This part took a lot of replaying the trailer over and over, drawing every bit of the environment on paper, but in the end, it paid off in understanding the overall structure of the level. Why can’t Level Designers do the same for level design or any other discipline?įirst, I started to do a mental map of the environment and draw a top-down sketch to see how the map flows, where the edges of the environment are, as well as obstacles and different paths the player can take.

I took this as a study challenge and practice, for my level design blockout skills, just like a concept artist is looking at reference images, using all the things around them to enhance and practice their craft. Therefore, it’s logical to take the matter into your own hands and try to crack the “code”, to understand how they achieve that awesome level from the trailer and try to figure out all the bits and building blocks of the level design behind it. Naughty Dog designers are one of the level design masters in the industry.

This is my personal study analysis, of the level design that is in the video trailer. In the past month after E3 2018, I started my breakdown study of the The Last of Us Part II gameplay trailer level design.