Level design and devlopment part 1 introduction to level design
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This document outlines a course on level design and development in gaming, focusing on key concepts such as game design documents, user experience, and character development. It explores the evolution of video games from their inception in the 1950s through various genres and the roles of development teams including programmers, artists, and producers. Key topics also include the history of video game development, important game types, and the structure of game creation teams.
Level design and devlopment part 1 introduction to level design
- 1. DISCIPLINE MINOR ELECTIVE AFT: 720 Credit: 3 Level design and development 1
- 2. Course overview Through this course students can learn and understand the fundamentals of level design and development. CO1:: Identify the challenges and action at the heart of game play . CO2:: Write a variety of useful game design documents. CO3:: Understand the essentials of user experience design and how to define a game look and feel. CO4:: Develop variety of level and environment according to genre. CO5:: Develop appealing game characters and world that player wants to visit , including persistent worlds. CO6:: Prepare game bible with GDD documents with some case studies. Course outcomes Keywords 2 Core topic 1. Introduction of game level design 2. Game writing 3. Paper work for game 4. The three CS 5. HUD design 6. Nut and bolts of mechanics 7. Player system
- 3. 3 1. Lecture 1.Introduction of game level design Topic covered: 1. What is game and video game 2. History of video game 3. Game genre 4. Who makes this stuff? 5. It is all about idea 6. Level design introduction 7. Level design principles 8. Layouts 9. Level design process 10. Pitfalls of level design
- 4. So, let ’s take a basic question: 4 1. Lecture What is a game?
- 5. What is game? 5 1. Lecture Answer is: A game is an activity that • requires at least one player • has rules • has a victory condition
- 6. So, let ’s take an another basic question: 6 1. Lecture What is video a game?
- 7. What is game? 7 1. Lecture Answer is: A video game is a game that is played on a video screen.
- 8. 1. Introduction of game level design 1. Brief history of video game 8 1. Lecture
- 9. Brief history of video game 9 1. Lecture Playing hand ball may therefore seem like a time - waster, but a time – waster becomes a game when you add rules and an objective. A rule may be to throw the ball with your right hand and catch it with your left, or to not drop the ball. A victory condition could be that you have to catch the ball ten times in a row. A failure state would be if you violated any of the rules or victory conditions. Once those criteria have been met, you have created a game. Illogically, while simple, hand ball was enough of a game to inspire the creators of one of the earliest video games: Tennis for Two.
- 10. Brief history of video game 10 1. Lecture The 1950s. The dawn of television, 3 - D movies, and rock ‘ n ’ roll. Video games were invented in the 1950s too, only they were played by a very few people on very large computers. The first video game programmers were students in the computer labs of large universities like MIT and employees of military facilities at Brookhaven National Laboratories. Early games like OXO (1952), Spacewar! (1962), and Colossal Cave (1976) had very simple or even no graphics at all. They were displayed on very small black and white oscilloscope screens.
- 11. Brief history of video game 11 1. Lecture After playing Spacewar! at the University of Utah ’ s computer lab, future Atari founders Ted Dabney and Nolan Bushnell were inspired to create Computer Space, the first arcade video game, in 1971. While (despite the name) the first arcade games could be found in bars, arcades dedicated to video games began appearing by the late 1970s.
- 12. 16th century Nim game In this game two players alternate in their efforts to remove matchsticks from a series of matches. The players decide how many matches they remove. In 1940 machine versions of Nim game were released called "Nimatron" The Game Evolution 12
- 13. Tic toc toe, 1952 A.S. Douglas wrote his PhD degree at the University of Cambridge on Human-Computer interaction. Douglas created the first graphical computer game - a version of Tic-Tac- Toe.. The game was programmed on a EDSAC vacuum-tube computer. The EDSAC was the world's first stored-program computer to operate a regular computing service The Game Evolution 13
- 14. Tenic for two, 1958 Higinbotham, William The Game Evolution 14
- 15. Spacewar, 1962 Steave russhal The Game Evolution 15
- 16. Pong, 1972 Design by Allan Alcorn Manufactured by Atari The Game Evolution 16
- 17. Pack man, 1980 Design by Toru Iwatani Released by Namco The Game Evolution 17
- 18. Super mario bros, 1985 Design by Shigeru Miyamoto, Takashi Tezuka Released by Nintendo The Game Evolution 18
- 19. Wolfenstein 3D, 1992 Design by id Software, John Romero, Tom Hall Published by Apogee Software and FormGen First-person shooter video game The Game Evolution 19
- 20. •1993: Day of the Tentacle •1994: The Lion King •1995: Command & Conquer •1996: Tomb Raider •1997: Gta •1998: Half Life •1999: Quake 3 •2000: Max Payne •2001: Gta 3 •2002: Serious Sam: The First Encounter •2003: Medal Of Honor Allied Assault •2004: Half Life 2 •2005: World Of Warcraft •2006: Need For Speed Most Wanted •2007: Crysis •2008: Assassin's Creed •2009: Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Class activity: Explore these games The Game Evolution 20
- 21. 1. Introduction of game level design 2. Game genre 21 2. Lecture
- 22. Game genre 22 1. Lecture Over the years, gaming has splintered off into many different genres and subgenres. A game genre is used to describe the style of particular gameplay. 1. Action: Games that require hand/eye coordination to play. The action genre has several subgenres: Action adventure: This combination of genres features an emphasis on item collection and usage, puzzle solving, and long term story related goals. Examples: The Prince of Persia and Tomb Raider series.
- 23. Game genre 23 1. Lecture Action arcade: Any game presented in the style of early arcade games with an emphasis on gameplay, scoring, and short play time. Examples: Dig Dug, Diner Dash. Platformer: A platform game often features a mascot character jumping (or swinging or bouncing) through challenging “ platform ” environments. Shooting and fighting may also be involved. At one time, the platformer was the most popular subgenre in gaming. Examples: Nintendo ’ s Mario titles ( Super Mario World, Mario 64, and Super Mario Galaxy).
- 24. Game genre 24 1. Lecture Stealth: An action game with an emphasis on avoiding enemies rather than directly fighting them. Examples: the Metal Gear series and Thief: The Dark Project. Fighting: A game where two or more opponents battle in arena settings. Fighting games are distinguished from action games for the depth of their player controls. Examples: the Street Fighter series and the Mortal Kombat series.
- 25. Game genre 25 1. Lecture 2. Shooter: shooters focus primarily on firing projectiles at enemies. While fast- paced and twitch (Snaked) oriented, like action games, this genre has evolved to include several subgenres that are distinguished by their camera view: First person shooter: A shooter as seen from the player ’ s perspective. The tighter camera view is more limiting but more personal than in a third person shooter. Examples: Quake, Team Fortress 2.
- 26. Game genre 26 1. Lecture Shoot em up: Shoot ‘ em ups (or shmups for short) are arcade – style shooters where players shoot large quantities of enemies while avoiding hazards. The player ’ s avatar in a shmup is usually a vehicle (such as a spaceship) rather than a character. They can be presented from several different camera angles. Examples: Space Invaders, the Contra series.
- 27. Game genre 27 1. Lecture Third person shooter (TPS): A shooter where the camera is placed further behind the player, allowing for a partial or full view of the player ’ s character and their surroundings. Despite the wider view, the emphasis on gameplay remains on shooting. Examples: the Star Wars Battlefront and Grand Theft Auto series. 3. Adventure: Adventure games focus on puzzle solving, and item collection and inventory management. Early adventure games were solely text based. Examples: Colossal Cave, the King ’ s Quest, and Leisure Suit Larry series.
