So oftentimes it's done as a way to sort of segment a game.
So maybe in a first-person shooter you have a map, right.
In story mode, you might have multiple maps that link together through some kind
of narrative, but ultimately each map is loaded individually.
In something like Myst, which is is an adventure style kind of game,
that you have an over-arching map and
spaces that you can move in and out of, right, like an over-world, but
then when you move inside of a building, you load a different kind of experience.
Those are things to think about, okay.
Another example might be in a sports game, maybe a particular scenarios that play out
or a particular field, so if you're an avid sports gaming fan,
you would notice that certain fields have different average temperatures or
weather conditions that play out, right, that's part of the underlying system.
And so as a level designer, that's really what you're crafting,
are those encapsulated experiences that fit together into the overall.
So why are levels used in a game?
Because it's a good question to ask yourself.
So we have Donkey Kong here,
because Donkey Kong is a game made up of levels, right, of various difficulties.
And so sometimes they're used because,
well they're logical breaks, right, like in a story line.
Maybe there's a difficulty or tension, right, and
you want to be able to sort of ramp up over time.
Sometimes level design is about introducing concepts to a player.
Maybe it's the first time they've encountered a particular weapon or
a particular powerup, and those are important things.
They also allow you to mark progress.
It allows you to let the player know hey, you're moving through this game,
you're progressing further, you're moving through the ultimate arc of the game.
And so that's useful.