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Skylar Liu
Level Design
Best Practices for Utilizing Backtracking and Reuse of Space
“ Rise and Fall ” is a single-player level made in the Elder Scrolls V : Skyrim Special Edition editor , Creation Kit . In the level , players must collect two cubes as keys to unlock the final door and retrieve a special weapon . The level includes two branches that both lead the player to a cube separately . However , the branches are designed in such a way that the player needs to follow the same path back to the start after they collect the cubes . The branches aim to reuse the previously traversed areas and subvert the player ’ s expectations so that the level provides unique gameplay that is different from what the player experiences while going toward the cubes , compensating for the intrinsic shortcoming of the “ backtracking ” design .
In the field of level design for video games , “ backtracking ” and “ reuse of space ” combined in a level are commonly referred to as an inadequate
layout design because they rarely provide a unique and new gameplay experience in a level . The goal of this thesis is to study and summarize some of the best practices of backtracking and reuse of space in level design to compensate for the intrinsic flaws of this design and amplify its strength while leveraging other level design techniques such as conveyance and foreshadowing to bring a unique gameplay experience .
The level was developed over 250 hours . This project allowed me to strengthen my knowledge of level design , especially with how I could increase the density and subvert players ’ expectations of the level . After playtesting , the data collected from participants successfully supports the best practices summarized in this thesis . I believe the result of this thesis could benefit level designers who are looking to build a memorable level with a rich and engaging gameplay experience .
54 LEVEL DESIGN