azmodai

What I'm playing: Battleheart

2011-07-03T15:32:00.001+10:00

Starting this month I'm going to write about what I've been playing lately and my thoughts on that game.

Caveat: I'm not a games journalist so what I'm playing is entirely down to what I've picked up recently, had recommended through podcasts or friends.

iPhone: Battleheart
http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/battleheart/id394057299?mt=8

I picked up this game recently and it has been a great little purchase. I haven't sunk a huge amount of time into it yet but I'm enjoying what I've bought.

Battleheart is a game where you micromanage four characters on screen (with others in your virtual stable) and their abilities at a time to defeat zombies, spiders, trolls and a number of other enemies. The presentation is a simple 2D affair with your characters on a fixed battlefield and enemies appearing from the left or right.

Defeating enough enemies in a stage you will earn XP, money and a few items. Characters begin with a base ability and as they level up new talents are unlocked. The game also features a fairly simple inventory management system and armor / upgrade system that has you purchasing items to upgrade their abilities.

The combat is simple but satisfying, selecting a character and drag a selection to an enemy (if a combat unit) or to a friendly (if a healer) performs the basic ability and that action alone will get you through the first few levels at least.

So far all seems well. There are a series of stages (I'm still in the first series progressing through) and my characters are levelling up nicely gaining experience, items and better weapons, armour and abilities. One particular feature I'm liking is that each characters special talents can be swapped while at the menu screens, so if you find yourself up against the wall on a certain stage you can try swapping in some other abilities.

The graphical style is quite pretty and reminiscent of old flash games with the overly shaded characters (think homestarrunner). It's a style I enjoy, the animations are really fluid and satisfying and each ability has an appropriate little particle effect that makes it all the more satisfying to spam the crap out of fireball.

So far: small and satisfying and bite sized enough (each map only takes a few minutes to complete) that I can play a round during builds at work or while I've got a few minutes to kill.

....and we're back!

2011-07-03T15:17:00.000+10:00

For those who have stumbled upon it, I have decided (again) to resurrect this blog.

This is a blog about me, my life, my work, my hobbies and everything involved. I will cover things like my thoughts on current and upcoming games, ideas for games, general thoughts and whatever I pull out of my facebook, twitter and other feeds to write up a decent post about.

Life - Quitting Smoking

2010-06-15T07:20:00.000+10:00

For the past five years I have been a regular ten to twelve cigarettes a day smoker. Starting monday the 7th of June I become a non-smoker. In the past eight days or so I have not had a single cigarette.

The experience of quitting smoking has provided a drastic illustration of how addicted my body had become to smoking and regular nicotine. The removal of this chemical has effected my body significantly and it's rather disturbing how much one chemical which is not natural to the body can affect a person.

Inability to focus, broken sleep, mood swings, random hunger and urges to eat and a constant mental battle with your brain as you convince yourself that you don't need to smoke has been my challenges in the past week. Even now the cravings remain and I find myself irritable and lacking focus.

One thing has come from my past weeks experience. After putting up with what feels like a week of self torture I very much do no want to do it again and thus the notion of smoking again is very unlikely.

Gaming - Deus Ex 3

2010-06-06T19:43:00.000+10:00

http://ve3d.ign.com/videos/play/73548/PC/Deus-Ex-Human-Revolution/Trailer/E3-2010-CG-Trailer/Flash-Video

Watch the video. The first game in this series was an amazing adventure; the story of Deus Ex 1 was so deep and enthralling that I use it as a benchmark of gripping tales.

It makes me very happy to know that the third game looks to be returning to the roots of the series and using the plot lines that are both relevant to modern day society (technological implants and enhancements are coming in time, it's just a question of when) and still deeply captivating.

Reading - Keith and the Girl's - What do we do now?

2010-06-05T21:34:00.001+10:00

This is a book I recommend. I've been reading a friends copy and I would thoroughly recommend it to any down to earth couples (or singles) that could use a healthy dose of reality to answer to assist them in making their relationship better.

It's a book i'll be keeping on hand for my future.

