Level design Game Idea Development

What is a Level?  Define what a level is first  Is a separate area in a game's virtual world.  Sometimes called an act, area, board, chapter, course, episode, game, landscape, map, mission, phase, plan, round, section, stage, wave, world, or zone  The term is derived from early role-playing games, where it referred to levels of a dungeon - the setting most such games were played in.  Players would begin at the bottom (level 1), and proceed through increasingly numbered levels (of increasing difficulty) until they reached their freedom at the top,  or they would start at the top (which would also be level 1), and proceed through increasingly numbered (and difficult) levels until they reached the treasure at the bottom.

What is level design?  What is level design and how is it related to gameplay?  Uses of levels  extend the length of a simple (and short) game  by allowing a victorious player to play again on a higher difficulty setting (such as tougher opponents),  a different game setting (such as a different maze layout), or both.  The game can last much longer and be more interesting without changing the basic gameplay style.

Uses of levels continued  Programming constraints such as a limit on primary memory with which to store graphics and sound still necessitated many games being split into levels - or from another point of view, using levels allowed a great deal of variety in the game despite hardware limitations.  Some modern games have attempted to gain the benefits of a level system while giving the impression that the games are continuous - i.e., one long game rather than levels. In these games, data required for an upcoming level is loaded into memory in the background as the player approaches it, a process known as prefetching.

Advantages of levels  One advantage is that non-stop action can overwhelm a player if the game does not afford the player points where he or she may rest, and levels break the game up into manageable sections which allow for this.  Another advantage is that while a player can usually only complete a game once, they can still achieve a degree of satisfaction each time they successfully complete a level.  Side note: Games which do not have levels in the strictest sense usually have some other satisfying objective which can be achieved more than once

How to build a level  It is very much like making a drawing, painting or print  You start with the big shapes and then  You add in more detail as the piece gets closer to being finished.  Watch as this guy – lays out the big shapes and then adds value and then detail  Shapes (structure) > Value(space) > Detail  That is how you draw… 

This looks magical because The artist figured it all out ahead of time – But he went through the same Shapes > Value > Detail stages as the last one. j0 j0

Here are your shapes for level design Structure Time Space

Structure The things to think about – Goal – Flow – Duration – Availability – Relationship – Progression

Structure: Goal Watch this one on your own m/watch?v=8RC718Ox wEo m/watch?v=8RC718Ox wEo

Structure: Flow Watch this one on your own m/watch?v=mGbpx7ecL X0 m/watch?v=mGbpx7ecL X0

Structure: Availability

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Structure: Relationship

Command and Conquer mjI mjI

Structure: Progression

Progression ptTs ptTs

Time Authentic Limited Variable Player adjusted Altered

Time: Authentic

Time: Limited

Centipede wcjwMyUXr4 wcjwMyUXr4 prI prI

Time: Variable

Time: Player Adjusted

Time: Altered

Space Perspective & camera Terrain & materials Radiosity & effects Scale Boundaries Reality Style – this word is problematic – I would prefer to use aesthetics instead

Space: Camera & Perspective Omnipresent

Space: Camera & Perspective Aerial (Top-Down)

Space: Camera & Perspective Isometric

Space: Perspective & Camera Side-Scrolling (Flat/Side View)

Space Radiosity & Effects

Bioshock They love their cameras, color, radiosity and drama Qdc&feature=related Qdc&feature=related

Space Terrain & Materials

Space Scale

Space Boundaries Kyk Kyk

Space Reality

Space Style – this word doesn’t work for me: I prefer Aesthetic Choices

How do you choose what a thing looks like? &q=video+art+&ei=5y 4PSJ_rKZXk4AKZ8MiwBA &q=video+art+&ei=5y 4PSJ_rKZXk4AKZ8MiwBA Form follows function – &p=a&a=i&ID=578 &p=a&a=i&ID=578

Aesthetic choices Choice depends on your concept Concept is a derivative of the intersection of – Moment in time when it was created – Place it was created – Expectations of the audience Rothko – &feature=PlayList&p=3AD0C3BFFA95E2AA&playn ext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=52 &feature=PlayList&p=3AD0C3BFFA95E2AA&playn ext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=52

Take Away rather than add tDQ tDQ

Material as well as form follows function

How a thing looks… Depends on the concept – And then go back and decide the structure? – What type of time does it need? – What type of space is appropriate? Getting in charge of your concept makes all of these fall in line.