Level Design Books

I highly recommend the level design book by Hourences - he's a member here on the forums

http://www.hourences.com/book/index.htm

Maybe you'll like this one:

http://www.infibeam.com/Books/info/trav ... 78641.html

My favorite book on the subject is Game Level Design, by Ed Byrne. There's about half theory, half tutorials, but the theory part is great and doesn't just fly over important subjects like most of these books usually do. I have to agree though, I have yet to find a book that doesn't try and teach me UnrealEd's basics, but tackles only larger-picture issues.

Quote from ctswin

I highly recommend the level design book by Hourences - he's a member here on the forums http://www.hourences.com/book/index.htm

+1

Quote from ctswin

I highly recommend the level design book by Hourences - he's a member here on the forums http://www.hourences.com/book/index.htm

Quote

the only one I've seen so far is the one Hourences made a while back (the hows and whys of level design).

Quote from Corwin

the only one I've seen so far is the one Hourences made a while back (the hows and whys of level design).

I said highly recommend for a reason, sounded like he hadn't actually read it yet, it's always nice to hear whether something you've seen is good

I second Corwin on Game Level Design. Probably the best book to get on the subject.

I read GDE Game Level Design by Travis Castillo, and I found it way below Ed Byrne's one (sub par Environment Art content, and sub par level design content). And I'm probably the only guy who did not like hourences' book (and I bought the 2 editions of hows & whys :/).

Why would anyone buy level design books anyway Basics can and should be learned yourself, the advanced stuff is project/tool dependant Design is all about practically learning frome experiences, not reading. I'm not suggesting books are useless, for some specific skills it's very useful but don't assume reading your way to being a good designer is the best path.

Quote from 2d-chris

Why would anyone buy level design books anyway Basics can and should be learned yourself, the advanced stuff is project/tool dependant Design is all about practically learning frome experiences, not reading. I'm not suggesting books are useless, for some specific skills it's very useful but don't assume reading your way to being a good designer is the best path.

Chris has it right. Go get yourself some art or architecture books. Photo books kick so much ass. Fuck words.

All the level design books that i know are mostly interesting for absolute beginners or maybe for people from other parts of game development who want to know more about level design.

I completely agree with Erratic. Art and Architecture books is where you can learn a lot and get a lot of inspiration from as a level designer.

I found Hourence's book on How to Break into the Industry far more interesting than the first one, because it felt like the points mentioned were actually "applicable", practical. That's what I'd criticize in the case of almost every game/level design book: they rely too heavily on generalities to fill their pages, but I've yet to see a book that covers any given subject fully. For instance, I'd like books that focus on the composition involved like teaching you all about colors, lighting and shapes and how you can assemble them to give a level a soul, or all about scripting and how to pace a level, etc. rather than have all these themes only briefly mentioned in a single volume. (Although as Steppen said, their authors have the excuse of most of the advanced stuff depending on the engine/game)

In the end, you have to move to other books to dwelve deeper into these concepts, so level design books seem to basically serve as simply a ramp to get to higher things. I'd suggest you get one of them, possibly Game Level Design (because it's well-done, and gives plenty of advices concerning documenting and planning levels) or Hourence's HAWOLD and then widen your horizon by looking into other mediums and inspiration sources. As the others said, architecture books, for instance the work of Francis D.K. Ching or architecture mags are great to give you material for your future creations, and photography books can be great inspiration tools (but there are many free websites such as Flickr where you can find similar stuff, if you can put the garbage aside to find the gems).

That said, I read many game design and level design books a few years back and I don't regret it: even though most of them feel like exploiting the beginners out of their pocket money, they still provide valuable advices that save you time along the line. It's basically: others have been there, made the mistakes, why not listen to them ramble about it so you avoid falling into the same traps? The real question is whether it's worth the money, cause after you've been creating levels for a few years, most of what you'll read you already know.

There are also great articles to be found online stuff more advanced than you might find in books (for instance, there's an article on Gamasutra mentioning all the techniques to guide the players through levels, I'm surprised this wasn't part of any of the books I remember reading).

Quote from Erratic

Fuck words.

I'm into photos motherf*cker.

Quote from Corwin

For instance, I'd like books that focus on the composition involved like teaching you all about colors, lighting and shapes and how you can assemble them to give a level a soul, or all about scripting and how to pace a level, etc. rather than have all these themes only briefly mentioned in a single volume.

That would indeed a bit more interesting. Maybe something for Hourences to look into for his next book.

You can learn a lot about composition from specific art books but it still would be nice to have a book in the context of game development that covers these things.

I would also read a book where i could learn more about the methodes and workflows different people/companys use to create their levels. But it had to be a bit more in depth and detailed then your average game design book to be seriously helpfull.

Quote from ctswin

I highly recommend the level design book by Hourences - he's a member here on the forums http://www.hourences.com/book/index.htm

This book was most excellent. I'm hoping to get Ed Byrne's book and Hourences other book for Xmas as well.

There's a ton of great info on this forum. I like to go digging through old threads in the 3d levels and work release forums and read through the commentary on various maps submitted and the feedback given.

There are also some good articles on the web you can read. Lots of information that seems really obvious, but is also really easy to forget when you're just starting out, or very subtle techniques that you sometimes don't even know are being done intentionally. Less technical tutorial, more theory type stuff.

http://www.hourences.com/book/bookexamples.htm (examples from his book)

http://agamesdesignblog.com/2009/03/01/ ... el-design/

http://www.cliffyb.com/art-sci-ld.html

This is largely UT-focused, but there are some good universal tips in here too.

http://www.cliffyb.com/ut-ld-tips.htm

You can also peruse Gamasutra and World of Level Design. Lots of rough to wade through, but there are some good gems on those sites too.

Quote from Chimeray

Drawing can be self-taught, level design as well. However... you can get schooled in both subjects and that will probably bring you up to speed much more quickly (at least for drawing it is).

Also... What I'm trying to find in those books is things not to do, I can probably learn it the hard way. But I guess seeing examples and stuff will help me not to make such beginner mistakes.

Offcourse a book alone will not make you a great level designer But I guess it will avert me from makeing some mistakes and will aid me in adding that something extra to a level.

So... I don't expect to read my way to being a good designer, I just wanna 'fill in the holes' that I might have missed from own experiences

Can it really be that bad to read some advice from an experienced level designer? Don't tell me there's nothing in those books that's gonna help me along the way?

If I'm really wrong about this, feel free to say so But I'm eager to find out what I've been missing out and could better me in general (or most common tackled problems) about level design.

And that's why I'd want to read a book about level design

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Nah you're right, I'm just trying to say you don't need to read books to end up being a professional :] What you end up getting in-game matters the most.

Some people have to read books to get to the place they want to go, others dont. Telling people that reading books is not something you have to do because it can be self taught and that other people have managed to land decent jobs without reading books is.. well.. short sighted. The moment you start thinking you cant learn anything more, or that everything left to learn can be found out by yourself then you are starting on a slippery slope.

Theres ALWAYS someone smarter than you. And most of those people write books to teach you just how much smarter they are.

I learned so much from Hourences book, much much more than I'd expect. Especially the lighting chapter is very good!

Designers arent smart, programmers are Anyway level design is mostly about understanding "fun" not being smart.

I never said that you can't learn from books, I said you don't have to which is absolutely true.