Film - Nightmare on Elm Street

2010-06-05T10:37:00.003+10:00

One two, freddies coming for you

Three four, better lock your door

Five six, grab your crucifix

Seven Eight, better stay up late

Nine Ten, never sleep again

This movie is average at best. I felt thoroughly let down by this "reboot" of the franchise. The saving grace is Jackie Earle Haley (freddy) doing an excellent job with a really average script. While freddy was always infamous for his cheesy one liners this particular reboot lost a lot of the sinister character that he demonstrated in his previous films. The other characters were throw away and people who have seen the original seven movies will scoff at the quick once over they give the freddy story. The plot was the usual elm street plot so I can neither pick on that or sing it graces.

Compared to A New Nightmare this move felt weak and designed to simply be a generic "shock flick" for a teenage audience. A summer movie to take your girlfriend to, shock her a few times and then be on your way.

It had the compulsory end of movie scream that was decent. If you're a fan of the series - go see it but don't expect anything amazing.

What disappointed me most is that this series which I adored in my childhood wasn't given the same budget, planning, time and care to reboot this franchise like so many others have been given. How can you make Nightmare on Elm street feel like a throw away movie? See it at the cinemas and see for yourself.

World of Warcraft - World of Drama

2010-06-04T17:08:00.000+10:00

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=25171928012&sid=1&pageNo=1

I play World of Warcraft. Until recently I was raiding in a top end australian raiding guild (one of the guilds mentioned in the thread above). For those not in the loop. Guilds of players vie for world first / US first or european first of boss kills on the hardest difficulty. Often there are egos involved; In this case there are many egos involved as two guilds enter into a slagging match.

Level Design - Part Two

2010-06-04T17:04:00.000+10:00

It's been a hectic week at work and I'm glad it's over. During this week I have spent time working on this level. In my screenshot today you can see that a second tier has begun to form that overlaps the first. There will likely be two or three more tiers that sit in between to give an interesting height variation.

I have added a few static meshes about to give an idea of scale and feel. Just for fun I put in a basic light, some fog and a skybox (which can't be seen from this angle).

I have also added a matinee camera and locked it away into a separate layer; future updates will all be taken from this camera perspective to show the development of this area over time.

Level Design - Part One

2010-05-31T21:56:00.000+10:00

I've begun working on a new level using the latest UDK. I'll be posting updates as I go through the process of turning this rough idea into a full fledged level which I will release.

While it looks very basic at the moment, the core gameplay idea is already firmly in my mind. I am currently working that gameplay into the visuals that I want to present to the player.

At present this level is not lit or textured. I find working up the lighting or texturing too early distracts from the roughing out of the movement paths.

Music - Pendulum - Immersion

2010-05-27T19:17:00.000+10:00

The third album from Pendulum. It maintains the distinct pendulum sound while giving the group a lot of room to experiment. Many of the tracks feel slightly out of place and gives the whole composition an almost messy experience when compared to their previous album "In Silico". I tend to "grow" into albums so it may be better after some more time spent with the album.

I think Immerson a good album with some particularly good tracks that I'll give credit - Watercolour and the Island part one are easy radio favourites.

General - This Blog

2010-05-27T11:31:00.000+10:00

Tired of facebook and micro-blogging; I decided to make this blog my creative outlet to the world. I feel the world deserves more blogs with more content and less 240 character posts that tell you nothing. Books are not written in SMS language or in tiny chunks and they tell the most captivating stories of all.

To that end expect many more posts on this blog. The world is an interesting place and I intend on sharing my part of it.

Game Dev - Recruitment and difficult studios

2010-05-27T11:20:00.001+10:00

Getting work in the game dev industry isn't easy; it often takes months of searching, emailing and waiting until you finally get the offer you want. Game studios on a whole are fairly relaxed and casual people. Occasionly you will encounter a studio that is difficult for one reason or another.

Often these studios are difficult because your point of contact is stressed, overworked or pushing to get work done. It's a stressful industry. This isn't a discussion on the stress of the industry - if you're in it you already know all about it, if not you'll be exposed to it soon enough.

The one thing I want to stress is professionalism. While game studios are casual affairs (for the most part) they are none the less a business. For that reason I stress that If the studio doesn't treat you in a professional manner then cease contact with that studio. Even if it seems to be the perfect job you will be setting yourself up for a lot of difficulty in the future. Don't do it.

To any studios out there reading and this only applys to a very select few. Treat your applicants and your staff with respect and dignity and treat them as professionals. The industry in australia is small enough without difficulty in communicating.

Film - Iron Man 2

2010-05-26T16:21:00.000+10:00

This movie is about robots. There is a plot somewhere yet it falls by the wayside to the clear and simple fact that robots in large quantities are worth more than a story or plot development.

