Level Design Reviews

I've been noticing lately how important it is for a Level Designer to properly play his level during review sessions.  It's important to demonstrate the level as an average player would experience it so everyone in the room gets a feel for what kinds of adjustments need to be made for the highest percentage of our users.

One of the things I commonly see a Level Designer do is play through the level quickly and efficiently because they know where every trigger is and where every enemy will be spawned.  Doing this doesn't convey the experience that the vast majority of players will have. This kind of play also makes it easier for the development team to fall into the age old issue of making changes based on how we perceive a level to be boring or too easy.

As always, it's extremely important to be continually aware of the player's experience during a play through of a level.  Try to play with the pacing and emotion you are shooting for and how you ultimately think the average player will play.  This allows the people reviewing your level work to form more accurate impressions of the state of the level and be able to give the appropriate feedback.

Original blog post can be found here