Map Making

I've got the artwork for areas one, two, and three completed. Zooming out on the full map is pretty encouraging. I'm finding out just how tricky level design can be though. There are a lot of things to try to keep in mind as you build each room. Is the player getting lost too easily? Hopefully not, though that's something I'll have to determine mostly through watching someone else play. I have kept the critical path fairly linear. Whenever the path requires backtracking, I try to give the player another way to move through the rooms.

Is there an architecture element that explains the shape of the room?  Sometimes, though I think I'm not the kind of player that stops to ask why this room exists in this world. I'm down for a police station that used to be an art museum that was run by an eccentric puzzle maker who liked funny-shaped keys.  I'd rather it be fun than make perfect sense.  I do try to avoid the more obvious issues, like "why is there a giant industrial fan spinning inside this volcano?" Actually I might do that, soooo it's there to funnel heat to the lower areas of the map. Perfect.

What is the player doing and seeing as they move around? Something I'm focusing on is making sure that when the player comes across a barrier, it leaves a clear visual impression so that they know to come back once they've obtained the ability needed to get passed it. There was a great example of this in Hollow Knight.  There's an ability that makes pink crystals appear under you, and there is a spot where they drew a couple small crystal fragments on the ground as a clue that the player would see, and kind of jog their memory that they have a tool for this situation. Subtle and effective visual language. Makes you feel like you figured it out, and you barely notice that you got a little help.

These are kind of the main things I've been thinking about as I've designed these levels. There are plenty more details to be aware of. Where are enemies placed, how difficult they are, can the player make that jump, are the checkpoints too far apart? Just takes time and playing the level through a bunch to really balance out.