2010-05-25T22:51:00.002+10:00

I will be updating this soon.

Game Dev - Imperial Hope

2006-06-10T17:58:00.003+10:00

This is a second idea that I developed while sitting on the train heading home from work one night. As always, all readers are free to use / improve or embellish this idea as much as they like, as long as it inspires people.

Imperial Hope

Quick synopsis: Rogue Merceneries have captured an Imperium frieghter. With only 30 minutes until the mercs can jump away the imperium has contacted local merc fleets to attempt to reclaim the frieghter.

Prelude
The Rohmna sector is considered to most as dull as any star sector could possibly be. Another sector that had decided to include such elements as planets, comets or the odd asteroid field would comparibly make it quite easily the most exciting place in the universe, when compared to Rohmna. Being primarily a trading route for large space frieghters, most captains find the most entertaining part of travelling through this long sector to be a good chance to catch up with that old game 'count the stars'.

As such many of the star counting captains needed to rub their eyes and pinch themselves when an imperium vessel entered the system. When the imperium vessel was suddenly set upon by swarms of small mercernary fleets the captains all thought this so impossible that most just put it down to the 'deep space crazies' and promptly decided it might be a good time to have a lie down.

Imperial Hope
The Imperial Frigate IMP5043 or otherwise referred to as 'Spite' by its crew, other vessel crews, and often by pirates right before the explosive decompression unwraps them and gives them a first class view of the inside of their skin, or somebody elses skin depending on the size of the appropriate explosion.

The universe was colonised by man, alien, fetorgs and another race that the rest of them can't quite pronounce. Of the areas colonised by man, the largest is the Imperium, spanning countless (yes we tried) star systems. The Imperium is held in relative peace by its not-all-that-small-indeed armada that quite will happily and casually remove merceneries, pirates, rogue species of alien and the occasional planet from the universal map.

Spite had just recently engaged in battle with a pirate base located within what is often called the 'kaboom' sector - a sector rather renowned for harbouring pirate fleets whom favourite passtime when not painting pirate flags on their vessels is launching attacks on nearby frieghters and traders.

However, this time Spite had taken rather serious damage to its main engines thanks to the recent demise of a pirate vessel who had chosen that the best place to end their existance was the rear end of the imperial frigate.

Although victorious, Spite was now limping - in ways only a star frigate of nearly 25000 tonnes can limp - back to a nearby imperial station for repairs. Deciding that the best course would be the boring course, the captain decided to limp through the Rohmna sector thanks to it's reputation for being so uninteresting that the big bang that formed the universe originally had decided that it was better to scatter it's matter elsewhere.

However this decision was both a blessing a curse for the now wounded Spite. While completely empty and rather silent, it also put Spite out admist what should be a very very empty sector if the pirates that the Spite has previously harassed had decided to call for reinforcements and take the spite from the imperium

Swarming onto the ship like many angry hornets, the pirate fleet quickly overcame the spite's remaining defense weapons and boarded the ship. Quick to dispense some pirate flavoured justice, the crew all quickly met their appropriate maker. Before their demise and boarding however, the captain of the Spite was able to relay a distress signal to the imperium station in the next system.

The Spite while damaged was still capable of making a short term light jump, capable of taking it well outside the grasp of any imperium attack force that may make itself apparent in the coming hours. The pirates quickly began to dock their craft and prepare to jump the craft into another sector with their prize frigate. The process would take hours, allowing a small window for possible retribution.

However, the signal had not been unheard. Quick to respond, the imperium station scouted the nearby sectors for another frigate or cruiser to aid the fallen Spite. With none to be found due to the non regulation path the captain had taken, the imperium sought it's only remaining form of justice, Merceneries or known as 'Pirates who haven't been charged yet'. A cruiser two systems away was making it's way to the Spite, but would not be there in time, unless the jump array on the spite is disabled.

Contacting a local rival fleet, the station commander offered an extreme reward for the return of the Spite and any of the crew if still alive. Local mercenary captain Gash quickly took up the challenge to bring down a rival pirate crew and either return the spite, or keep it for himself

Bringing his availble fleet quickly up behind the spite, the mercenary crew quickly donned their armour and space-env suits, and set to board the wounded spite. With only approximately 27 minutes remaining until the craft would jump the invading pirates prepared for a brutal close quarter fight for the prize.

