The book "The Hows and Whys of Level Design" exists in two forms. An Ebook PDF version and a printed version. The PDF version is 117 pages long. The printed version counts 152 pages. Apart from the size both versions are identical. The full list of chapters and subjects in the book can be found on the content page.
Level design is the center of a game and it forms the backdrop for all other elements in a game. It is, however, also one of the most complex aspects of game development. Level design is a combination of a wide range of different aspects such as architecture, materials and textures, lighting, gameplay, sound and special FX. It is that combination which makes it complex. Every individual aspect needs to be controlled and also the overview. All the individual elements must be in harmony with the rest of the level. Making a good-looking and good-playing level is not easy.
This book covers both the visual and artistic side as well as the gameplay aspect of level design. Don’t expect any technical how-to tutorials in this book, this book is about the "why". Rather than writing yet another tutorial about how to create a virtual room this book is about how to make that room look cool and play well.
Expect tips and techniques as well as explanations of the logic and theory behind design. How does the gameplay in a level work? What’s the reason this kind of architecture gives this kind of feeling or looks better in situation A or B? Why does this color combination work so well? What kind of floorplan can I best use to improve gameplay and why? What type of sound setup should I use?
The book is divided into three major parts plus two smaller independent chapters at the end: Design, Gameplay and Art plus an Example and an Interview chapter. All three major parts consist of multiple extensive chapters. Starting with an introduction each covers each aspect in a chapter: Floorplans, Sounds, Texturing, Lighting and so on.
The book is well illustrated and offers many examples with pictures, nearly 120 to be exact. The book is intended to be universal. Most of the information can be applied to a wide range of games and different genres, gametypes, themes etc. I tried to cover and support as many different types as possible but as I personally have most experience in 3D action games and FPS shooters one can expect most of the focus to be on those; especially regarding Gameplay. In general this book is meant for what I call "modern" games, not, for example, 2D games.
I wrote this book to fill up the empty hole of "Why" tutorials and books. Most tutorials only explain the technical steps on how to make something but knowing the design side - how to make something look or play well - is just as important to know, if not more. Even a monkey could be taught how to operate a certain program and create 3D objects, but no one could teach it how to make it look and feel nice or play well. That’s where the difference lays.
Certain passages in this book can be considered my personal opinion and one is free to follow it or not. However, throughout the years, I have learned that certain methods simply do work better than others.
One could, of course, ignore all the tips and try to find out what works best independently, but that would be reinventing the wheel. Why waste precious time when one can start with a solid base? This book is aimed at people at an intermediate or advanced skill level. A certain basic level of skill is necessary before starting this book. This book will be of little to no use to those who have never opened a game editor.
This book evolved out of a few free tutorials I wrote years ago for the Unreal level design community and after countless rewrites and additions I decided to listen to people's advice and turn it into a book.