by Chopium on Wed Jan 05, 2011 10:44 pm
Think about the movie inception. As level designers (like architects), it's our job to make a puzzles that look like real environments. We choreograph and compose how the game will play through shapes and layouts, and then work to make it artful or realistic.
While making real environments works for practicing brushwork, scale, and reference utilization, it is not the true job of a level designer. In order to create an effective and enjoyable level, we draw layouts, block things out, and playtest. Keep in mind what the level will look like or how it will function as a piece of realistic scenery, but do not copy from the real world as it never works out for gameplay.