Mission Objective Summary - Attackers

The attackers are attempting to gain entrance to the spite, by leaping from their fighters onto the large ship. The pirates have enabled some of the turrets and guns located around the craft that must be disabled before the attackers can override a hatch control and enter the interior of the craft. Once inside, the attackers will need to open the launch bay doors to enable their fighters to land in the craft and continue on the fight. Once the craft are landed, the attackers must firstly get to the main engine room and disable the light jump array, stopping the defenders from escaping, and lastly taking the bridge and stealing the prize for their own.

Mission Objective Summary - Defenders

The Defenders must attempt to prevent the attackers from taking control of the craft for 30 minutes while the light jump array finishes charging and allows them to escape. They must firstly defend one of the two opening hatches available across the surface of the craft with their defensive weapons and turrets available, secondly they must prevent the attackers from opening the bay doors and bringing their ships inside the firing range of the Spites guns. If landed, the defenders must attempt to prevent the light jump array from being destroyed however if they are destroyed, the defenders must attempt to hold the bridge to give them enough time to arm the self destruct before escaping.

Settings & Location

1: Outdoor Spite / Surrounding ships

2: Hangar Bay / Indoor the spite

3: Indoor the spite / Main Engine Array

4: Indoor the spite / Bridge

Suggested Visuals

When developing this scenario I had the idea in mind of an industrial styled ship, much like the battlestar galatica, which looks distinctively square and retro. I also had ideas of a ship the size of the SDF-1 from Macross / Robotech.

Objectives - Attackers

1. Open a hatch to enter the spite

Along the surface of the spite is 2 main entrances, these are sealed blast doors that are designed to take a pummeling from spacecraft laser weaponry, however they are not particularly defensive against traditional hand arms such as rocket launchers are flak / shard based attacks. Remove the defensive turrets and then destroy an entrace to enter the Spite.

2. Capture the launch bay / open the launch doors

The attackers ships are currently under fire from the Spites larger and more defensive weaponry which is designed to fight space stations and other large ships, by opening the blast doors the smaller pirate vessels will get inside the minimum fire range of these large blast weapons and will allow the attackers to escape with the prize once the current pirates are removed.

3. Destroy the light jump array

Unlike the current pirates, the local merc fleet have larger ships on stanby that would be capable of escorting this ship into their posession, thus removal of the light jump array is necessary to stop this ship from being taken into enemy territory. Proceed towards the rear of the ship and remove the light jump array.

4. Capture the bridge and the Spite.

Screw the imperium, this merc fleet is taking a frigate of it's own. Kill the pirates holding the bridge and capture the bridge controls, stealing a huge prize unlike any other taken by a pirate.

Game Dev - Attack on Ions: Dropping the Glass

2006-06-10T15:55:00.003+10:00

This is part of what I hope to be a long series of ideas that I have never implemented into a level design of any variety.

Most of my designs are built around objective based gameplay, and would suit gametypes like Unreal Tournaments 'assault' or the 'campaign' gametype of Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory & Return to Castle Wolfenstein. However any team / objective based gameplay should be able to use these ideas.

Attack on Ions: Dropping the Glass

Ions, the floating sky city. Home of the planets ruling class whom sit above the small planet of Corsec. A technological marvel, Ions is suspended high in the air by a technology known as the hantec pods. Originally developed to house the people while developing the planet below, but has since become much more sinister.

Ions, an affront to those below who have been forced to live in the squallor of the slums on the planets surface.

The elite have long run Corsec in a cruel and harsh manner to those below, enforcing strict and regular supplies of food and processed materials which drain the planets resources to fuel their own gluttony. The people on the planet suffer as they are forced to work in labour camps to feed the elite above.

Those living in the squallid slums below have grown weary and angry at the constant torture and cruel conditions they are enforced to live within to preserve a floating glory they may never see and never touch.

The people have decided to bring ions down to the planets surface below, ending the rulers supreme injustice to those of the planet below. Through pooling what little resources available, the local population has contacted an off-planet captain and his group of mercenery warriors.

To transport the materials from the planets surface to the floating capital, a trasport guarded by raptor spacecraft leaves from a secured loading dock containing materials destined for those above. The merceneries will infiltrate this loading dock and board this transport. Once aboard, they will fly into the city of Ions and destroy the citys floating generators - the hantec pods.

