ABSTRACT
This chapter talks about the methods that professional level designers use in their work and how methods from architecture can inform them. It also talks about how level design fits into the production of overall games and how to choose which content to develop first. Stealth games like Metal Gear Solid provide a great example of how to construct levels based on different types of character movement. Non-digital prototypes can define gamespaces on both the macro and the micro scale. In action games where gameplay mechanics have to be introduced along a difficulty curve, or games with a lot of complexity, building from the middle makes a lot of sense. The term Metroidvania is commonly used to describe a game that is a side-scrolling platform game that takes place in a large contiguous maze that a player must escape from.
