Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
scrapping the entire design and starting over from scratch. When you think you've
got it right, hold another review and make another refinement pass. Continue this
process until everyone agrees (or the person in charge agrees) that the level is ready
to go into full production.
At this point, lock the level design. Once a level is designated as
locked
, no additions
or changes may be made except if grave problems are discovered. This corresponds
to the lock-down that occurs in overall game design at the end of the concept stage.
If you don't treat the level as locked, you could go on tuning and tweaking it for-
ever, stretching out the development time and running up the budget.
Level Design to Art Handoff
With the level locked, it's time to hand off your prototype and all your design work
to the artists who will use it as a blueprint to build the geometry, animations, and
textures that will end up in the real game. The artists will need all your files, as
well as a detailed list that explains each file. Your job includes making this list; you
cannot simply give them a directory dump and leave them to figure it out. If they
don't already know about your design from the level reviews, you should sit down
with the artists and give them a thorough briefing not only on how everything
looks in the level, but where everything should be and how everything works. From
this information, the art director will create a task list to construct all the content
the level requires: models, textures, animations, special visual effects, and so on.
If your prototype has been relying on placeholder audio, at this point you will also
need to provide details to the audio team about what the level will need in the way
of final audio. Notify the programmers about any special code that is required for the
level at this point so they can have it ready for the content integration stage. (
Content
refers to the non-software part of the game: artwork, audio, movies, and text.)
First Art and Rigging Pass
The project now enters the first art and rigging pass, during which the art team
builds the real artwork and rigging. You may be working on other levels at the
same time, but you should also stay in close touch with the art team because they
will undoubtedly have questions. It may also be your responsibility to incorporate
the content they create into the software, to make sure that it all works.
Art to Level Design Handoff and Review
When the art team finishes the final artwork, the artists hand all their work back to
you, and you should conduct another review. This will highlight any problems or
errors with the artwork that need correcting.
