User blog:Pauolo/Organizing the levels of BioShock Infinite

Since this particular question had been put on hold since the release of the game, I feel we should finally decide how to organize the various levels/locations of BioShock Infinite.

The main issue we are encountering so far is what can be considered a major level/chapter, and what is simply an area inside those levels. As opposed to the previous games in the series which had one map per location or district, usually featuring a single theme or main objective, Infinite is mostly a bunch of maps succeeding one after another, with no real notion of chapters either and making some districts bigger than others. For example, all areas from Battleship Bay to the First Lady's Aerodrome are in fact parts of the Soldier's Field theme park, though what is called Soldier's Field as you explore it in-game is just two maps. Listing levels per district would mean having too much informations on a few pages, since the only real district encountered in-game are Comstock Center, Monument Island, Soldier's Field, Finkton and Emporia (Comstock House is anchored to it). Listing only 5 levels in a template is really too few, compared to those of BioShock and ''BioShock 2.

Now, what I'd like to propose is listing levels according to how the official strategy guide does, with a few exceptions. The reason being is that in this way, levels (or chapters) are neither too big nor small, and so we can condense informations on enough pages without overloading them. The result, without linking it on the main location template, would look like that:

Now for a detailed list of what contains what:
 * The Lighthouse
 * Comstock Center
 * Welcome Center
 * Garden of New Eden
 * New Eden Square
 * The Faigrounds (where we get Possession)
 * Raffle Square
 * Path of the Scroll (just after seeing the Luteces and their coin-flip test)
 * Shady Lane


 * Comstock Center Rooftops
 * Blue Ribbon Restaurant
 * The Freight Hooks
 * Lansdowne Residence
 * Montgomery Residence
 * Fraternal Order of the Raven


 * Monument Island
 * Monument Island Gateway
 * Monument Tower
 * Specimen Observation


 * Battleship Bay
 * Upper Boardwalk
 * The Arcade
 * Park Ticketing
 * Gondola Station


 * Soldier's Field (which acts as a hub between the Bay and the Hall)
 * Soldier's Field Welcome Center
 * The Fellow Traveler
 * Patriot's Pride Pavilion
 * First Lady's Aerodrome (because it's not really a map by itself)


 * Hall of Heroes
 * Hall of Heroes Plaza
 * Peking Exhibit
 * Wounded Knee Exhibit
 * First Lady's Memorial
 * Gift Shop
 * Courtyard


 * Finkton Docks
 * Beggar's Wharf
 * Fort Franklin
 * Induction Center Terrace


 * Finkton Proper (acting as a hub between the docks, Shantytown and the factory)
 * Worker Induction Center
 * Plaza of Zeal
 * Gunsmith Shop
 * Good Time Club


 * Shantytown
 * Graveyard Shift
 * Bull Yard (the area in front of the police station)
 * Bull House Impound (the station)


 * Factory
 * Courtyard
 * Office of Jeremiah Fink
 * Factory Rooftops


 * Emporia
 * Port Prosperity
 * Grand Central Depot
 * Salty Oyster
 * Founders Books


 * Downtown Emporia
 * Thoroughfare (area in front of the bank)
 * Harmony Lane (or Harmony Way? need to check that)
 * Comstock Victory Square (or Z.H. Comstock Victory Square)
 * Market District
 * Memorial Gardens
 * Lutece Labs
 * Magical Melodies
 * Cunningham Studios
 * Bank of the Prophet


 * Comstock House
 * Her Loving Embrace
 * Atrium
 * Where We Sleep
 * Where We Work
 * Warden's Office
 * Operating Theater (I think that's the Surgery described in the guide)
 * Library
 * Comstock House Roof


 * Hand of the Prophet
 * Hangar Bay
 * Engineering Deck
 * Command Deck
 * Bridge


 * Sea of Doors

So this brings the number of chapters to 16, which I believe is good enough to represent the length of the game. Now if you approve (or not) this listing, please be free to add any comment to this blog. Just be aware that I'd like to solve this problem once and for all before the release of Burial at Sea.