You have a great idea for a game. Turning that idea into a reality isn't just about knowing the tools. In this course you will practice moving from game concept through design documentation, prototyping and testing. Numerous elements go into the overall process of game design. These range from topics such as idea generation, story, character, and game world development, game mechanics and level design, and user experience design. You will explore the process for designing meaningful experiences for your players. At the end of the course learners will have produced a game's high concept document, one page blueprint, a physical prototype, pitch and supporting design documentation to move from an idea in your head to a fleshed out design, ready for implementation.
Level Design
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Do curso por Michigan State University
Os Princípios do Design de Jogos
971 ratings
Michigan State University
971 ratings
Curso 2 de 5 em Specialization Design e Desenvolvimento de Jogos
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From Idea to Implementation
Games aren't just about ideas, stories and worlds. They are also interactive systems that players experience. What does it mean to develop gameplay or game systems? This module introduces you to the process of designing gameplay experiences and then how those components can be leveraged in the process of level design. You will explore what it means to "balance" a game or move from an idea to something playable by users.
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Casey O'DonnellAssociate Professor
Media and Information
[MUSIC]
So I want to talk a little bit about level design because it's
important to distinguish it from system design or gameplay design, right.
These are different things and
figuring out what the difference is, is pretty important.
Because in many ways, level design is a higher order picture, right.
Level design is where all of the components of a game are really
coming together, that you're crafting a complete game experience in a level.
And so that's different than game design because when you're designing systems,
when you're designing gameplay, that actually happens earlier.
By the time you're thinking about constructing and
crafting levels, you're already dealing with a more cohesive whole, right.
And that's why things like level editors or
mod communities that build levels for existing games exist,
because those tools were crafted so that more levels could be added to the game.
It sits on top of the game design component, rght.
So in many ways, right,
level design is where you actually begin to notice the flaws in a game.
Or at least where they're more apparent, because you're looking at that
whole of the game, you're looking at the entire experience and
you're trying to figure out, well, as a level designer, what am I crafting?
Because, it's ultimately smaller than the original game play
design but on top of that, you're trying to bring all of those elements together.
So to give you a sense of, sometimes this gets discussed in different ways, right.
So in Super Mario Brothers you had levels and worlds, so
you had world 1-1, which was world one level one.
So oftentimes it's done as a way to sort of segment a game.
So maybe in a first-person shooter you have a map, right.
In story mode, you might have multiple maps that link together through some kind
of narrative, but ultimately each map is loaded individually.
In something like Myst, which is is an adventure style kind of game,
that you have an over-arching map and
spaces that you can move in and out of, right, like an over-world, but
then when you move inside of a building, you load a different kind of experience.
Those are things to think about, okay.
Another example might be in a sports game, maybe a particular scenarios that play out
or a particular field, so if you're an avid sports gaming fan,
you would notice that certain fields have different average temperatures or
weather conditions that play out, right, that's part of the underlying system.
And so as a level designer, that's really what you're crafting,
are those encapsulated experiences that fit together into the overall.
So why are levels used in a game?
Because it's a good question to ask yourself.
So we have Donkey Kong here,
because Donkey Kong is a game made up of levels, right, of various difficulties.
And so sometimes they're used because,
well they're logical breaks, right, like in a story line.
Maybe there's a difficulty or tension, right, and
you want to be able to sort of ramp up over time.
Sometimes level design is about introducing concepts to a player.
Maybe it's the first time they've encountered a particular weapon or
a particular powerup, and those are important things.
They also allow you to mark progress.
It allows you to let the player know hey, you're moving through this game,
you're progressing further, you're moving through the ultimate arc of the game.
And so that's useful.
Sometimes it's for more technological reasons.
In saving a game, a player wants to know well, where did I leave off?
And, at the end of a level, or at some particular point, it's actually a lot
easier to keep track of, then say, keeping track of everything that's ever changed
within the game and trying to sort of save that in some kind of way so
that when the player returns, it's just like normal.
Every time you re-enter the world in World of Warcraft, it's at a different state,
it's not exactly as it was when you left, and those are important things.
But, there is also technological limitations, right?
Levels as an idea within games, had to do with memory and
the technology associated with building games.
And so, while on the one hand,
it's sort of a remnant of the history of games and those technological limitations.
But there are also all of these other great reasons why they still exist, right.
Where they're still useful for you as a game designer.
So what does a level designer actually do, right?
That's an important piece.
And the level designer really has to sort of understand all of the pieces of a game.
The gameplay, the story, the visuals, and all of those things but
you're creating variety, you're taking all of those puzzle pieces, or LEGO blocks,
right, as a nice way to think about it.
You're taking those and you're assembling a level for the player to experience.
Maybe you're teaching the player,
maybe you're coaxing them into how to combine possibilities.
You have these two mechanics but hey, if you use them together they actually
produce this other thing because of the dynamic system that we've built.
And so those are really useful.
Maybe it's scenarios, maybe it's a way to segment the story of a game.
But as a level designer that's what you're doing,
you're trying to bring those pieces of a game together.
And so, as a designer, you're gonna do both of these things, right.
And you may find that one is more fun than the other, and
if level design is something that you really enjoy
rather than maybe system design, well, there are a ton of great tools out there.
Modding communities that love having maps created for them.
So those are things that you can actually explore.
And ultimately, the design of a level
really does have something to do with the aesthetics, right.
That many levels within a game have their own unique story elements, or
aesthetic elements that are their own, and
maybe that's what you're really interested in, right?
It's not so much the system design, but understanding that that's the kind of
thing that you can do with a level is a really important one.
And level designers often times have to do what's called gameplay scripting, meaning
well, if an event is going to happen, you're gonna have to be able to do some of
that scripting, which is again, I know this course isn't about coding, right?
The entire specialization isn't about programming, but as a designer ultimately
you have to have to be able to converse with the game engine sitting behind, and
so oftentimes that means doing some scripting.
What happens when this happens?
What happens if you blow up this building over here that you weren't supposed to?
Whoops.
Do you fail, like, what are the consequences of the player's actions?
And most level designers have to think about these things.
So the truth is, there are dedicated level designers out there.
That that's their sole job, to take the pieces, these LEGO blocks and
build levels for users.
That is an actual thing, but on smaller teams you may be part game designer,
the person who's creating the LEGO blocks,
as well as the level designer who's taking those things and putting them together.
They're not always distinct, but
it's important to recognize that there is a difference between the two.
A game designer is oftentimes tasked with building those systems.
Crafting the dynamics that the player's going to experience,
right, effectively engage with.
And the level designer is about taking all of those pieces and
crafting an experience.
And, what's interesting to me,
is that level design is really one of those places where there is a chance for
somebody to move from being a player to a fan, to a creator.
And hopefully some of you have had that experience, where you've made maps, or
you've used modding tools, or level editors to enhance a game.
Or have the opportunity to create your own worlds within an existing game world.
And so those are important too.
But it's also important to recognize the difference between the two.
See you next time.
[MUSIC]
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