Minecraft Dungeons is an Action-RPG by Mojang Studios, released in 2020. I joined the project in early 2018 and worked on all the levels for the base game along with another level designer.
I also worked on most of the levels for the Flames of the Nether DLC. While I did make several tiles for the remaining 4 DLCs, the majority of my work on them consisted of playtesting and writing feedback to Double Eleven who hadled most of the work for these releases.
Procedural Level Structure
Levels in Dungeons are procedurally generated, but not to the same degree as regular Minecraft. As a level designer, I built hundreds of handcrafted tiles with intentional flow and design in mind. These tiles are then randomly picked by the generator from a specified tile pool and strung together via preset entrance points (doorways) to form a cohesive game level based on the structure of a json file written by the level designer.
Image below showcases what a typical tile might look like.
Diagram below illustrates an example of how a procedural level is structured.
Anchor Tiles
To give levels a cohesive structure and pacing, certain tiles always spawn at predefined intervals. These tiles are designed with a more specific flow and purpose in mind and usually contain landmarks, unique challenges, gimmicks or quests. Anchor tiles are generally picked from a much smaller pool size compared to other tiles.
Examples of anchor tiles I made for the game.
Playable spaces – Combat vs non-combat
- Navigation and exploration: While each level is linear in nature, the team always felt that exploration was an important aspect of the core loop. While there are a number of wide and open areas in the game, we found that allowing players traverse freely between multiple overlapping and adjacent paths toward the same goal helped create a tight and focused experience without being too restrictive. Players were thus given the power of choice while simultaneously pushing them forward.
Combat spaces can generally be broken down into two categories:
- Generic Combat: This refers to combat that occurs sporadically throughout the game. Dense combat generally means more open areas to help combatants navigate the battlefield. These areas quite often also utilize multiple adjacent paths.
- Arena Combat: There are times when players briefly find themselves locked within a confined area and must defeat waves of spawning enemies before they are allowed to proceed. These arenas either present themselves as large open spaces where players find themselves besieged from all directions or built as a loop that lets players kite and outmaneuver their otherwise overwhelming foe.
The image illustrates the use of multiple adjacent paths.
Example of generic combat space.
An arena space that loops and lets players maneuver around enemies instead of taking them on all at once.
Exploration and Secrets
There is plenty of loot and secrets hidden across levels between the paths most traveled. Hidden doors, forgotten chests, alternative routes and unlockable bonus levels reward those with a keen eye and encourage players to seek out that which lies hidden. These are all important aspects that serve to make the game world feel larger and more complex while also allowing players to feel clever when discovering them.
The courtyard well in Highblock Halls can be accessed as an alternative means to reach the royal kitchen instead of looking for the key.
A switch hidden in plain sight reveals a secret room.
Traveling deeper into Creeper Woods allows players to discover the location of the Creepy Crypt bonus level.
Gimmicks and Quests
Creation of gimmicks and their relation to quests.
Minecarts are a moving hazard for mobs and players as they travel along the rails in Redstone Mines.
Spinning blades and moving wall-crushers jump to life as soon as the corresponding floor-switch is pressed.
Level Structure – Linear vs Sprawling
Description of level structures. Go through the different types of design, what went into them and why.
Most levels follow a somewhat linear design where the main path is fairly obvious.
Creepy Crypt and the Underhalls are examples of a sprawling and labyrinthine level structure.