Layout and flow

Layout is the structure of a level: which spaces exist, how big they are and how they connect. Flow is how it feels to move through that structure. The Level Design Book defines flow as how it generally feels to move along paths or between parts of a level, and puts it simply: designing flow means designing movement (The Level Design Book: Flow).

A good layout gives players clear choices, interesting routes and spaces that suit the game's mechanics. It is mostly decided in drawings and the blockout, long before the art pass, which is why environment artists need to understand it too. See level design and environment art.

#Two meanings of "layout"

The Level Design Book notes that "layout" means both the level's overall structure and the overview drawing used to plan it, often called a "topdown" (The Level Design Book: Layout). It is careful about the second meaning: "A layout is NOT a level, the player never plays your drawing" (The Level Design Book: Layout).

Its suggested process for drawing one (The Level Design Book: Layout):

1. Pre-production. Write down experience goals and pacing.
2. Parti thumbnails. Small sketches of the core shape or idea; draw at least 5–10.
3. Bubble diagrams. Ovals showing areas, their relative size and how they relate; draw at least 3.
4. Floor plan. Rooms, walls, doorways and fixtures, starting big and boxy, since rectangles are easier to build than odd angles or curves.
5. Gameplay markup. Label flow, areas and important objects without cluttering the drawing.

#Layout patterns

Most levels combine a few basic structures.

• Linear. One route from start to goal, with optional side spaces. Easy to pace and to dress; risks feeling like a corridor.
• Hub and spoke. A central space with branches the player visits and returns from. Good for orientation, since the hub becomes a familiar anchor.
• Loops. Routes that circle back. They reduce backtracking and give players a sense of mastery when they recognise a place from a new angle.
• Open or networked. Many interconnected routes, typical of multiplayer maps and immersive sims; see circulation below.

#The parts of flow

#Critical path

The critical path (or "golden path") is "the minimum / main path to complete a single player level" (The Level Design Book: Flow). Single-player layout drawings usually need one labelled (The Level Design Book: Flow). Everything else is optional space: rewards, secrets, story, breathing room.

#Circulation

Circulation (or "connectivity") is about "how areas connect to each other" (The Level Design Book: Flow). It supports storytelling and wayfinding, and matters most on multiplayer maps organised into lanes (The Level Design Book: Flow). A circulation diagram strips the level down to nodes and connections, which makes dead ends and choke points obvious.

#Desire lines

Borrowed from urban planning, a desire line is the most efficient route people would take, like the paths worn across a lawn. The Level Design Book's method: imagine the efficient line from player to destination, then compare it with the actual path (The Level Design Book: Flow). Its example compares switchback stairs with corner stairs, noting that "less efficient flow is not necessarily bad": a switchback can slow players, offer a shortcut or position an enemy (The Level Design Book: Flow).

#Verticality

Verticality is vertical flow: stairs, ramps, slopes, elevators, ladders, cliffs, platforms and jump pads (The Level Design Book: Flow). More is not automatically better. The Level Design Book says it "advise[s] against too much random verticality", since many mechanics need flat floors (The Level Design Book: Flow). Its positive example is the jump pads and teleporters of Quake 3's Q3DM17 (The Level Design Book: Flow).

#Flow and the type of game

The Level Design Book compares two race tracks. Spa-Francorchamps (Formula 1) has varied turns, sightlines and slopes; Daytona (NASCAR) is a flat, wide oval (The Level Design Book: Flow). Both serve motor racing; they reward different driving. Fernando Alonso describes Spa's Eau Rouge as a corner where you "don't know where you will land" (The Level Design Book: Flow).

The same applies to levels. On Counter-Strike's de_dust2, the "Dust doors" force sharp zig-zag turns and add tension (The Level Design Book: Flow). A fast arcade game may want smooth, wide turns; a horror game may want narrow turns and dead ends (The Level Design Book: Flow). In the book's words, "the best flow is whatever supports the intended" experience goals (The Level Design Book: Flow).

#Pacing, sightlines and space

Layout controls pacing through the sequence of spaces: tight then open, dark then bright, safe then exposed.

Mateusz Piaskiewicz argues that "A level designers' work can be compared to that of a painter", planning vistas like paintings (Game Developer: Composition in Level Design). Rockstar's Miriam Bellard extends this idea in her GDC 2019 talk on environment design as "spatial cinematography" (GDC Vault: Environment Design as Spatial Cinematography…). Sightlines are also a wayfinding tool: The Level Design Book draws three guidelines from Half-Life 2: players don't look up unless something draws the eye, they look where they are moving, and they focus on contrast (The Level Design Book: Wayfinding). See composition and focal point.

#Eight common layout problems

Steve Lee, a level designer on Dishonored 2, lists eight problems he sees again and again in layouts and blockouts (YouTube: 8 Common Problems with Level Layouts /…; 80 Level: 8 Common Problems With Level Layouts…). Each one is a word: levels that are too big, too symmetrical, too flat, too open, too empty, too linear, too similar or too generic.

• Too big. Oversized spaces make characters look tiny, push players to sprint and add production work. Start small and enlarge only if testing shows a need: "never make them huge just for the sake for it" (80 Level: 8 Common Problems With Level Layouts…).
• Too symmetrical. Mirrored layouts confuse orientation, and "symmetrical choices are just inherently less interesting" (80 Level: 8 Common Problems With Level Layouts…).
• Too open. Too much visibility costs performance and leaves "no corners to turn around, to reveal new things" (80 Level: 8 Common Problems With Level Layouts…).
• Too linear. Even in a linear game, "you should never design a level as if everybody will play it in exactly the same way" (80 Level: 8 Common Problems With Level Layouts…).
• Too similar. Areas need contrast and a journey with a beginning, middle and end: "Contrast, in all its forms, is a really important, fundamental aspect of good level design" (80 Level: 8 Common Problems With Level Layouts…).

#Flow and the art pass

The art pass can support flow or work against it:

• Clutter narrows paths. Props placed in a 3 m corridor can turn it into a 2 m one that snags the player. Keep the walkable area clear; see set dressing and art passes and collision meshes.
• Lighting steers. Bright exits pull players forward; see light and shadow.
• Landmarks anchor. Big, unique shapes at junctions help players build a mental map; see landmarks.
• Metrics must survive. The art pass must keep every door, jump and corridor within the agreed metrics.

#Further reading and watching