sites and join one of the projects mentioned, concentrate on one or two levels and make them count.

Whether it's one level or many, I cannot emphasis enough the importance of passing it on to an external party for final beta testing. You may think your level is the best ever, and that the ammo balance and number of bad guys is utterly perfect. But you made the level. You know where everything is and you know what to expect. Without at least one other opinion, the architectural marvel you spent so much time on could end up being slammed for being too hard and complicated.

If you're using one of the Doom engine games, grab one of the source ports like ZDoom or Eternity and take advantage of their advanced editing and graphic features (check out Doomworld's Ports Section for a comprehensive list).

Looks
Like it or lump it, looks matter. Pay attention to cosmetic things like texture schemes and texture alignment, and make your levels as visually impressive as possible. If the level looks good then it's gonna be more memorable, and isn't that really the ultimate aim?

Being true to your theme is very important. Obviously you shouldn't put lots of computer screens and artificial lighting into a level for a futuristic game like Doom if the story of the level is that you've travelled back in time. Decide what it is you're trying to portray, and stick to it.

Plan your level beforehand. You can tell right away when someone's either lazy or didn't plan the level - sloppy texture alignment, bad texture schemes, pointless structures and illogical layout.

If you're making new textures or other graphics for a project, make sure you mimic the style of the original game's graphics and/or the style of any other artists on the team as closely as possible. Otherwise, your style may clash with that of others, and this detracts from the end product. Cases where this wasn't done very well include Army of Darkness Doom and Duke In Black. Each included graphics (both sprites and textures) from the original games involved, some by other artists, and AOD Doom also had Hexen graphics thrown in. Either one is fine on its own but together they don't look right due to the difference in the styles of the artists.

Gameplay
Great gameplay is the most important thing. It will compensate for average looks more than great architecture will compensate for bad gameplay. What constitutes bad gameplay? It depends. Sometimes it's a lack of supplies adequate
to deal with the enemies at hand, but then again, if the level designer is very skilled then a just enough and no more situation could work brilliantly (Richard Wiles "Slayer" for Doom II being a fine example). However, if I keep having to hammer the quickload key after every major fight, then the mod will go on a one way trip to my recycling bin. Sometimes the level may be laid out poorly, disrupting the flow of the game and making it hard to find your way around. But again, sometimes large, sprawling levels can work well too.

It all comes back to planning. As with the theme of the level, decide the atmosphere and style of play you want to produce before starting construction. Moody and creepy, or all out war? Interesting story driven adventure or kill everything that moves? Let your beta testers know what you're aiming for so they can judge it accordingly. It wouldn't hurt to mention it in your mod's documentation either. Some players don't like a particular style.

The main thing to remember is this - expert players are a minority, not a majority. Designers often make levels too hard because they spend too much time with it and they know where everything is (see above general tip on testers). Keep this single word in mind - fun. It's what games are all about. Challenging and scary is fun. Frustrating and confusing isn't. It's a fine line that's very difficult to stay on right side of. Good luck.