Notes on Level Design

In spending about two weeks fiddling with an automated level generator, and finding weaknesses with both that and a modular NavMesh apparatus, I went back to hand-building levels, at least for this project. So far, I've learned this much experentially:

• In terms of rooms and corridors, the entrance and exit(s) should be an appreciable distance apart. In a largely-linear level, entry and exit should be almost diametrically opposed.
• Cut irrelevant paths to a minimum, both in "how many" and "how far it goes". Justify a few side paths by placing items to make it worthwhile (e.g. treasure or enemies worth experience points)
• When placing sections in a map, it helps to name the sections to remind yourself what you wanted to place inside said sections, like "trap" or "treasure", possibly allowing for multiple items in a given room/corridor.
• If multiple routes lead in to the same point (especially in the case of an exit), they should be of roughly equal levels of hazard/gain. This rules out short-cut routes, even if laden with more enemies, for a player may simply dash his/her way out of multiple confrontations.