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What does a good game consist of? (part 14)

Basics of level design

What is difference between "overall" game design and level design? In my opinion a good game designer should be well-skilled in basics of level design and vice-versa.

What should a "in-general" game designer know then about level design? First of all, how to use a 3d modeler, 3D paint, the game engine if one exists.

What about the other way around: what should a level designer know about game mechanism design? A level designer in a RPG(role-playing game) should be very well-informed of the story and quests.

Furthermore, a level designer should understand how to make levels which encourage replayability.
What kind of levels would encourage it?
-the hardest form would be non-linear quests, which we already described
-an easier form would be a well-calculated difficulty system
-wide open large manually created world(like Darkfall Online)
-lots of Achievements which would prove player's skills even after one has beaten the campaign mode

I think the level design belongs into the GDD! Also I think a level designer should know the basics of the game's level engine usage(Cocos2D, Unreal Editor).

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