Unknown to the planets occupants, the rulers above had long forseen this and had long planted spies amongst the populace below. The rulers are aware of the situation and chose to allow those below to believe their redemption is almost at hand.

The merceneries sucessfully infilitrated into the landing bay. However they have been ambushed by militant forces of the supreme above. The plan to sneak aboard ions is gone, now the merceneries, joined by the planets people, strive to launch craft to attack the sky city above.

The battle to bring down Ions has begun.

Mission objective summary - attackersThe attackers will need to overcome the forces at the launch bay, launch their attack with the raptor aircraft (locked onto the launchpads), destroy the turrets surrounding the landing bay on ions. The attackers will then need to penetrate deep into Ions core and destroy the hantec pods to bring down ions.
Mission objective summary - defenders
The defenders need to defend the launch controls, if they are taken they will need to attempt to lock them back down before the raptors are launched. If launched, the defenders will need to attempt to stop the attackers from destroying the defense turrets and landing on ions. If they land the defenders need to stop the force from getting into the ions support grid and lastly protect the hantec pods from being destroyed.
Settings / Locations
Part 1: Landing Bay / Launch bay (ground)
Part 2: Air Battle (air battle similiar to AS-Mothership in UT2004)
Part 3: Ions City / Support Grid
Objectives - Attackers
1. Unlock the launch bay
The launch bay had been locked down as the attack was expected, the controls to unlock the launch bays will need to be unlocked before the attackers can sucessfully launch.

2. Steal the raptors and launch
Once the launch bay is unlocked, the attackers will need to secure the raptors / spacecraft before launching their attack on ions

3. destroy the defense turrets surrounding the launch bay entrance
There are a number (possibly 2 or 4) defense turrets blocking the entrance to the landing bay. There should also be other defense turrets which are not required by the objective.

3a (optional objective) disable the power generators
There are a number of exposed power generators surrounding ions which power the support & defense grid. If the attackers take down these extra generators their entrance into the support grid will be all the easier.

4 Access the support grid
Ions hantec pods are located towards the lower side of the floating captial, the attackers will need to breach the support grid to enter into the chambers below

5. Destroy the hantec pods
The hantec pods keep ions afloat in the atmosphere, there should be four of these pods located roughly equal distance from each other or in a more gameplay oriented setup (one location with all the pods equally spread apart possibly). These need to be destroyed to bring down ions.

Suggested Visuals
While designing this scenario, I was inspired by some drawings i was looking at from conceptart.org in the 'finished section' of the forums. Take a look there for inspiration. Other inspiration could be 'battle angel alita' an old anime for a real rusty / technological appearance.

Design Woes & Documentation

2006-03-19T18:49:00.001+11:00

Documentation. This word tends to inspire some scorn amongst level designers, a few will turn their noses up and close this page, and others will wonder why on earth I would write about such an uninteresting topic, and a few will read on in the hopes that the topic was actually a cunning ploy to throw others off the trail of a potentially brilliant piece of information.

Sorry, it's about documentation. sad yet true. You won't find any pieces of literary treasure here, well... maybe one or two if you are fascinated by the writing skills of lazy level designers who are avoiding real work.

It's no secret that it is quite possibly the most mundane of tasks being a game developer is reading and writing copious amounts of documents that at best seem only vaguely related to the task at hand, especially when the documentation appears to be written in some strange dialect by a crazed madman under the influence of a narcotic that to them seemed like a good idea at the time.

Recently however, I have been working on a freelance project with a company that is currently in the glorious startup phase. This is where the sparkley eyed geeks speak of their dream of riches, gold, supermodels and fast cars that will be achieved through their perfect project vision.

As a level designer I have was charged with the task of developing levels based off a design, which sounds particularly easy in theory and it should be in practice, assuming the respective gods smile favourably and the moon is in the correct alignment of venus.

However a problem occured in the design department, the idea of having one design quickly was voted out by the collective minds of the designers and proceeded to quickly split into three of four designs of the same idea, all while not informing the other designers of the changes that had been passed down to your author.

The number of designs on this same idea appeared to vary based on the day of the week, the weather and the colour of the designers undergarments.

When combining a deadline looming around my head buzzing angrily in a way only deadlines can and a designs that appear, stay for a chat and a cup of tea and then proceed to dissapear again, producing and polishing content to a professional standard becomes as easy as building a house with a very small knife, a bucket of concrete that would rather enjoy a nice slide down a hill than actually adhere to a surface and a variety of bricks that have more sides than would appear on the most hardcore of dungeons and dragons player's dice.

