The Levelord, Ritual Entertainment

"The devil lives in the details."

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Richard "The Levelord" Gray also took some time out to chat with GameSpot and seemed to take a more humble approach to level design. In fact, he is modestly surprised at the amount of glory level designers receive by the gaming community. "You would think that most of the limelight would shine on the programmers, and then the artists just behind them, since the programmers bring us the very game to begin with, and the artists dress it up with everything pleasing to the eyes." He adds jokingly, "The level designers do what? Throw it all together around a few dozen brushes? Tough job!"

As far as making killer Levelord levels, he follows two crucial rules: "Make the level as real as possible and make the player say 'Cool!' as often as possible." He elaborates how "...realism, to me, is the most important element of a killer level. I especially want the player to feel like he's in a real place, and I want the player to be completely immersed in the setting."

For The Levelord, the strongest sense of reality is conjured via the details. "The devil lives in the details, and the more of your level to which the player can attach himself via familiarity, the stronger the player's sense of 'being there' will be, and the better the level will be." According to Richard Gray, this is what puts the lord in Levelord.