How to Create a Good N Level

Step 6: Look Around You

You know how when you've been playing Tony Hawk for a while, you start seeing places to grind and do a wicked series of tricks as you walk around the real world? Or if you've been playing Burnout a lot, you start to plan gigantic crash sequences as you drive along the highway? Similarly, as you start to really get into making good N levels, you'll start to see shapes and designs you can use in your levels scattered around the real world.

Take a look at the images attached to this step. I've collected some cool images, and made a quick N-level-coloured overlay in Photoshop to illustrate how you might be able to see shapes, patterns and ideas for levels in the things around you.

For us at Metanet, one of the most inspiring sources for N levels has always been architecture. We walk around cities snapping pics of interesting buildings and parts of buildings, and then work the shapes into N levels. You could also check out the Architecture section of your favourite bookstore. Look up Tadao Ando -- his work was one of the first inspirations for N's style.