Level Design - 8 Steps of Level Design Pre-pro

Process of Generating Ideas.

Reference material, understanding story, environment and objectives...

Resources:
'How to plan level designs and game environments' - 'World of level design'

hourences.com
gamasutra.com
udn.epicgames.com < technical help.

Level Design: Concept, Theory and practice - Rudolf Kremers
The Art of Game Design - Jesse Schell

((Concept art is broken down as something which is functional))

8 Blog Posts which focus on each area.

INTRO -
We need to consider our level carfully before we construct it.

Pre-production blueprint will lead us as designers to create the level.

- The iterative and procedural generation of the level idea.
- The Generation of gameplay possibilities for a spesific type of environment
- Architectural structuring for Game Play and Level Design
- The Aerial planning of your level design.

STEP 1 -  Idea

Everything starts here!
Has to be something wanted.
Ideas happen at anytime.
Carry a journal which is for rough workings.

Am I excited about the environment?
Am I inspired to create the idea and see it as an environment?

Ensure you can persue it and want to persue it completely!

Ideas - Sillhouettes

STEP 2 - Purpose & feature

What is the purpose of this project idea?
Why do I want to persue it to its completion?
Why do you want to create this environment and level design?
What are your reasons? What is the purpose?


- To get a job at a spesific studio?
- Portfolio peice?
- To explore a new theory of gameplay style?
- To learn a new editor or 3d package?
- To improve a spesific workflow?

Purpose is very important and strong as a drive.
A set number of environment features and elements in the environment must be created in order to make the project stand out. Make them unique and different.

How am I going to make it standing out technically? Visually?

What elements will you focus on to make your level design unique and stant out?
What do you want the player to experience?

STEP 3 - Location & Environment Setting

Where does it take place?
- Urban or rural?
- Interior or exterior?
- Time period?
- In the past, future or present?
Be Specific.

Has it been raining?
Is it mid-day or evening?

STEP 4 - Photo Reference

Very important in order to gain understanding of the things you're building.
At least 2 annotated moodboards for:
Environment and location reference
Set design and props

1 annotated moodboard for:
Lighting and style
Inspirational Reference (artistic reference? Journey.)

Reference guides structure of things.

STEP 5 - Story

There are 2 types of story in a level:
1- Story of the environment (what happened prior to the player getting there)
2- Story of how the player got there? what are they doing there? What brought them there?

Write a history for the environment. How did it come to be?  What is the player doing there? Why are they there?

STEP 6 - Objective and Obstacles

Goals of what the player needs to complete.
Flow ideas of what player may face.

Objectives:
What does the player need to do within the environment in order to progress?

Obstacles:Opposition which the player needs to overcome. Puzzles, Exploration, Item collection or AI battle.

For level design you will need to spend some time on designing both of these.

Obstacle mindmap tree can be used to plan how players approach objects.
Can create 'if' scenarios.
"If the player does this, then this happens."

STEP 7 - Top Down Layout

Sketching!
Draw:
Buildings
Landscape
Map boundaries
Player paths
Alt routs
Space relationships
Flow
Pacing
Important locations
Focal points

Think vertically and horizontally - help the player understand the space which they've been navigating. Sense of achievement.
Iteration is key.

After a couple of traditional sketches, throw into photoshop to make it solid.
In Photoshop focus on player paths, Alt routes , focal points, spawn points and enemy placement.

STEP 8 - Focal Points

Functional purpose- helps the player orientate themselves
Visual aesthetic function - makes environment pleasing
Draws the players attention - players want to explore the area.

Player always needs to understand where they are and where they're going.