Some #leveldesign advice: Don’t worry about always having to be aware of every piece of theory and shoving it all into your work. Sometimes it feels like everyone is holistically balancing flow, metrics, lighting, colour theory, composition, goal signaling etc but they’re not.
You rarely start with a fully formed idea and implement it. Part of design is discovery. Once you have something fun, you might look at ways to improve composition. You might have an idea that specifically involves lighting and change something or resolve some pacing issues.
Eventually these things come more naturally to you but you’ll never suddenly make all the right calls right at the start. If you want to spend a day focusing on colour theory, go for it. Just remember as a level designer you’re making the experience of PLAYING the level.
You’re (usually) not solely responsible for individual elements like lighting and environment art but you should be conscious of them and, preferably, be collaborating with your peers in these respective disciplines early on anyway.
When I started out there were very few level design resources that spoke to what I did or wanted to do in the discipline. I would be recommended books filled with theory from other spaces like architecture and photography and interior design. It all felt a bit much to track...
And all this stuff will make you a better designer but nothing is quite like making a space for interactive play. You can rest assured about slowing down and taking it in iterative steps, not worrying about each page of 101 things I learned in architecture school every moment.
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