Not really, considering back then designers had to INVENT THEIR OWN GOD DAMN GAME ENGINE
You sure tell me with your size 7 font man. And designers didn't have to invent their own god damn game engine, it was programmed like any engine programmed today. I don't see how this factors into the topic at hand.
and software now days makes game creation rather easy. Time consuming due to the level of detail yes, but easy.
Because engine usability has anything to do with how complex level designs get.
Face it, the industry is just lazy and looking to make easy money now, just like the film industry. I haven't seen a new IP that is an original idea from one of those "AAA studios" in forever.
Oh please. There has been a shift away from very complex layouts in levels, because back in the Doom days, that is literally all there was to games. Figure out where the coloured keys are, find their respective doors, get to the end. Why bother with narrative, storytelling through environment, characters, exposition, and all that jazz? We can just make complex layouts.
Nowadays the aforementioned is an actual part of game development rather than an afterthought (where I work, anyway), and the resulting levels are no less complex, they're just complex in different ways than a bunch of extra rooms and corridors. I don't know about you, but I'll take all of those complexities over a bigger level to explore any day.
Your statement and say that the industry is in it for the easy money is patent nonsense, not to mention generalizing. I go to work everyday with passionate folks, and we don't EVER go into an idea with "yeah but this isn't the easy way out you guys".
As an aside, there's a broader topic here with trends in the industry based on consumer behaviour. There are constant changes happening to technology, the way people play games, and how much time the average gamer (which is now 33 years old apparently) has to play games. It just seems to me that posting ironic funny pictures about "simplifying" level design is fairly undeserved.