After some careful consulting of the greater gods of level design, your author decided to build a level from a design that seemed the most straight forward, well thought out and easiest to implement to showcase the best features. This caused some duress amongst the designers who appeared to change their undergarments on a 2 hour basis.

With the task complete I raised my concerns about the lack of co-ercive direction in design and we quickly resolved the situation upon creating a documentation management system. The moral of the story is to be prepared for this kind of lunacy to occur.

It is quite normal for designs to change in the process of development. However when there is a deadline fast approaching logic often dictates at some point you need to say 'we're going to build what we've designed and work from there'.

This is where documentation enters the scene, and for a well deserved change not to be used as a low velocity projective or a medium of creating the latest and greatest origami monstrosity.

By having clear documentation that is accessible to all members of the staff the project is given a clear direction as much as the neon lights of the tavern find the traveller looking to drown their sorrows.

I heartily recommend to all level designers working on projects, mods or published games. If you don't have a method of keeping the team on track you will quickly find yourself bogged down and confused. I suggest working closely and clearly with the designers to avoid the plight I have told to you.

- Evyn

How to create a level

2006-02-01T20:20:00.001+11:00

In a forum I frequent the question was posed 'How do I create a level?'. I wrote this long response. I feel it is relevant to all level designers or budding level designers.

I'm going to talk about the design side of creating a level. The technical side of building a level people have already covered. Read tutorials and experiment in the editor until you know how it works.

Heres my way to design a level.

First. Pre design. Think up a scenario you think would be cool. It doesn't matter if everyone else would think it lame. As long as you think it is cool. If you don't like the idea, then you probably won't do a good job and generally people won't like it either.

Take the idea. Think of the environment of which that idea is set in. Often I find it easiest to think up a little backstory before actually starting to build the map, that gives me a reason for certain items to exist. If you know why it should be there then it will fit all the better.

There is nothing worse than just opening the editor, plonking some meshes down and saying 'its erm.... a room with crates'. You make crap work and it has no style or character.

Just a side note. Cliches. We have all seen the factory maps a million times. We have all fought in deserts and snowfields and forests and oceans before.

However.

Don't be afraid to do them again. Cliches exist because they work. They are good settings to base levels around, this is why they worked in the first place. As long as you are putting your own cool spin on that idea and making it interesting, it's still a cool map.

So. You now have a cool idea, a setting for your level and a reason for the combat. Time to get into the editor

First, get some references. Ideas are cool, but ideas won't make the game fun. You have to work with the gameplay of the gametype you are working with. So look at a lot of other maps. Take note of the distances between objects. Note how much cover is available. Take a close look at the size of everything.

Try to write down all the important elements that involve this style of play. - Is the movement fast or slow?
- Is there going to be level interactivity?
- Do I want choke points and where are they going to go
- Where do I want my player to be when combat starts?
- Do I want the player to go in a specific direction?

Once you have a good idea how the gametype works. Draw up a rough sketch and as long as it is all sounding cool to you, then open up the editor.

(on a side note, a lot of people like to rough out their levels using the editor. I'll leave this to your discretion. I personally like having paper in my hands to reference to at all times)

Rough out the map. Don't get too locked down in one layout and think you can't change it. Your players will never know what it looked like originally. it wouldn't be much fun anyway if you stifled yourself creatively.

Don't be afraid to ignore your plan or start again a zillion times. It took me 8 attempts to make Bushwalk before I made a layout I was happy with.

Also. Test things. If you don't know how something works. Make a quick test map and test a specific feature. It's a lot easier than trying to get it into your level and hoping to hell it will work.

Flesh out the level with the areas you want, any specific features you need to make the level work. Put all the essentials in.

- Cover
- Basic design of the level
- Items to stop the player falling out of the world.
- Basic artistic premis.
- Any levelinfo required items to get the level to work.

Then. You are at alpha.
Slap a 'WIP' on the map filename and put it up here. Get people to play it and tell them it's at an alpha stage. The main question here is fun. Don't give a shit about the graphics or the sound or the environmental effects. If other players like it, then you have a winner.

Take feedback in stride. If people don't like elements, don't change it just because they say so. A lot of people are biased towards one type of play. Instead try to balance the problems out.

