Beginning Level Design

1) Maintain the vision.

The “vision” is the core idea of the game design.

2) Learn the design palette.

Knowing what elements you have to work with and how you are to use them is imperative for good level design.

3) Have fun while you work – it will show.

4) A level will only ever be as good as you imagine it.

Start designing away without a clear vision can lead to a lot of wasted time and effort.

5) If there’s no difference, what’s the point?

Having multiple routes to the same goal is a good way of giving players choices and a sense of freedom while still ensuring they end up at the same point.

6) Cater to different playing styles and abilities.

When presenting options, challenges or puzzles to players, try to offer multiple solutions that cater to different player styles and abilities.

7) Reward player imagination and efforts.

The more solutions, secrets, alternate paths, and so on, that you provide in your level, the more satisfied players will be.

8) Pay attention to level pacing.

9) Reveal assets carefully.

Keeping the player interested in the game requires careful asset revelation.

10) Challenge the player.

Present challenges to players that really test their mettle and make them uncertain of their victory.

11) Fulfill player expectations.

Players will have certain expectations about your level based on what they may have already seen or been told.

12) Balance the difficulty for the median skill level.

13) Know the players’ bag of tricks.

When designing a level, you can assume that the player will use some of the tricks from his bag to beat your level.

14) Learn what players may bring to the fray.

Have a thorough understanding of what players bring with themselves to your level, in terms of forces, weapons, spells, skill ratings, and so on.

15) Play test, play test, and play test some more.

From: http://gamerboom.com/archives/86411