Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
open? Is it made of rock, or is it an ice cave? Does it contain water, or can wind
whistle through? Do animals live in this cave, or is there evidence of a prehis-
toric civilization? Does the cave have a large mouth, a hidden opening, or per-
haps openings to even more caves?
Doing research is half the fun of designing the levels for games. Putting your-
self in the shoes of the characters or creatures that will roam your world is para-
mount. Start with the research, and then let your imagination take flight.
Too often, new designers copy what they have seen or played, so too many
games look derivative. Even if your game isn't meant to appear realistic, and your
goal is to produce a stylized or cartoony world, research will help you get out of
your head and away from beloved memories of games you've played. Research
can help you experience something new and get your creative juices working.
As you gather research materials, especially images, movie files, and sound, save
them in a resource/inspiration folder so all designers and artists on the project
can refer to them. Creating resources such as reference materials is invaluable to
the level-design development cycle. Both level designers and artists will benefit
greatly. These resources should be created jointly by the level designers and the
artists because they're doing separate work, but on the same piece of content.
Creating a
comparables list
—relevant titles, songs, books, and so on—is
part of the R&D process as well. Understanding your demographic, genre, and
competitors (or peers) allows you to make the right choices when creating the
game. You need to be able to imagine it on store shelves, reviewed by critics
and enjoyed by fans, to really understand what you want to make and be able to
achieve it.
OK, now What?
You've written down ideas; sketched out concepts for the world on a napkin
while at lunch; walked for miles on city streets and through museums, the local
park, the forest, and a mountain meadow; and perused every topic, magazine,
and web page you could find related to your ideas.
How do you begin to put all that together?
The ancients had a pretty good handle on how level design can work. Look at
Figure 7.3, which shows an antique map of the city of Jerusalem produced in
1584. You see the layout for the streets, locations of buildings and parks, and
features such as Calvary Hill (at lower left) with the story of the crucifixion of
Jesus taking place.
