Level design

Where this conflicts with the roblox-lessons skill, roblox-lessons wins.

A level is a sequence of intentional experiences delivered through space. Design is a process: derive metrics, block out, play, then dress. Never dress first.

On Roblox

• Metrics come from the Humanoid.
  • Defaults: WalkSpeed 16 studs/s, JumpHeight 7.2 studs, Workspace.Gravity 196.2 studs/s².
  • So a flat running jump clears about 8.5 studs, and a character is about 5 studs tall.
  • Re-derive the numbers if upgrades raise walk speed. Measure them in play.
• Blocking walls: anything under 7.2 studs can be jumped. A wall that must block gets an invisible collider above that height.
• Build the world from a builder script (a Rojo-synced ModuleScript run in Edit), never by hand-placing objects that code depends on. The blockout is the builder with plain Parts; dressing swaps in assets later. Keep a separate folder for user decoration that the builder never touches.
• Server-enforced gates: progression gates (a rebirth tier, a key, a pass) are checked on the server for every action in the zone. A client may make a gate non-solid locally, but that is cosmetic.
• StreamingEnabled:
  • On: big worlds and lower memory, but far instances may not exist on the client. Use bounded WaitForChild, ModelStreamingMode = Persistent for anchors clients must always resolve, and RequestStreamAroundAsync before teleports.
  • Off: simpler, but everything loads, so budget the part count for phones.
• Fast travel: Character:PivotTo(target.CFrame) to named target parts. Guidance can use a PathfindingService route drawn as a trail, a Beam and a Highlight.
• Terrain snaps to a 4-stud grid. Turn the terrain under paths to a grassless material so grass doesn't poke through.

Workflow

1. Derive metrics (speed, jump, reach, camera) and size every gap, ledge, path and fence in them.
2. Block out the whole level with primitives at the correct scale, and validate flow, sightlines and reachability while changes are cheap.
3. Define the critical path (start to goal) and the golden path most players take. Hang optional branches off it.
4. Pace it as a rising sawtooth of tension and rest, with a breather before each spike.
5. Teach, then test: introduce each mechanic somewhere safe, let the player practise, then test it under pressure.
6. Gate with intent: locks, abilities and progression tiers. Guide with light, lines and landmarks rather than walls.
7. Playtest and iterate: watch where players get lost, stuck or bored, and fix the blockout before dressing.

Patterns

• Pacing as data: a list of beats { area, type = "teach" | "combat" | "rest" | "climax", intensity }. Read the intensity column: it should rise overall with dips, never flatline.
• Gating graph: areas with exits that may need a key or ability, and areas that grant them. A flood fill that only crosses an exit once its requirement is obtainable proves there is no soft-lock.

Pitfalls

• Dressing before the layout plays well.
• Geometry that ignores metrics: impossible gaps, jumpable "walls", paths narrower than the camera needs.
• Flat pacing, or testing a mechanic before teaching it.
• Soft-locks: a gate whose key is only reachable past the gate.
• Nothing to draw the eye, so players get lost.
• Unsignposted one-way drops.
• Client-only gates that exploiters walk through.
• Hand-edited builder-owned objects, lost on the next rebuild.

References

• references/pacing-and-flow.md: the tension curve, the teaching loop, paths and gating tools, readability, hub-and-spoke worlds, and a blockout review checklist.

Related: game-feel, game-ui-ux, roblox-lessons.

Adapted from awesome-gamedev-agent-skills (Apache-2.0). Modified; see SOURCE.md.