If the map is too large, shrink it down or bring the two forces closer.
If the map is too open, add more cover or large objects to bring the players closer before combat.
If the map is to small, add more areas.
If the map feels too focused towards a certain class, work in some areas specific to that class.

Side note. Always remember the reason people are playing games like strike force. They want to get into combat and have fun, taking a million years to find each other is not fun. Having to open a huge sequence of doors is not fun. KISS is your friend (Keep It Simple, Stupid!). People want an environment that works with them - not against them.

Level flow is all about accomodating the player and keeping the player moving without actually telling them to do so. Reward the player for performing certain actions or taking a specific path. Never penalise a player.

If people think it is fun then keep on editing. If not, keep changing things until it does become fun. Never be afraid to ask for feedback. Thats what level designers are there for.

Once other people and you think the level is fun. Now all you need to do is resolve the bugs and make it pretty.

I won't go into details on how to make a level pretty and it feel like an environment. I have written up that rant in my blog.

Once it's all done. You have completed a level that you can both be proud of and happy to play. If you don't like playing the level at the end of the process, don't take it to heart. It happens.

On large projects (like when I was working on stargate) I was developing the same levels for over a year. I was sick to death of playing my levels by the end of it. That doesn't mean that people won't like them though.

Remember always. People WILL play levels, just because they are levels and they are new. Never hold yourself back because 'I don't think people will like it'. Screw that. Map for yourself first, others second.

Also. Remember to talk to experienced level designers. They have learnt tricks of the trade from doing it for years and will be able to help you when things just don't make sense.

Heres a tip. Nobody ever 'understands' the Unreal Engine. It doesn't make sense, ever. We all just know how it works and what we can do with it. We're accustomed to things working the way they do, but we can't explain how or why it happens in the way it does, 90% of the time.

However, if it all comes together. You will have learnt a great deal, developed a kickass level and will be establishing yourself as a level designer.

Pre planning. The difference between level editors and designers.

2006-01-30T12:11:00.001+11:00

During my past week I have spent a considerable amount of time developing my own levels, which brought upon this rant.

Now. As I have been working for Perception for the past 15 months on the same project, having to pre plan anything is long over. At Perception we've had documentation describing the missions that I was responsible for developing for years. Literally. years.

At home I took it upon myself to start building some more levels for myself. Cool ideas that I had put aside while I was focusing on the project at hand.

I lept into the editor and starting throwing some areas around. Nothing special but a few ideas that I had been toying with for some time. I quickly hit a mental block.

Why could I not put down my creative ability in the same manner as I did at work.

I realised that I had no direction, no idea how I wanted to distribute my meshes, my actors or my various elements of the level that needed direction. I needed a plan.

I had a cool idea in my head, but I quickly realised that when you begin working in the editor your brain switches to 'editor mode' and it's very easy to lose sight of the cool idea when you are bogged down in technical details.

The answer is to pre plan and think before you edit.

I hear a lot of Level Designers having issues like this. I'm sure a lot of level designers reading this can sympathise

Today I want to impress upon you the importance of pre-planning when developing a level or environment. A lot of people I know scoff at the idea of having to meticulously put every notion that surrounds an idea on paper. However after practicing the pre planning method, I can suggest no other.

My suggestion to you all.

Write up your ideas on paper. Throw around some notions and play with options based around that idea. You can get proper direction when you know what you're working towards.
Plans can be as detailed or as loose as you like. The purpose of a plan is to give you direction and keep your creative efforts moving towards the goal. As long as the plan keeps you on track, the plan is doing it's job
Keep artistic elements out of the plan. Peoples artistic tastes change daily, maybe simplified versions but avoid going over artistic points unless they are the focal point of your levels.
I find it often good to create a small back story to the level that forms the basis of the plan. All levels are set inside a scenario in your head. A level which is a series of rooms for the sake of killing one another has no character and shows little creative ability.
Do NOT be afraid of ripping off ideas or using a cliche level. Cliches exist because they work. As long as you are putting your own spin on the idea and making it cool to you, then you are not sacrificing your integrity.
Never throw away or scrap old plans. Keep them around as they may provide some insight or ideas for your next plans. If nothing else they are generally an entertaining read at a later date.
You don't have to abide by the plan 100% or at all. If you find yourself in a position where your plan doesn't match your final product - who cares!, it's just a tool to aid you in delivering a cool final product.

