Deconstruction of locations
What is location deconstruction, why does a level designer need it, what is the best way to start doing it, and what tools to use?
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What is location deconstruction?
Deconstruction of locations — this is an analysis of a location into methods for its construction and the study of level patterns. During deconstruction, references are better collected and the specialist’s visibility improves.
Deconstructions can be of two types:
Deconstruction for general observation purposes (passage with careful study).
Deconstruction with Record Making – most often screenshots and videos.
Why do you need to deconstruct levels?
Depending on the level designer's experience, the goal may differ slightly, but in both cases, deconstruction contributes to the level designer's overall design knowledge pool.
For beginners: studying the basic principles of level design, general rules, patterns and creating a set of references.
For experienced: updating knowledge, understanding new trends and methods, analyzing best practices and mistakes to develop a creative approach.
How to prepare for deconstruction?
Simply playing through the game won't do much to improve the designer's experience, so it's important to take a few steps. These steps will help you deconstruct much more efficiently:
Game recording: allows you to record the player’s behavior in certain situations. Saves time because replaying is not required; recording is not required, especially in places where there is some active activity.
Taking screenshots: allows you to capture references, positive or negative examples of a location or its segment.
Taking notes: It's best to take notes as you progress through the game to make analysis easier later.
Toolkit for deconstructions
It is necessary to select tools that will help create records and analyze levels:
OBS Studio: One of the most popular recording tools, with replay recording and flexible settings. Suitable for creating video from the last N seconds and for capturing screenshots, which saves time on editing and analyzing materials.
Nvidia Shadowplay: useful for Nvidia video card owners, allows you to record the last minutes of gameplay. But may be less stable than OBS.
Xbox Game Bar: A standard recording tool for Windows 11. Suitable for general needs, but not always flexible in settings.
Bandicam: A simple tool that only allows you to take recordings and screenshots, but without the ability to record the last 15-30 seconds of the game.
To connect the gamepad with these tools, I recommend using the gamepad emulator built into Steam, where it is possible to bind combinations of gamepad buttons to any key combination.
Tools or places to take notes:
Notion: A free and easy-to-use note-taking platform.
Confluence: Also a handy tool, but the free plan has investment limits, which limits the ability to attach screenshots.
Trello: free and convenient board with the ability to divide into categories.
Miro: A free whiteboard that allows you to easily work with screenshots and notes.
Figma: More difficult to learn, but just as convenient as Miro, allows you to store notes next to your screenshots.
Personally, I use the link for deconstructions Notion + OBS (+ Steam gamepad emulation / Flydigi Space Software for binding gamepad keys)
Preparation of materials
After preparing the tools and areas, you can begin preparing the materials. The only method that will help with this is to play the game. Watching a video has a much smaller effect, so this method is not recommended.
Walkthrough and recording: during the game, try to explore as many parts of the locations as possible, analyze which moments are easy or difficult to pass and why. It is best to screenshot or record these moments on video.
Taking notes: As you progress through the game, don’t forget to leave notes on particularly spectacular locations.
After creating records and screenshots, you need to structure the material:
Division by game: It is necessary to separate the entries by game so as not to get confused between them if there are several deconstructions.
Separation by category: It is best to organize the data into folders, for example, “Flow”, “Navigation”, “Riddles”, etc.
Move to notes: Next you need to collate the notes and collected materials in one place.
Materials Analysis
When all the materials are ready, you can begin the analysis:
Study successful location solutions.
Study unsuccessful location decisions so as not to repeat or avoid them.
Look for patterns among level design methods (patterns).
Generate references from screenshots for subsequent recreation.
In places with poor decisions, think about possible improvements.
Analyze why things were done that way in a certain place.
After the analysis, write down the main conclusions: what you liked, what didn’t work, what ideas can be transferred to your projects. Over time, this develops a style and a set of effective techniques, and also helps to understand how to make levels better and more interesting.
The deconstruction process allows you to look at games from a professional perspective and gain a deeper understanding of how good level design works.