- 28. Game genre 28 1. Lecture Graphical adventure: this subgenre has players use a mouse or cursor to click to uncover clues and navigate around. Examples: Myst, Monkey Island, and the Sam and Max series. Role - playing game (RPG) this subgenre is based on pen and paper role - playing games like Dungeons and Dragons. Players choose a character class and increase their statistical abilities through combat, exploration, and treasure finding. Characters can either be specific characters or generic character classes. Examples: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and the Mass Effect series.
- 29. Game genre 29 1. Lecture Massively multiplayer online role - playing game (MMORPG): an RPG that can support hundreds of players together in one environment. MMORPGs are known for player vs player gameplay. Examples: World of Warcraft, DC Universe Online. Survival/horror— players attempt to survive a horror scenario with limited resources, such as sparse ammunition. Examples: the Resident Evil series, the Silent Hill series.
- 30. More game genre 30 1. Lecture 4. Construction/management: this genre has players build and expand a location with limited resources. They can be based on stories or “ toys. ” SimCity and Zoo Tycoon are examples of this genre. 5. Life simulation: similar to the management genre, but revolving around building and nurturing relationships with artificial life forms. The Sims and Princess Maker titles are both life simulators. • Pet simulation: based on the Tamagotchi digital pet pocket games, though often now much expanded, pet simulators revolve around nurturing animals through feeding and relationships. World of Zoo is an example of this. 6. Music/rhythm: the player tries to match a rhythm or beat to score points. They can be as simple as the game Simon or as complex as Rock Band.
- 31. More game genre 31 1. Lecture 7. Party: party games are specifically designed for multiple players and are based on competitive play. More often than not, gameplay is presented in the minigame format. Examples: Mario Party and Buzz! 8. Puzzle: puzzle games are based on logic and pattern completion. They can be slow, methodical or use hand/eye coordination. Examples: The Incredible Machine or Tetris. 9. Sports: these are games based on athletic competitions, whether they are traditional or extreme. It is common to see annual versions of these titles. Examples: the Madden series, the Tony Hawk series. • Sports management: rather than directly playing the sport, players manage players or teams. Examples: the FIFA Manager series, the NFL Head Coach series.
- 32. More game genre 32 1. Lecture 10. Strategy: from chess to Sid Meir ’ s Civilization, thinking and planning are the hallmarks of strategy games. They take place in both historical and fictitious settings. • Real time strategy (RTS): similar to turn - based games, these faster- paced games focus on the “ four X ’ s ” : expansion, exploration, exploitation, and extermination. RTS has become the dominant strategy subgenre. Examples: Command and Conquer series, the Dawn of War series. • Turn based: the slower pace of these games allows players time to think, providing more opportunity for strategy to be employed. Examples: the X - Com series, the Advance Wars series. • Tower defense: a relatively new subgenre on PC and handheld systems where players create automated projectile - shooting “ towers ” that keep enemies at bay. Examples: Defense Grid: The Awakening, Lock ’ s Quest.
- 33. More game genre 33 1. Lecture 11. Vehicle simulation: players simulate piloting/driving a vehicle, from a sports car to a spaceship. Emphasis is placed on making the experience as “ real ” as possible. Examples: Lunar Lander, Densha de Go! 64. • Driving: players race and upgrade vehicles, from motorcycles to hovercrafts. Driving games can be ultra - realistic experiences or more action oriented. Examples: the Gran Turismo series, the NASCAR Racing series, Wave Race and SSX. • Flying: players pilot aircraft either for the pleasure of flying as in the Microsoft Flight Simulator series or into combat as seen in the Ace Combat and Blazing Angels series. You can even fly into outer space as in Star fox and the X - Wing/TIE Fighter series. Others: Adult games, serious games, advert games, and vehicular combat are other classifications that fit within several games genre.
- 34. 3. Who Makes this Stuff? 34
- 35. Who Makes this Stuff? 35 1. Lecture Video game teams that produce games are known as developers or development teams. They are similar to a production team that makes a movie or TV show — several creative people all working together to create entertainment. An average production team includes numerous members. 1. Programmer: Using programming languages such as C++, C#, Python, Boo, Java and other, a programmer writes the code that allows a games text and graphics to be displayed, develops the control systems that allow a player to interact with the game, creates the camera system that allows the player to view the game world, programs the physics system that affects the player and game world, writes the AI system that controls enemies and object scripting(Codes). One programmer may work exclusively on tools to help team members build the game more in better way .
- 36. Who Makes this Stuff? 36 1. Lecture 2. Artist: In the early days of video games, programmers created all a games art. Because that early art was so blocky and crude, we now call placeholder game art “ programmer art. Just like with programming, video game art has become a specialized job. • A concept artist uses both traditional medium and computers to draw game characters, worlds, and enemies etc. • Storyboard artists illustrate the games cinematics and sometimes elements of gameplay design to be passed along to other artists and animators. • 3D Modelers and environmental artists build characters and environments using programs such as Maya and 3D Studio Max. • Texture artists literally paint surfaces onto 3D models and locations. • Visual effects artists create spectacular visual effects using a combination of 2 D and 3D art.
- 37. Who Makes this Stuff? 37 1. Lecture • A user interface (UI) artist designs icons and elements that are used in the games interface and HUD. • Animators animate the player character and create cutscenes exactly like they do in big budget animated movies. • Technical artists help every artist on the team by doing a variety of tasks, including rigging models to allow animators to move them and teaching fellow artists the latest tools and technology. • The art director supervises the work of all the artists while maintaining the artistic vision for the entire project. Regardless of what kind of art position you are interested in. Make sure you study the basics and keep drawing!
- 38. Who Makes this Stuff? 38 1. Lecture 3. Designer: A game designer needs to possess many, many skills, least of which is to love to play games. As a game designer, you should be able to tell the difference between a good and bad game and, more importantly, communicate why. Just like with programmers and artists, design is becoming a specialized profession. • Level designers create paper maps, build “ grey box ” worlds using 3D programs, and populate the levels with everything from enemies to treasure. • System designers develop how the game elements relate to one another, whether it is the games economy or technology tree. • Scripters use tools to write code that allow things to happen within the game, from springing a trap to choreographing a camera movement. • Combat designers specialize in player vs enemy combat and “ balancing ” the player ’ s experience • creative director maintains the vision of the game while supervising the other designers; often offering suggestions for improving their work.
- 39. Who Makes this Stuff? 39 1. Lecture 4. Producer: The producer ’ s responsibilities include hiring and building teams, writing contracts, contributing to the game ’ s design, managing the team ’ s work schedule, balancing the game ’ s budget, resolving disputes between creative and programming leads, acting as the team representative to upper management and publishers, coordinating the creation of outside resources such as art, music and cutscenes, and arranging testing and localization. Producers are usually the first team member on and the last team member off of a game ’ s production. Because there are many things for a producer to do, often you will find assistant and associate producers helping out with day to day tasks.
- 40. Who Makes this Stuff? 40 1. Lecture 5. Tester: While testers work long hours, work in cramped environments, and have to play games to a degree that many would classify as mind - numbingly boring, being a tester requires more skills than you may think. A good tester has patience, persistence, and great communication skills to report back any problems (or “bugs” ) they find in the game. It’s not a glamorous job, but without testers, we would be plagued with games that crash upon loading, have crappy cameras, broken combat systems, and unfair difficulty balances. Quality assurance (or QA)16 is crucial to the successful completion of a game. Publishers hold games to a rigorous standard of quality so the game that you buy is (mostly) bug free.
- 41. Who Makes this Stuff? 41 1. Lecture 6. Composer: Music is extremely important to the gaming experience, and a composer creates that music. Most modern composers create their music on a keyboard, as they can be used to simulate any musical instrument. As sound technology has improved, many composers have created actual “ live ” and orchestral pieces; this requires a whole new set of skills, including conducting an orchestra. If you want to become a composer, then write some music, record it, and get your samples into the hands of a game producer. Writing music for games is somewhat different than writing music for movies. Most game themes are either very short or have to repeat over and over again. Being able to compose powerful and exciting music with these limitations in mind will make your music more appealing than someone who just writes “ songs 17. ”
- 42. Who Makes this Stuff? 42 1. Lecture 7. Sound designer: Unlike a composer who creates the music for a game, the sound designer creates all the sound effects that are used in a game. Personally, I think sound design is a lot of fun. Games tend to come to life once sound is added to them. That is why it is important to even have placeholder sound effects. However, a good sound designer needs to understand the game he is working on and how to create sounds that help the player with the game. A sound designer can make a sound effect sound happy, deadly, scary, or like a big pile of treasure.
- 43. Who Makes this Stuff? 43 1. Lecture 8. Writer: However, a writer is not usually a full time team position. Most likely they are a freelancer who is brought into the game ’ s production for one of the following reasons: • To rewrite the design team ’ s story into something that makes sense once everyone on the team realizes that it is drivel. • To write dialogue for the game characters and cutscenes once everyone on the team realizes that writing good dialogue is actually hard to do. • To make elements in the game clearer to understand, as in the case of instructional or directional prompts. • To write the games manual and any fictional support material, such as character biographies, that will appear on the publisher ’ s website. • To add some “ star power ” to the back of the box. This comes and goes depending on how important the game industry is feeling about the worth of “ name writers ” at the time.
- 44. Who Makes this Stuff? 44 1. Lecture 9. Product manager: Much like a game producer, a product manager works with the development team and manages them based on the agreed production schedule. 10. Creative manager: Creative managers are usually game designers or writers who are working in publishing. Like product managers, a creative managers involvement on a game can vary from publisher to publisher. 11. Art director: An art director is similar to a creative manager, but only deals with the games art. Art directors can help a team create a visual style for their game and take their game in directions that weren’t previously considered by the team. 12. Technical director: A technical director comes from a programming background. They review and recommend tools and software to teams to help them work more efficiently.
- 45. 1. Introduction of game level design 4.It is all about idea 45 4. Lecture
- 46. It is all about idea 46 1. Lecture Ideas: Where to Get Them and Where to Stick Them The traditional way to get an idea is to get inspired. The good news is that a good game idea can come from anywhere. Here is a list of things I do to get inspired. I suggest you try them yourself the next time you need to come up with an idea. 1. Read something you normally wouldn't ’ t read 2. Take a walk, drive or shower 3. Attend a lecture 4. Play a game, preferably a bad one/random 5. Regardless of the above, follow your passion
- 47. It is all about idea 47 1. Lecture
- 48. It is all about idea 48 1. Lecture Inspirational Ideas • Space Panic’ s (Universal, 1980) walking character climbed ladders and dug holes to temporarily stun enemies. • Donkey Kong (Nintendo, 1981) added jumping and a power- up that could defeat enemies. • Popeye (Nintendo, 1982) introduced moving collectables and environmental mechanics that the player could interact with. • Pitfall! (Activision, 1982) added alternate moves including vine – swinging and hopping on alligators ’ heads. • Mario Bros. (Nintendo, 1983) added a second player and enemies that could be defeated by the player ’ s skill rather than just a power- up. • Pac - Land (Namco, 1984) featured a world map, a variety of themed levels and dynamic hazards.
- 49. It is all about idea 49 1. Lecture Inspirational Ideas • Ghosts ‘ N ’ Goblins (Capcom, 1985) featured multiple weapons including projectiles, health (in the form of armor that shattered off), and combatable “ boss ” monsters. • Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo, 1985) launched a wave of imitators who were inspired by its tight controls, whimsical environments, and creative level design. • Dark Castle’ s (Silicon Beach Software, 1986) hero Duncan could “ hide ” from enemies. It was also the first game where players didn't immediately die from falling, but rather ended up in the dungeon. • Mega Man (Capcom, 1987) introduced themed stages ending with similarly themed bosses who possessed powers that could be gained by the player once they were defeated. • Crash Bandicoot (Universal, 1996) used 3 - D models and environments to create the camera view called “ 2.5 - D.” • Mario 64 (Nintendo, 1996) brought all of the gameplay of the Marioplatform
- 50. It is all about idea 50 1. Lecture Q:What do Gamers Want? A: GAMERS WANT GOOD GAMES Of course, there is no guarantee that your game will be good. While no one sets out to make bad games, bad games still get made. You can lay the blame of a bad game at the feet of a multitude of reasons, which we will be covering later on. • As you are developing your idea, you need to know “ What audience is my game for? ” • You need to decide who your game idea is for: the casual or the hardcore player. • You can rule out certain design decisions early on by setting the audience in stone near the beginning of the idea development process.
- 51. It is all about idea 51 1. Lecture Don ’ t forget to ask this important question: “ What is the age of my audience? ” For example, an 8 - year- old kid wants to play a game that is made for a 10 - year- old kid. A 10 - year- old kid wants to play a game that is made for a 13 - year- old kid. A 13 - year- old kid wants to play a game that is made for an 18 year old. Many kids aren’t interested in playing games directly targeting their age range. If asked, they will tell you “ that ’ s a game for my little brother. ” Believe me, in kid language, there is no greater put down!
- 52. It is all about idea 52 1. Lecture When coming up with ideas, you have do to brainstorm. To brainstorm properly, you need the following five things: 1. A working brain (if you have) 2. Something to write with 3. Something to write on 4. A place to work 5. Collaborators, preferably ones who also have working brains.
- 53. It is all about idea 53 1. Lecture Before you start brainstorming, you need to set some ground rules. First, there is no such thing as a stupid or bad idea. Say yes to everything at this stage. Make sure you collaborate with people from other disciplines than game design: programmers, artists, testers, writers. The more diverse your brainstorming group is the better9. People always surprise me with what they bring to the idea creation process. Think about all the things you want your game to be. Then write them down. Your goal is to free associate an idea as far as it can go. Milk the idea completely. When you have reached the ridiculous, then squeeze it once more and let it go.
- 54. It is all about idea 54 1. Lecture Breaking Writer ’ s Block What do you do when the ideas won ’ t come? There ’ s no need to be ashamed. Everyone gets creatively stopped up from time to time. Here are a few tricks to try when you are dealing with writer ’ s block. 1. Narrow your focus: Maybe you are trying to think of too many things at once. Tackle your problems one by one by making an outline or breaking things down to a minute level if you have to. Give yourself a time line to complete each of these tasks, but don ’ t take days. Try to get them done in hours. 2. Take a walk or exercise: Everyone knows the brain is fueled by blood. Don ’ t let that blood coagulate in your butt; get outside and move around. When your blood starts circulating again, the new ideas will be coming back in no time.
- 55. It is all about idea 55 1. Lecture 3. Deal with something else that may be distracting you: Sometimes when I am stuck it is because I am worrying about something else. It may be an unfiled expense report or a floor that needs vacuuming. Take a break and deal with whatever is bothering you. When it is done, it won ’ t be a concern anymore! 4. Change your environment: I find that my office is full of distractions. E - mail beckons, video games call out to be played, and game design documents flutter their little pages at me, begging to be read. When this happens, I get out of my office and go to the nearest conference room to work. Or sometimes I go outside to sit in the sun and get some “ vitamin D. ”
- 56. It is all about idea 56 1. Lecture Universal Truths and Clever Ideas: • All gamers want are good games. • You have no guarantee that your game is going to be fun. • Start with a “ fun ” idea. As you develop the game, remove the “ un - fun. ” All that should be left is the fun. • Don ’ t be so dear with your ideas. Throw out some good ideas along with the bad if they don ’ t fit or have more than you need. • Ideas are cheap, it ’ s how you use them that matters. • If you ’ re stuck, take a break — but don ’ t procrastinate.
- 57. 1. Introduction of game level design 5. Level design introduction 57 3. Lecture
- 58. Level design introduction 58 1. Lecture Level design is the process of constructing the experience that the game offers directly to the player, using the components provided by the game design: the characters, challenges, actions, game world, core mechanics, and storyline if there is one. These components do not have to be completely finished in order for level design to begin, but enough must be in place for a level designer to have something to work with. In the early part of the elaboration stage, the level designers work to create a typical first playable level.
- 59. Level design introduction 59 1. Lecture This level should not be the first one that the player encounters because the first level in the game is atypical as the player is still learning to play the game. Rather, it’s called first playable because it’s the first one the level designers create. Creating a working first playable level is an important milestone in the development of a game because it means that testers can begin testing it. We will discuss this in future session.
- 60. Level design introduction 60 1. Lecture If you have ever found yourself admiring the environment of a game or enjoying the way the game’s challenges keep you guessing, you are appreciating the work of that game’s level designer. The level designer creates not only the space in which the game takes place—its furnishings and backgrounds—but also the player’s moment-by-moment experience of the game, and much of its emotional context.
- 61. Level design introduction 61 1. Lecture Successful level designers draw on fundamental design principles that apply to any kind of game, such as ensuring the player always knows his short-term goals and the consequences of risks, as well as design principles specific to the type of game being designed. Level designers work closely with the game designer to make sure layouts are appropriate for the storyline and to achieve the atmosphere and pacing required to keep players engaged in the game world.
- 62. Level design introduction 62 1. Lecture Level design will not be a quick and easy process if you do it right. The final section details problems to avoid in the level design process, including the key directive to never lose sight of your audience. Design Components and Processes described level design as the process of constructing the experience that will be offered directly to the player, using components provided by the game designer. Note that the terms game designer and level designer are not interchangeable but refer to separate roles that, on larger development teams, are almost always played by different members of the team.
- 63. Level design introduction 63 1. Lecture Level designers create the following essential parts of the player’s experience: 1. The space in which the game takes place, If the game includes a simulated space, as most do, then level design includes creating that space using a 2D or 3D modeling tool. While game designers determine what kinds of things will be in the game world, level designers determine precisely what features will be in each level of the game world and where these features will be. Level designers take the game designer’s general plans for levels and make them specific and implement. 2. The initial conditions of the level, including the state of various changeable features the number of artificial opponents the player faces, the amounts of any resources that the player controls at the beginning of the level, and the location of resources that may be found in the landscape.
- 64. Level design introduction 64 1. Lecture 3. The set of challenges the player will face within the level, Many games offer challenges in a linear sequence; if so, level designers determine what that sequence will be, construct a suitable space, and place the challenges within it. In other games, the challenges may be approached in a number of different possible sequences or any order at all; see the later sections “Layouts” and “Progression and Pacing” for further discussion. 4. The termination conditions of the level, ordinarily characterized in terms of victory and/or loss. In many games, levels can only be won but not lost, and in a few, such as the default mode in SimCity, levels can only be lost and never won. 5. The interplay between the gameplay and the game’s story, if any. The writer of the story must work closely with the level designer to interweave gameplay and narrative events.
- 65. Level design introduction 65 1. Lecture 6. The aesthetics and mood of the level: Whereas the game designer and art director specify the overall tone of a level and artists create the specific models and textures, level designers take the general specifications and decide how to implement those plans. If the plan says, “Level 13 will be a scary haunted house,” the level designers decide what kind of a house and how to make it feel scary and haunted. Level designers normally construct all these parts using tools created specifically for the purpose. Some games, including Warcraft III and Half-Life 2, actually ship their level design tools along with the game, so players can expand and customize the game world; if you own one of these games, you can practice level design by using those tools.
- 66. Level design examples 66 1. Lecture 1. Ravenholm (Half-Life 2)
- 67. Level design introduction 67 1. Lecture 1. Ravenholm (Half-Life 2) Ravenholm is an expansive environment, but the level designers do an excellent job of quarantining the action, maintaining a sense of cohesion, and keeping the player moving forward. Throughout, enemies are used cheaply but effectively, pushing the player onward through the town, maintaining a crucial sense of urgency, itself emphasized by the tight corridors, winding streets and branching pathways, most of which lead to disaster. Visually, Ravenholm is incredibly memorable, but it’s the layout and structure of the town that cement its status as a standout location from the series, controlling the player’s movements through the otherwise cluttered environment, dragging them towards the relative safety of a distant graveyard.
- 68. Level design examples 68 1. Lecture 2. The Undead Burg (Dark Souls) Dark Souls is positively packed with memorable locations – from Blight Town to Sen’s Fortress – but, only a handful could be considered genuinely well designed, despite their inherent visual appeal.
- 69. Level design examples 69 1. Lecture By comparison, The Undead Burg – one of the earliest locations in the game – is varied without seeming overcomplicated, connecting several separate locations into a unified whole, gradually unfolding as the player circles backwards numerous times, lowering ladders and opening passageways to create further cohesion. Moreover, there are secrets to discover and multiple levels to explore, each of which circles back to the central hub, creating a nice sense of structure. Visually, it isn’t as unique, but instead designed with far greater variation and spatial arrangement.
- 70. Level design examples 70 1. Lecture 3. Tallon IV (Metroid Prime) Metroid Prime – the fifth instalment in the franchise – is a first-person adventure, merging exploration and shooting to create something utterly unique. In the game, players assume the role of Samus Aran – a bounty- hunter tasked with preventing a merciless pirate organization from performing genetic experiments on the surface of Tallon IV.
- 71. Level design examples 71 1. Lecture The planet – much more than a simple setting – gradually expands as the player uncovers new abilities, allowing them to advance through previously restricted areas as they gain greater access to their surroundings. Consequently, the entire game is expertly designed, the player growing accustomed to the various locations as they backtrack through certain areas, uncovering secrets as the initially restrictive landscape expands exponentially. It also contributes to other aspects of the gameplay, requiring the player to reconsider the manner by which they traverse each section, both horizontally and vertically, emphasizing again a sense of adventure and discovery.
- 72. Level design examples 72 1. Lecture 4. Snow peak Ruins (Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess) Twilight Princess is arguably a disappointment in terms of story and gameplay (according to some, at least), but it’s elevated by the quality of its dungeons, several of which rank among the best in the series.
- 73. Level design examples 73 1. Lecture In particular, Snow peak Ruins – a manor located on the peak of a descending gorge – is among the most memorable, consisting of three floors, numerous smaller locations restricted by ice, several variations of enemies, and a master bedroom on the third floor. What’s especially great about the dungeon – besides its excellent level design – is that it’s structured to tell a story. Throughout, you’re guided through the various rooms by a couple of yetis who happen to reside in the mansion – an ageing couple forced to occupy only a small portion of their original home. As you progress, uncovering more of the dungeon in the process, you become gradually acquainted with them, as well as their personal backstories. In this respect, the dungeon – packed with puzzles and enemies – is more than a simple challenge, but an exploration of two very specific characters, and is subsequently designed with those particular characters in mind.
- 74. Level design examples 74 1. Lecture 5. The Haunted Cathedral (Thief 2)
- 75. Level design examples 75 1. Lecture Incredibly innovative, the Thief series was one of the earliest stealth franchises to utilizes light/shadow as a central gameplay mechanic, forcing the player to alternate their tactics depending on each situation. In particular, Thief 2 took things to whole new direction, presenting the player with numerous, sprawling environments with multiple possible solutions, and tasking them with determining their own course of action, though stealth is prioritized. The Haunted Cathedral is a standout example of excellent level design – a complicated, open-ended environment, plastered with shadows for concealment purposes, as well as patrols to keep things interesting. It’s also one of the most varied stages in the game, requiring the player to venture beyond their comfort zone. In particular, the interior sections should be handled with caution, forcing the players from the shadows in favor of the light, exposing them to potential dangers, but rewarding them with excess plunder for their troubles.
- 76. 1. Introduction of game level design 6. Level design key Principles 76 4. Lecture
- 77. Level design key Principles 77 1. Lecture Two types of level design principles will help you design a level: universal level design principles aimed at designing levels in any kind of game, and genre-specific level design principles, which focus on design issues specific to the different genres. 1. UNIVERSAL LEVEL DESIGN PRINCIPLES Level designers have for some time tried to define a set of principles to guide the level design process so that new games will avoid the errors of older ones. Considerable debate surrounds this issue, because not everyone agrees on which, if any, principle is truly universal. Examining the important principles constitutes a valuable exercise in any case. Some principles apply as much to game design generally as they do specifically to level design, but because the level designer constructs the play environment and sets the challenges.
- 78. Level design key Principles 78 1. Lecture 1. Avoid conceptual non consequence(result) . Unless your level is either intentionally surreal or meant to be funny, you shouldn’t build elements that make no sense, such as rooms accessible only via ventilation shafts. Even more important, don’t put dangers or rewards in places in which no sane person could possibly expect to find them. 2. Clearly inform the player short-term goals. At any given time, the player is working to achieve a whole hierarchy of challenges, from the overall victory condition of the game down to the problem occupying his attention (How do I get across this chasm?) at the immediate moment. While you do not always have to tell the player exactly what he needs to do to win (he may have to discover the long-term goal through exploration or observation), you should never leave him wondering what to do next; the current or next short-term goal should be obvious present.
- 79. Level design key Principles 79 1. Lecture 3. Be clear about risks, rewards, and the consequences of decisions: When facing a challenge, the player should always have some idea of the benefits of success and the price of failure or, if the player has to make a decision, the likely consequences associated with his options. Old video games used to implement a learn by dying approach, which gave players no means of knowing what elements of the game world were dangerous and what weren’t, so the avatars died repeatedly as the players learned. Industry professionals now consider this extremely bad design practice. Although the player should not necessarily know every detail of what consequences his decisions will produce, he should be able to make a reasonable guess based on the context in which you present the decision. If you give him a doorknob, it should open the door. It may also release a giant killer robo-camel into the room, but it should open the door first.
- 80. Level design key Principles 80 1. Lecture 4. Reward the player for skill, imagination, intelligence, and dedication: These four qualities distinguish a good player, and good players deserve to be rewarded. You may create rewards in many forms: powerups and other resources, shortcuts through the level, secret levels, minigames, cut-scenes and other narrative material, or simple praise. Players like to be told when they’ve done a good job. 5. Reward in a large way, punish in a small way, or to use an old adage you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. The hope of success motivates players more than the fear of failure does. If a game repeatedly smacks them down hard, players will become discouraged and abandon the game with a feeling that they’re being abused. Don’t forget that the duty to empathize is one of the obligations of player-centric game design: Your primary objective is to give players an enjoyable experience. Build more rewards into your level than punishments.
- 81. Level design key Principles 81 1. Lecture 6. The foreground takes place over the background. Design the visual appearance of your level so that the player’s attention is naturally drawn to his immediate surroundings. Don’t make the background so complex that it distracts the player. Spend more of your machine’s limited resources (polygons, memory, CPU time) on foreground objects than on background ones. 7. The purpose of an artificial opponent is to put up a good fight and then lose. Design your level so that the player will get better and better at overcoming the challenges until he succeeds at all of them. In a multiplayer competitive game, the skill and luck of the players decide who wins, but in a single-player game, you always want the player to win eventually, and it’s up to you to make sure that happens. An unbeatable level is a badly designed level.
- 82. Level design key Principles 82 1. Lecture 8. Implement multiple difficulty settings if possible. Make your game accessible to a wider audience by allowing them to switch the difficulty of your game to easy, normal, or hard settings. In games with an internal economy, you should be able to tweak the numbers to adjust the difficulty to accommodate the player’s preference. 2. GENRE-SPECIFIC LEVEL DESIGN PRINCIPLES ACTION GAMES Vary the pace(steps). Action games put more stress on the player than any other genre does, so the universal principle vary the pace applies more strongly to action games than to other genres; that is why it is the most important genre-specific principle as well. Players must be able to rest, both physically and mentally, between bouts of high-speed action.
- 83. Level design key Principles 83 1. Lecture STRATEGY GAMES Reward planning. Strategic thinking means planning—anticipating an opponent’s moves and preparing a defense, as well as planning attacks and considering an opponent’s possible defensive moves. Design levels that reward planning. Give players defensible locations to build in and important positions to attack from, but let the players discover these places for themselves. ROLE-PLAYING GAMES Offer opportunities for character growth and player self-expression. Character growth is a major player goal in any RPG; some players consider it even more important than victory. Every level should provide opportunities to achieve character growth by whatever means the game rewards—combat, puzzle-solving, trade, and so on. RPGs also entertain by allowing players to express themselves; that is, to role play. Every level should include opportunities for the player to make decisions that reflect the player’s persona in the game.
- 84. Level design key Principles 84 1. Lecture SPORTS GAMES Naturalism is vital. Sports games, while not ordinarily broken into levels in the usual sense, consist of individual matches played in different stadiums or courses with different teams or athletes, so you can think of each match played as a level. • Level designers design the stadiums and sometimes the teams and athletes. More than in any other genre, players of sports games value a close relationship between the video game and the real world. • The simulation of match play must be completely convincing; try to model each team and each stadium as closely as possible to the real thing—which includes not only appearances but the performance characteristics of the athletes and the coaching strategies of the teams.
- 85. Level design key Principles 85 1. Lecture VEHICLE SIMULATIONS Reward skillful manipulate. All vehicle simulations offer steering a vehicle as the primary player activity and steering well, often in adverse circumstances, as the primary challenge. Construct levels that test the player’s skill at manipulate his vehicle and reward him for his Skill. Other challenges, such as shooting or exploring, should be secondary. CONSTRUCTION AND MANAGEMENT SIMULATIONS Offer an interesting variety of initial conditions and goals. Most construction and management simulations (CMS) start the player with an empty space and let her build whatever they likes within the constraints of the game’s internal economy. In such games, you won’t need to do much level design. However, a CMS can also offer the player an existing or partial construction and let player continue working from there, often with a goal to achieve within a certain time limit.
- 86. Level design key Principles 86 1. Lecture ADVENTURE GAMES Construct challenges that harmonize with their locations and the story. Adventure games offer much of their entertainment through exploration and puzzle- solving. Designers set different chapters of an adventure game in different locations or landscapes to add newness and interest to the experience. Create challenges that harmonize with the current level and with the current events in the story. In a room full of machinery, the challenges should involve machines; on a farm, the challenges should involve farm animals or implements. This principle applies to some extent to any game, but because story is so important in adventure games, the principle is especially important for that genre.
- 87. Level design key Principles 87 1. Lecture ARTIFICIAL LIFE GAMES Create many interaction opportunities for the creatures in their environment. Much of the enjoyment in playing an artificial life (A-life) game comes from watching the simulated creatures in the game and giving them things to do within their environment. The level designer for an A-life game, then, needs to create interaction opportunities. The game should also offer many opportunities for the player to interact with the creatures as well, but generally the game designer, not the level designer, specifies these. PUZZLE GAMES Give the player time to think. Puzzle-solving is problem-solving, and it knows no timetable. Few players enjoy being forced to solve puzzles under time pressure. (Tetris, a famous exception, at least lets the player pause the game.) You may not be able to offer the player multiple difficulty levels due to the complexity of balancing puzzle games. which is another reason that time to think becomes important. Either create puzzles that give the player complete freedom to think things through before acting or allow him to pause the game and study the screen for awhile.
- 88. 1. Introduction of game level design 7. Level design layouts 88 5. Lecture
- 89. Level design layouts 89 1. Lecture For games that involve travel, especially avatar-based games, the layout of the space significantly affects the player’s perception of the experience. Over the years, a few common patterns have emerged, which this section introduces in simplified form. You should not hesitate to create any layout that your game needs. 1. Open Layouts In an open layout, the player benefits from almost entirely unconstrained movement. An open layout corresponds to the outdoors, with an avatar in principle free to wander in any direction at any time. Even levels with open layouts, however, may include a few small regions that cannot be entered without difficulty or can be entered by only a single path (such as passing through a door into a building). War games make extensive use of open layouts, Battlefield 1942 being a particularly successful example. Role-playing games offer open layouts while the player goes adventuring outdoors, but they typically switch to network or combination layouts (described later) when the party goes indoors or underground.
- 90. Level design layouts 90 1. Lecture 2. Linear Layouts • A linear layout requires the player to experience the game’s spaces in a fixed sequence with no side corridors or branches. • It does not mean that the spaces are actually arranged in a line (see figure 7.1) • A player following a linear path can move only to the next area or to the previous area and does not have to make any decisions about where to go next. Figure 7.1
- 91. Level design layouts 91 1. Lecture • A game in which all levels use linear layouts is often said to be on rails because, like a train on a track, the traveler goes wherever the predefined route takes her. Ordinarily, the player has no reason to go backward in a linear layout (see figure 7.1) unless she forgot to pick up something that she needs. • Linear layouts often require players to pass through one-way doors that actually prevent them from going back, so long as they have collected everything they need to go on. Figure 7.1 Be sure you don’t lock a player out of a region that contains an item essential to player later progress—an elementary level design error.
- 92. Level design layouts 92 1. Lecture • Linear layouts naturally work well with linear stories; if your game features such a story, you might consider such a layout. • Traditional for side-scrolling action games and rail-shooters, the linear layout is otherwise uncommon nowadays. Today’s designers tend to favor the parallel layout. Figure 7.1
- 93. Level design layouts 93 1. Lecture 3. Parallel Layouts • A parallel layout like a modern variant of the linear like a layout resembles a railroad switchyard with lots of parallel tracks and the means forth player to switch from one track to another at intervals. • The player passes through the level from one end to another but may take a variety of paths to get there. See Figure 7.2 for a much simplified illustration. Figure 7.2
- 94. Level design layouts 94 1. Lecture • Even though the parallel layout does not require players to pass through every available path, most players search them all anyway if the game lets them do so. • One path may offer a greater risk and therefore a greater reward, while another path may give the player greater insights into the storyline. • You can easily construct a parallel layout to reflect a foldback story structure. That will be cover in writing session. Figure 7.2
- 95. Level design layouts 95 1. Lecture • You can also use parallel paths to provide shortcuts that let a player bypass particularly difficult challenges that lie on the more obvious path. If you do so, you may want to hide the entrance to the shortcut so only a particularly dedicated explorer will find it. When you create a hidden entrance, you must provide some clue, however subtle, that it is there. Otherwise, finding it becomes a trial-and-error challenge, a sign of bad design. Figure 7.2
- 96. Level design layouts 96 1. Lecture 4. Ring Layouts • In a ring layout, the path returns to its starting point, although you may include shortcuts that cut off a portion of the journey (see Figure 12.3). Figure 7.3 • Designers mainly use ring layouts for racing games, in which players pass through the same space a number of times, facing challenges from the environment and each other along the way. • Shortcuts require less time but should be proportionately more difficult than the regular route; balancing this will be a big part of the level designer’s job. • Rings do not necessarily look like circles. Oval tracks or twisting road-racing tracks qualify as rings.
- 97. Level design layouts 97 1. Lecture 5. Network Layouts • Spaces in a network layout connect to other spaces in a variety of ways. Figure 7. 4 shows a simple example. • A large network poses a considerable exploration challenge; just learning the way around made up a significant part of the gameplay in old text adventure games. Figure 7.4
- 98. Level design layouts 98 1. Lecture This doesn’t mean that you can’t tell stories, only that your stories have to tolerate the player experiencing events in any sequence. To enforce some sequence, use a combination layout, described in the later section “Combinations of Layouts.” • In a network with a small number of major spaces, every space may be connected to every other space for maximum freedom of movement. This arrangement poses little exploration challenge to the player but makes an ideal fighting ground for deathmatch contests in games such as Quake because there are no choke points. • Enemies may enter and exit in several directions, which prevents a player from guarding one particular location indefinitely.
- 99. Level design layouts 99 1. Lecture 6. Hub and spoke Layouts • In the hub-and-spoke layout, the player begins in a central hub that ordinarily doesn't present significant challenges or dangers. As such, it serves as a place of comfort or safety, a base to which to return. • To explore the rest of the world, the player follows a linear path out from the hub and then returns back to the hub on the same path (see Figure 7.5). Figure 7.5
- 100. Level design layouts 100 1. Lecture • The return journey either should be quick—because the player covers old ground during the return—or should offer new opportunities for gameplay and new rewards as the player comes back. Normally you would also put a major challenge and a major reward at the outer end of the spoke. • This layout gives the player some choice about where he goes, which many players appreciate. Figure 7.5 • The Spyro the Dragon games use a hub-and-spoke plan. The games include several hubs, called home worlds, each of which is the center of its level. Various spokes lead off from the hubs to areas with different themes.
- 101. Level design layouts 101 1. Lecture 7. Combination of Layouts • Many layouts combine aspects of each type of layout, providing, for instance, networked spaces to accomplish tasks within a larger linear framework. • The layout in Figure 7.6 corresponds to the story structure of many large RPGs, which tend to offer one major story arc and a large number of subplots or quests. Figure 7.6 Adventure games quite often use a combination structure too, letting players do considerable exploration in one area before moving on to another.
- 102. 1. Introduction of game level design 7. Layout practice session 102 6. Lecture
- 103. Level design layouts practice 103 1. Lecture Class Task: According to yesterday class session and learning create a graphical layout for game level and present in the class session.
- 104. 1. Introduction of game level design 8. The Level Design Process 104 7. Lecture
- 105. The Level Design Process 105 1. Lecture Till now that you have learned the general principles of level design and layouts, let’s turn to the process. Level design takes place during the elaboration stage of game design and, like the overall game design, is an iterative process. At points during the procedure, the level designers should show the work-in-progress to other members of the team or analysis and commentary. Early input from artists, programmers, and other designers prevents you from wasting time on overly complex levels, asking for features the programmers cannot implement, or making demands for artwork that the artists don’t have time to meet. Duties and Terminology • The nature of a level designer’s job varies considerably depending on both the genre of the game and the technology that implements it. • A few years ago, level designers were not expected to possess either art or programming skills.
- 106. The Level Design Process 106 1. Lecture • As the size and complexity of games has increased, so has the size and complexity of the level designer’s job also. • In modern 3D games, level designers often use 3D modeling tools to construct temporary—and sometimes even final—artwork to go into a game. • games now often include scripting engines that allow level designers to write small programs, or scripts, that control some aspects of the behavior of the level during play. • If you are making a 2D game, where it refers to models, think in terms of their 2D equivalents: sprites (2D art and animation) for movable objects and the background (a 2D painting, often made up of interchangeable rectangular tiles) for the landscape.
- 107. The Level Design Process 107 1. Lecture Design to Level Design Handover: In the first stage, the game designers will tell you in a general way what they want for the level: its setting, mood, key gameplay activities, and events. You should then generate a list of features you want to appear in the level: • Events that can be triggered by player action • Props (objects that will be present in the level) • Nonplayer characters (NPCs) Figure 8.1 Rough level sketch for a driving game showing key features.
