Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
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Landmarks.
How does the player find her way around? How can she tell where
she is? Establishing major landmarks will help her out.
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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 game-
play? Does it have the potential to introduce anomalies, such as enemies who
wander off the edge of the world and never return?
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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?
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Save points and checkpoints.
Does the level include save points or check-
points? 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.
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. See “Get the Scope Right” near the end of this chapter.
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 mea-
sure? This will help you to determine just how many other features the level needs.
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. Certain generic items such
as streetlights (or the infamous crates in first-person shooters) can simply be dupli-
cated, but natural objects such as trees and boulders should come in several types,
and the art team will need to know this. Try to avoid including too many identical
objects in a level; it destroys realism.
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. Some offices may be streamlined, with severe geometric shapes, whereas
others may be ornate, featuring a Louis XIV desk and antique chairs.