That's my little spiel about pre planning and the wonders it creates.

On a side note. After writing up this little rant it has given me a new insight to the difference between a level 'designer' and a level 'editor'. Although these terms are effectively synonomous in the real world I believe there is a significant difference.

A level editor is the person that translates ideas or designs (not their own) into the game engine . Effectively a glorified data entry operator or a builder. You are taking designs are turning them into their game engine areas.

A level designer is the person who actually takes an idea and develops it into a usable design which can then be turned into the game engine area.

Nit picking I know. However it becomes more and more apparent as I wander the internet exactly how different people are in their abilities. This is not to say that one discipline is any less important than another.

Level Design and the importance of environments

2006-01-21T15:24:00.000+11:00

I want to rant a bit on this subject.
As with all my rants, this is a draft rant. I am not intending on abusing anyone or attacking anyone specifically, merely I am pondering a topic that will aid level designers in their thoughts towards developing better content.

The visual quality level of games climbs higher and higher with every iteration. We are finding methods of squeezing out more polygons from our hardware, and producing environments that are quickly becoming very very real.

I am in the firm belief though that level design is still quite some time behind the artists and the graphics coders.

With each game I play, and I'm specfically targeting single player first person shooters in this rant, I find that while visually levels are very impressive, levels are no closer to becoming environments.

The key to environments is a good collection of interactivity and scripted sequences that both makes the player feel comfortable and in a sense 'fits' with the environment and also detracts from the players importance in a game.

After developing many single player levels for my current project. I have noticed more and more the game mechanics becoming exposed to the player. It becomes obvious when you walk into an area and trigger off a sequence. Doom3 is infamous for this behaviour.

Now this is fine, triggering off sequences is a time honoured tradition. Now while these sequences are very cool, It is often very apparent to the player that if they do not move within the radius or location of the trigger, nothing will happen. This is what breaks the game world and causes a level to lose it's immersive nature.

If a player is permitted to stand around for an infinite amount of time without anything happening, this is a bad environment. I know all you level designers out there will probably say 'there is only so much a level designer can do'. However I do think that level designers should keep this element in mind.

What I would like to see is more levels designed that really take the extra care when developing their levels. There are a few elements that should always be kept in mind.

Time. As humans, we all have the idea of time constantly in our minds, we are surrounded by clocks are computers that can keep us up to date. Thus when playing games we always have this element in the back of our mind. As such. Having levels where the player can stand around for an infinite amount of time with nothing happening is a big no no. In first person shooters this needs to be paid attention to moreso due to the immersive nature of first person games.

As level designers, we should attempt to bring this into our levels, if a player stands around for a period of time, try to implement various ambient options dependant on the situation. In outdoor areas have clouds moving, sun(s) moving, or stars moving. All these things are familiar and natural to us and it breaks the immersiveness to not pay attention to these details.

The situation we have put the player in. I think this is best illustrated in the first few levels of half life 2, inside city 17.

If the player remains still, people move, guards interact with people, aircraft moves through the sky, birds fly around, sound travels around with these objects. All of this happens without the player doing anything. This is an excellent example of an environment, as it appears that the player is not the key focus for elements to change in the game world. Not only does it appear that the city is alive and constantly moving, but it removes the player from being the 'hero' and having the world revolve around them. If you play these levels a few times, most of these elements are really quite simple to implement, but gives the world a whole new meaning.

Follow the AI as it walks the streets of city 17, they are following preset paths, but as the player moves through these areas, they don't need to see more than the fact that people are moving and not paying attention to the player. The less attention the player recieves in many situations, the better.

As level designers, we need to keep in mind the importance of removing the player from the 'hero' status. While the player is essentially, the hero. Too many games have used the cliche rambo style dynamic and it wears thin on players. Players enjoy a game where they are somebody normal, or an underdog of some variety, who manages to save the world in a semi realistic fashion.

This is why half life 2 is so enjoyable right from the word go on a level design basis. You are a scientist that is unlucky to get stuck in a facility, but lucky enough to escape. You are nobody special.

This isn't a rant about the great level design of half life 2, but a clear example of the type of gameplay that we as level designers should attempt to emulate and expand upon. Our games and projects would have a lot better recognition if we stopped creating levels, and started putting the focus on creating environments.

For many level designers who are modders or working on multiplayer projects, try thinking about the world you are developing. Levels become environments really quite easily.

Evyn out.