General Principles of Level Design - Fundamentals of Game Design - page 364

Genre-Specific Level Design Principles
Some principles of level design apply only to games within specific genres. Since
there isn't room to present a comprehensive list of principles specific to each genre,
this section offers one highly important genre-specific principle for each genre cov-
ered in Part Two, “The Genres of Games,” of this topic. For more details on each
genre, see the relevant chapter in Part Two.
ACTION GAMES
Vary the pace. Action games put more stress on the player than any other genre
does, so the universal principle vary the pace applies more strongly to action games
than to other genres; that is why it is the most important genre-specific principle as
well. Players must be able to rest, both physically and mentally, between bouts of
high-speed action.
STRATEGY GAMES
Reward planning. Strategic thinking means planning—anticipating an opponent's
moves and preparing a defense, as well as planning attacks and considering an
opponent's possible defensive moves. Design levels that reward planning. Give
players defensible locations to build in and advantageous positions to attack from,
but let the players discover these places for themselves.
ROLE-PLAYING GAMES
Offer opportunities for character growth and player self-expression. Character
growth is a major player goal in any RPG; some players consider it even more
important than victory. Every level should provide opportunities to achieve charac-
ter growth by whatever means the game rewards—combat, puzzle-solving, trade,
and so on. RPGs also entertain by allowing players to express themselves; that is, to
role play. Every level should include opportunities for the player to make decisions
that reflect the player's persona in the game.
SPORTS GAMES
Verisimilitude is vital. Sports games, while not ordinarily broken into levels in the
usual sense, consist of individual matches played in different stadiums or courses
with different teams or athletes, so you can think of each match played as a level.
Level designers design the stadiums and sometimes the teams and athletes. More
than in any other genre, players of sports games value a close relationship between
the video game and the real world. The simulation of match play must be com-
pletely convincing; try to model each team and each stadium as closely as possible
to the real thing—which includes not only appearances but the performance char-
acteristics of the athletes and the coaching strategies of the teams.