- 108. The Level Design Process 108 1. Lecture Design to Level Design Handover: At this point you also create a rough overview map of the level, showing how the landscape varies and what props and NPCs will be in which areas. See Figure 12.7 for an example from an unproduced driving game by Pseudo Interactive, set on islands inhabited by dinosaurs. Figure 8.1 Rough level sketch for a driving game showing key features.
- 109. The Level Design Process 109 1. Lecture Planning Phase Use pencil and paper to work out the sequence of events: both what you expect the player(s) to do and how the game will respond. Begin to document your decisions in the following key areas: gameplay, art, performance, and code requirements. GAMEPLAY As you plan the gameplay for your level, you will need to consider all the following issues: Layout (discussed extensively in the “Layouts” section earlier). Where can the player- controlled characters (avatar, party, or units) go and where can they not go? What paths can they use to get there? Many parts of your level may be cosmetic: The player can see them but cannot reach them.
- 110. The Level Design Process 110 1. Lecture Areas devoted to major challenges. Which areas carry strategic importance? Which will offer the biggest challenges? If the game involves combat, where would you like it to occur? Pacing: How will the intensity of action vary throughout the level? Where will the key events and the rest periods occur? Termination conditions: How does the player win or lose the level? Resource placements: Are depots of weapons, health points, powerups, or any other resources hidden in the environment? Where? What resources, and how much? Player start and end points: Do the player-controlled characters begin the level at one or more specific locations? Where? Do the characters end at one or more locations? Where?
- 111. The Level Design Process 111 1. Lecture NPC positions and spawn points: If NPCs—whether enemies, friends, or neutrals appear in the level, where are they initially positioned? Can they suddenly appear in the level at a specific location or spawn point during play? Where? Elevations: How much vertical movement does the level permit, and how does that affect play? Higher elevations naturally allow the player to see farther in first hand third- person perspectives; will this cause problems or constitute a positive feature of your level? Secret areas: Do you plan to incorporate hidden areas or secret shortcuts? Where will they be, and what clues will be available to suggest they might be present? Special event issues: What special events, unique to this level, can occur? Where will they occur? What will set them off? How do the special events reflect the setting and tone of the level?
- 112. The Level Design Process 112 1. Lecture Landmarks: How does the player find her way around? How can she tell where she is? Establishing major landmarks will help her out. Destruction: Can any part of the level be destroyed or its landscape radically altered? Where does this happen and what causes it? How does it affect the gameplay? Does it have the potential to introduce anomalies, such as enemies who wander off the edge of the world and never return? Storytelling: How does the sequence of events the player experiences integrate with the game’s story? Which events are dramatically meaningful and which are not? Where and when do you want cut-scenes or other narrative events to occur? Save points and checkpoints: Does the level include save points or checkpoints? Where? In games in which the player fails frequently and has to reload, positioning the save points is a critically important part of balancing the game.
- 113. The Level Design Process 113 1. Lecture ART In the art planning phase, you determine the scope of your level and decide how much artwork it will need. Scope refers to the magnitude and complexity of the level, both in terms of the number of objects and characters that it contains and the special events that it includes. You can make a serious error by choosing too large a scope, because if you overload your art staff, you may never get the level finished at all. You already have your sketch and a general idea of what the environment will be like, whether on the sea floor, in outer space, or inside an anthill. • First decide on the scale of the level: How big will this level be in the game world’s units of measure? This will help you to determine just how many other features the level needs.
- 114. The Level Design Process 114 1. Lecture • In almost every genre, if you’ve balanced the challenges correctly, the size of the level is directly proportional to the length of time that it takes the player to play through that level, so the scale you choose will, in a rough way, determine how much gameplay you can offer. • Next, start thinking about the kinds of objects that should be present in the level. Do research at the library or on the Internet for visual reference material to give you inspiration. Count the number of unique types of props that the level will require and plan in a general way where to put them. • Create a list of textures that the level will probably need. In an office, you may need tiles for the floor coverings, wood or metal for the desks, fabric for the chairs, and so on. • Decide on the visual appearance of any special effects that the artists will have to implement.
- 115. The Level Design Process 115 1. Lecture PERFORMANCE You normally think of performance as the programmers’ problem, but it’s up to the level designer not to build a world that down grade the machine. You will need to sit down with the programmers and set some boundaries. • How complex can the geometry be? • How far into the distance will the graphics engine be able to render objects? • How many autonomously moving units or creatures can the game support at one time? Know your machine’s limitations as you plan your level.
- 116. The Level Design Process 116 1. Lecture CODE Finally, as part of the planning process, identify specific requests that you intend to make of the programmers for features unique to this level. These may take the form of special events (sometimes called gags) that require coding, unique NPCs who appear only in this level but need their own behavior model and artificial intelligence, or special development tools you may require in order to build and test the level effectively. The more of these special coding problems you identify during planning and can discuss with the programmers in advance, the more likely that implementation will go smoothly.
- 117. The Level Design Process 117 1. Lecture PROTOTYPING In this stage, you will build a prototype of the level. Much of this work will consist of using a 3D modeling tool to construct temporary models of the landscape and objects that can appear within it. The models you create will not end up in the game but will serve as blueprints from which the art team will create the final artwork. The prototyping phase requires that at least part of the game engine be running so that you can load the model into it and test it. Your prototype should include such features as: • The basic geometry (physical shape) of the game world created in a 3D modeling tool. If it’s a 2D world, the prototype should show the layout of the 2D landscape. • Temporary textures to place on the geometry to give it a surface. These will eventually be replaced by final textures created by the artists.
- 118. The Level Design Process 118 1. Lecture • Temporary models of props (trees, furniture, buildings, and so on) and NPCs that will appear in the level, so you can put them where they belong in the landscape. • Paths planned for AI-driven NPCs—where they travel within the level. • A lighting design for the level. • The locations of trigger points for key events. Placing these triggers and documenting what sets them off is referred to as rigging. • In some cases, you may be able to use final audio effects in your prototype; that is, the sound effects that will actually end up in the game. If those are not yet available from the audio team, use temporary sound effects and note that they will need to be replaced later.
- 119. The Level Design Process 119 1. Lecture LEVEL REVIEW At this point, you have a working prototype of the level; if the programmers have the game engine running, you should be able to play your level in a rudimentary way. Hold a level review, inviting members of the design, art, programming, audio, and testing teams to get their feedback. Each should examine your prototype for potential problems that may come up in his own field when he is working on the real thing. The issues that the level review should address include these: • Scale. Is the level the right size? Will it take too much or too little time to play through? • Pacing. Does the flow of events feel right? • Placement of objects and triggers. Are things where they need to be to make the level play smoothly and produce the experience you want?
- 120. The Level Design Process 120 1. Lecture • Performance issues. Is the level too complicated for the machine’s processor to handle? The programmers should be able to flag any potential problems. • Other code issues. Does the level call for software that represents a problem for the programmers? For example, a unique NPC that appears only in this level still needs its own AI; will this be an issue? • Aesthetics. Is the level attractive and enjoyable to inhabit? Because the prototype uses temporary geometry and textures, a certain amount of imagination will be called for here.
- 121. The Level Design Process 121 1. Lecture LEVEL REFINEMENT AND LOCK-DOWN After the level review, take the feedback you’ve received and refine the prototype, correcting any problems and implementing any new decisions made in the course of the review. This can require any amount of work from tuning a few numbers to scrapping the entire design and starting over from scratch. When you think you’ve got it right, hold another review and make another refinement pass. Continue this process until everyone agrees (or the person in charge agrees) that the level is ready to go into full production. At this point, lock the level design. Once a level is designated as locked, no additions or changes may be made except if grave problems are discovered.
