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This vista at the start of Elden Ring is such a master class of level design. It illustrates a lot of the subtle motivational hooks available to designers. What I want to emphasize is that this scene causes players to ask a lot of questions, but the game does not answer these questions for a long time. What is that giant glowing tree? How strong is the Tree Sentinel? How do I reach Stormveil Castle? Notably, the player's first two attempts to reach the castle will most likely

Melgar's Stand. A small band of militants hold a ruined site opposite a mysterious portal that periodically opens and unleashes hordes of undead. This was a quick 4 hours project with the goal of designing and set dressing a POI for a dynamic event with 3 states: 1. Contested (allies control one side, enemies the other) 2. Allied controlled (allies control one side, the other side dormant) 3. Enemy controlled (enemies control both sides) The event's current state also needs t

Earlier in the week I praised Crimson Desert for its engrossing exploration loop, but it has a big problem: the game does not do a good job of communicating to players whether or not players have completed enough of the MSQ to explore a POI. This is a common problem with open world design with MMO roots. Many MMOs actually discourage exploration completely because you cannot get the reward from that POI unless you are on a relevant part of the MSQ. Therefore, players should o

In this example from the Forest Ruins, the chokepoint is near the zone entrance, so all players entering the zone will pass by this castle gate. Notice the clever pond placement . It makes it that even players who are going to the right will run past the gate. Therefore, if someone needs help getting through the gate, there is a constant stream of players they can ask. The enemies guarding the gate are very dangerous and significantly higher level than those in the vicinity.