Workflows

Pre-Production

  • Text-based planning .

    • A Portal 2 level is planned in text form.

  • Planning with Bubble Diagrams .

    • Just a different way to organize ideas, like organizing them in text.

  • 15 questions a level designer should ask about their level .

    1. Why is this interesting?

    2. Is it clear to players why this is interesting?

    3. What is this game really about?

    4. What kind of spaces work best for this game?

    5. Is this level/area bigger than it needs to be?

    6. Is my level needlessly flat?

    7. Am I just doing this because it’s what games usually do?

    8. Should I get feedback on this now?

    9. Is this really necessary?

    10. Is this how players will actually play it?

    11. Are the different areas and beats of this level distinct?

    12. Are there any interesting surprises?

    13. Is this too cliche?

    14. What’s the relation of this level to the other levels in the game?

    15. Is this level intrinsically interesting?

  • Another 15 questions a level designer should ask about their level .
    16. Does this level have the right amount of ideas in it?
    17. Is there a simpler way to do this?
    18. Could I make my objectives more narratively interesting?
    19. Are there any mechanics that are underused?
    20. Can I make my NPCs less generic?
    21. Can I make this level/game less thoughtlessly violent?
    22. Can we do that cutscene or story idea more interactively?
    23. What if I had to ship this level next week?
    24. How does my level come across in terms of gender representation?
    25. Will players of all skill levels have a good time?
    26. Is this just filler?
    27. What happens if the player just runs through the level?
    28. Is it important for this sequence to be challenging?
    29. Could I just cut this?
    30. Am I working too much, or too hard?

  • Jump height, jump distance, distance between points of interest .

Blockout

  • "Maximum information, with minimal effort".

  • Blockout and Affordances .

    • It's about level design in Uncharted Lost Legacy.

    • I didn't find the second part of the video very useful, since I already knew the concepts and have seen them presented better by BlenderGuru.

    • {1:21 -> 27:19}

      • The video gives good tips and explanations on how to create natural guiding lines for the player to make navigation smoother through the level.

      • It also explains the use of "blockmesh", which is basically the same as 'level design prototype blocks'.

  • Common problems in blockouts .

    • Too big.

    • Too symmetrical.

    • Too flat (non-vertical).

    • Too open.

    • Too empty.

    • Too linear.

    • Too samey (no variation).

    • Too generic (no uniqueness).

  • Stairs .

    • Interesting.

    • {1:46}

      • Talks about the ideal proportions for realism.

  • Hollow Knight map .

Action Blocks

  • Action Blocks .

    • *About:

      • About level design in Titanfall.

      • Discusses using Action Blocks to plan and produce ideas that are interesting and add to the gameplay.

      • The whole video shows the design process for the game's singleplayer levels while commenting on design problems and ideas that did not make it into the final game.

      • It's interesting to watch. It's somewhat relaxing to see an explanation that includes failures and development prototypes.

    • It explains how focusing on 'cool action movie scenes' had a negative impact on the game's development by not actually developing the game's mechanics. Action Blocks were proposed as a remedy. They are a kind of game-jam within the same game, made as cheaply as possible visually, aiming only to develop mechanics WITHOUT 'heroic cool moments'.

    • The timeline for an Action Block is 1–2 weeks per Action Block. They spent about 6 weeks on this approach.

    • The purpose is to inspire and share ideas. It's not necessary to choose any of the developed mechanics.

Modularity

  • Modularity, Granularity and the use of Kits .

    • *About:

      • It's about level design in Fallout 4.

      • Very focused on modularity and element granularity when building a 'kit'. Very interesting. Useful when planning large-scale games.

    • {16:16 -> 17:26}

      • Explanation about granularity of kit elements. This reduces redundancy when making changes while giving freedom for modification and easier terrain destruction.

    • {17:33 -> 19:16}

      • Discusses the problem of working with granularity and how to handle the increase of objects in a scene. The approach used was to create Prefabs (Godot scenes) that group granular objects inside the engine to reduce the number of loose objects in the level.

    • {19:16 -> 22:00}

      • Addresses the workflow involving the kit and how it communicates with other stages of level creation.

    • {22:00 -> 28:15}

      • Very interesting part of the talk about priority  when deciding which assets should be made first. The approach used is generic pieces -> variant pieces -> hero pieces . This comes from a level designer perspective rather than an environment artist, but it shows that the most tedious pieces to make are often the ones that most signal progress in game development.

    • {28:21 -> 31:20}

      • Interesting demonstration of the advantage of using kit granularity, showing different scenarios built using granular design.

    • {32:23 -> 34:59}

      • Use of kits that don't rely on snapping, e.g., construction kits, cosmetics, irregular things.

    • {44:31 -> 52:12}

      • More demonstrations of modular assets using granularity.

      • Shows some assets that use a 'socket' system allowing one socket to fit into another's 'hole'.

      • At the end it also shows the Prop kit used to create machines and so on, further illustrating the advantages of modular design even in non-regular situations.

Walkthroughs

Half Life 2
Quake