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I’ve been working professionally within the video game industry since 2008 and have several years of experience within the field of Level and Game design. I first started designing levels back in the days of Quake around 1996.
My overall ethos towards game and level design is to plan towards goal at the start, clearly document and define the scope of the task at hand, so anyone can pick up from where you left off. This leads to better communication and a shared understanding within your team by using the tools at your disposal and taking advantage of script & code re-use and time saving mechanisms. E.g.: FG Modules, Blueprints, prefabs, archetypes etc.
I believe the main elements of great level design is to deliver a fun and enjoyable experience that the player would want to return to again and again. My top three concerns when designing are:
It should be easy to navigate, make sense, and use space well. Players should be subliminally dragged along the correct path via breadcrumbs, with intelligent signposting, correct distribution of weapons and ammunition in a subtle way. Players enjoy design that tests them at the top of their intelligence, but makes a lot of sense to keep the game-play fun and challenging. I like to believe we’ve outgrown the big flashing red sign & the burning barrel mentality as an industry.
Don’t confuse the player with conflicting messages. Level elements should be consistent within game elements. A Simple example is ‘If a door can be entered and used in one instance, do not reuse the same model for a locked variation’. Or if you do, indicate clearly to the player via a visual indicator (red lock in a sci-fi world / Heavy wooden drop bar in a medieval world). Allow the player at a glance to assess the situation in a split second.
Empower & reward the player. There should be a balance of challenge for the player. The feeling of empowerment for a player is the feeling they get where they believe they have beaten the developers at their game. That nerve wracking, adrenaline fuelled 5 minutes that is worthy of telling your friends about the next day. Good level design is to sit somewhere in-between these 2 extremes, gently coaxing the player along and then bringing him back to earth when he starts to get too overconfident. The skill in design is to balance the challenges of the game or level by not making the objectives / secrets / tasks too difficult or too easy.