- 122. The Level Design Process 122 1. Lecture LEVEL DESIGN TO ART HANDOFF With the level locked, it’s time to hand off your prototype and all your design work to the artists who will use it as a blueprint to build the geometry, animations, and textures that will end up in the real game. The art director will create a task list to construct all the content the level requires: models, textures, animations, special visual effects, and so on. If your prototype has been relying on placeholder audio, at this point you will also need to provide details to the audio team about what the level will need in the way of final audio. Notify the programmers about any special code that is required for the level at this point so they can have it ready for the content integration stage. (Content refers to the non- software part of the game: artwork, audio, movies, and text.)
- 123. The Level Design Process 123 1. Lecture FIRST ART AND RIGGING PASS The project now enters the first art and rigging pass, during which the art team builds the real artwork and rigging. You may be working on other levels at the same time, but you should also stay in close touch with the art team because they will undoubtedly have questions. It may also be your responsibility to incorporate the content they create into the software, to make sure that it all works. ART TO LEVEL DESIGN HANDOFF AND REVIEW When the art team finishes the final artwork, the artists hand all their work back to you, and you should conduct another review. This will highlight any problems or errors with the artwork that need correcting.
- 124. The Level Design Process 124 1. Lecture CONTENT INTEGRATION At this point, you will assemble all the assets into the completed (but not yet tested) level—artwork, new code required by the level, audio, and any remaining tweaks to the lighting. You’ll also adjust any remaining issues with the rigging, by repositioning characters, effects, and triggers as necessary. BUG FIXING Test the level at this point, looking for bugs in the code and mistakes in the content. This will be another iterative process, working back and forth between the art, audio, and code teams and yourself. After finishing your own testing, you hand the level off to the quality assurance (QA) department for formal testing.
- 125. The Level Design Process 125 1. Lecture USER TESTING AND TUNING In the last stage, QA will create a test plan for the level and begin formal testing, known as alpha testing. Their testing will ordinarily be more thorough and strict than the testing you’ve done; it will also find things that you missed because of your overfamiliarity with the material. As in your own testing, they’ll work in an iterative process with the various teams involved, including reporting the bugs in the rigging and gameplay mechanics that you need to fix. When QA considers the level to be thoroughly tested, they may make it available for beta testing (testing by end-users).
- 126. 1. Introduction of game level design 9. Pitfalls of Level Design 126 8. Lecture
- 127. Pitfalls of Level Design 127 1. Lecture This session ends with a discussion of some important mistakes to avoid classic errors of level design that, unfortunately, some designers continue to make. INTRO: GET THE SCOPE RIGHT • The single most common error made by inexperienced level designers is to try to build something too big. • Everyone would love to make an epic such as a Final Fantasy game, but such games require huge production teams, giant budgets, and multiyear development cycles. And even among experienced professionals, epic projects often run late and go over budget. • You must design within the resources of your team, your budget, and the time you have available.
- 128. Pitfalls of Level Design 128 1. Lecture • Scope, you should remember, refers not only to the size and complexity of the landscape but to the number of props, NPCs, and special events in the level. • In order not to undertake an unrealistically large level, you must make lists of these things during the planning stage before you actually start constructing the prototype. • Before you choose a scope for your level, determine how much time and staff you have available, taking into account any vacations and holidays that may be coming up. • How many models can your team build in a day? • How quickly can you detect an error, correct it, and test it again? • Choose a level size that you and your team can manage. If you make a level too small, it’s not easy to enlarge it, but at least you won’t have the art team killing themselves to create all the content.
- 129. Pitfalls of Level Design 129 1. Lecture • If you make a level too big and find that there isn’t time to complete everything, you’ll have to either deliver a sparse, unfinished level or scramble to cut things out, which will almost certainly harm your level’s balance and pacing. 1. AVOID CONCEPTUAL NON SEQUITURS Let us understand this with an example first level of James Bond: Tomorrow Never Dies game. At the beginning of the first level of James Bond: Tomorrow Never Dies, the player, in the persona of James Bond, sneaks into an enemy military outpost armed only with a pistol and faces numerous Russian guards; how many, he doesn’t know. If he blows up some of the oil drums scattered somewhat randomly outside the outpost, he will find medical kits hidden inside, which he can use later to restore his health when wounded.
- 130. Pitfalls of Level Design 130 1. Lecture Hiding medical kits inside oil drums belongs to a class of design errors, usually made at the level design stage, called conceptual non sequiturs—game features that make no sense. No sane person would think of looking in an oil drum to see if a medical kit might be hidden within. Furthermore, any thinking player would reason that if he’s trying to sneak into an enemy military installation armed only with a pistol, causing a loud explosion right outside is not a good idea; several dozen people will come running to see what made the noise. He would further assume that any medical kit that was inside an oil drum when it blew up wouldn’t be good for much afterward. Consequently, a reasonable player wouldn’t blow up the oil drum and wouldn’t get the benefit of the medical kit. In other words, the game punishes players for using their brains. It’s simply poor design. Because oil drums store oil, not medical kits; explosions destroy things rather than reveal things.
- 131. Pitfalls of Level Design 131 1. Lecture In short, avoid conceptual non sequiturs in realistic games. They discourage new players and make your game unnecessarily hard without making it more fun. Remember the principle that level designers should reward players for using their intelligence, not punish them for it. 2. MAKE ATYPICAL LEVELS OPTIONAL Level designers naturally like to vary the content of their levels, and it is good design practice to make creative use of the game’s features or to set your levels in different environments to provide the novelty (newness) that players like. There are two reasons not to make these kinds of levels obligatory. First, it breaks the player’s suspension of disbelief to be suddenly confronted with a situation that would never occur according to the rules of the game world as the player has already learned them.
- 132. Pitfalls of Level Design 132 1. Lecture Second, it may actually make the game unwinnable for some players. If you create a level filled with only one kind of challenge, then a player who happens to be terrible at that kind of challenge—but who reasonably expected to make it through the game by being good at other kinds of challenges—might not be able to finish the game at all, stymied by one atypical level. And there may be many players who don’t find that challenge as exciting as you do, who will find an entire level of it boring. You shouldn’t avoid making atypical levels at all; they can be a lot of fun. But make them optional—hidden levels the player can unlock through excellent play or side missions for extra points.
- 133. Pitfalls of Level Design 133 1. Lecture 3. DON’T SHOW THE PLAYER EVERYTHING AT ONCE As they say in theater, “Always leave them wanting more.” This advice applies to the overall progression of the game, so both game designers and level designers need to be aware of it. If your players have faced every challenge, seen every environment, and used every action that you have to offer all in a single level then the rest of the game will be old hat for them. You have nothing further to offer but variations on a set of play mechanics and game worlds that they already know everything about. Let your game grow from level to level. Introduce new features gradually. Just as it all starts to seem a bit familiar, bring in a twist: a new vehicle, a new action, a new location, a new enemy, or a sharp change in the plot of the story.
- 134. Pitfalls of Level Design 134 1. Lecture 4. NEVER LOSE SIGHT OF YOUR AUDIENCE Level design, more than any other part of the game design and development process, brings with it the risk of building a game that your audience won’t enjoy. You assemble all the components that the others provide, and when the player starts up the game, she finds herself in your environment. The game designers may decide on the types of challenges the game contains, but you decide when the player will face them, in what sequence, and in what combinations. As a result, you, more than anyone else on the team, must apply the player-centric approach to every design decision you make. Go inside the mind of your player and try to imagine what it will be like to see it all for the first time.
- 135. Pitfalls of Level Design 135 1. Lecture Always remember that you are not the player. Your own personal circumstances have nothing to do with the game. You may be a 22-year-old male, but your player may well be a 10-year-old girl or a 50-year-old man. Understand the game’s target audience and what that audience wants from the game; then make sure you give it to them—at all times!