THE HOWS AND WHYS

OF
LEVEL DESIGN

SECOND EDITION

by Sjoerd “Hourences” De Jong

http://www.Hourences.com
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
8 ABOUT THIS BOOK
9 ABOUT THE AUTHOR
11 INTRODUCTION
13 INTRODUCTION
13 THE BASICS
15 THE HISTORY OF LEVEL DESIGN
16 THE CHALLENGES AHEAD
17 PROFESSIONAL LEVEL DESIGN - OVERVIEW
19 PROFESSIONAL LEVEL DESIGN – COMMON PROBLEMS
23 DESIGN
25 INTRODUCTION
25 THE CREATION OF A NEW WORLD
26 THE CHECKLIST
32 THE FLOORPLAN
33 GROWING PAINS
33 SUCCESS AND EFFICIENCY
34 ORIGINALITY
35 ORIGINALITY CONTINUED
36 CLICHÉS
37 HYBRID SETTINGS
37 CONCEPT ART
39 GAMEPLAY
41 INTRODUCTION
41 BASE PRINCIPLES
43 FLOORPLANS
45 MULTIPLAYER
45 FLOORPLANS
48 ITEMS AND POWER-UPS
50 TRAPS
50 PHYSICS
51 COVER
51 AURAL FIXATION
52 IN-DEPTH EXAMPLES
52 CTF-CORET
54 CTF-LOPO
56 FINAL THOUGHTS
57 SINGLEPLAYER
57 THE BASICS
58 AI PLACEMENT AND BEHAVIOR
60 SCRIPTED EVENTS AND GAMEPLAY VARIATION
62 FLOORPLANS
64 LANDMARKS
65 INTERACTIVITY
66 TRAPS
66 ITEMS
67 DIFFICULTY
68 PACING
69 FINAL THOUGHTS
71 AUDIOVISUALS
73 AUDIOVISUALS
73 INTRODUCTION
74 COMPOSITION
74 INTRODUCTION
74 THE BASICS
76 STAY ON THE PATH
77 COMPOSITION OF NATURAL OBJECTS
77 MOVING GEOMETRY
78 ATMOSPHERE THROUGH COMPOSITION
81 LIGHTING
82 IN-DEPTH EXAMPLES
82 SAE
82 KRODAN
84 GEOMETRY AND ARCHITECTURE
84 INTRODUCTION
84 COMPOSITION AND BASICS
87 UNITY AND CONNECTIVITY
89 CUBISM
89 WEIGHT AND BALANCE
90 THEMATIC DETAIL
91 TERRAIN AND NATURAL LANDSCAPES
91 TERRAIN
92 TERRAIN TEXTURING
94 ROCKS
98 HORIZON
99 THE SKY
102 TEXTURING AND MATERIALS
102 INTRODUCTION
102 BASICS
105 COLORS
109 MATERIALS
110 LIGHTING
110 INTRODUCTION
110 THE SOURCE
112 LIGHTING COMPOSITION
113 BLACK AND WHITE
114 COLORS
116 COLORS CONTINUED: COMPOSITION AND CHOICE
121 TEXTURING AND LIGHTING
122 REALISM AND THE EXCUSE
123 SOUND
123 INTRODUCTION
123 USAGE
124 SOUND VARIATION AND PITCH
125 THE POWER AND STRENGTH
126 IMMERSION AND ATMOSPHERE
126 INTRODUCTION
126 BASICS
127 HISTORY AND SIZE
127 MOVEMENT
128 DETAILS AND CLICHÉS
128 STORY AND DEPTH
130 IMMERSION AND DEPTH IN MULTIPLAYER
132 THE CONCLUSION
135 APPENDIX A - LEVEL EXAMPLES
135 SAE
141 REDKIN
148 KRODAN
153 APPENDIX B - INTERVIEWS
153 CEDRIC FIORENTINO – GENERAL LEVEL DESIGN
157 ROGELIO OLGUIN – GENERAL LEVEL DESIGN
159 ANDREW WELDON – SINGLEPLAYER GAMEPLAY
162 TOM HANRAHAN - ARCHITECTURE
165 DANIEL LUKA - TEXTURING
168 MATTHEW FLORIANZ - SOUND
173 LIST OF SCREENSHOTS
175 CREDITS AND THANKS
177 COPYRIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS