Environment and levels

So where do you start? What do you do once you have an idea? How do you start each section? What should you do at certain points within the plan?

There are roughly 11 key steps in create a good construction for a level.

• Idea: Everything starts with an idea. A lot of ideas come out randomly at any point in the day. Sometimes they can be deliberate from books and researching possible ideas from other references. But a main good idea is to write it down as soon as you have thought about it. A good way of starting on your new environment is by looking back through the ideas that you have written down and consider the following points: Does it interest me and am I inspired to take it further as a game design. If your not excited by it, this will show in the final design of the level and the detail that it lacks.
• Purpose and Features: You need purpose to pursue what you want to create. If there is no purpose then it isn't worth it. Because a huge amount of time needs to be used there is not point in creating something that has no purpose and will serve no purpose as a environment/level. You then have to think about the game and what it is about. Is it derelict, is it clean and crisp, is it futuristic, is it out in space. If you say it has to be futuristic but has implications that it is clean with secrets in the backstreet’s then you make buildings that are new, clean, crisp, futuristic, and back alleys grungy, dirty, old, smelly. You want to portray an atmosphere you have to plan your environment and decorate it to what you want. This will serve the level purpose to portray a certain effect. But it could also be a challenge. Something you want to try out, a new tool or a way of creating the level. This is can also serve a learning purpose. But only you can finally figure out what that is.
• Location and Environment Setting: So where is the level going to be set. 1800S? 2068? This is what you have to take into account. As well as urban and rural. Old/new. Derelict/Busy. Is there an area that you've been to before that is influential and you want to make it look like that area you have visited, or is it something that has been morphed together from multiple places. You have to be specific in where you are setting it because this allows the empty space to be filled with relevant features.
• Photo Reference: You need to gather photo reference because this will allow you to make your level more realistic rather than creating something random from your brain which could make the level look amateurish and non-professional. Own photos are good as well as influence from other artists and photographers.
• Story: There needs to be a story. Why is the environment like it is, and how the character is in that environment, why he is there, what needs to be done in that specific environment. Without a story the level will be boring. It'd be useless to you. But with good textures and attention to detail this will help with the story of the level.
• Objectives and Obstacles: What are the objectives that need to be complete and what obstacles are in the way. An idea is you have to rescue a hostage within 5 minutes, but face multiple NPC enemies and that you have to construct a way to reach the hostage. If you do not construct it in a certain amount of time or defuse the bomb in one go its game over. So you have to think strategically where you find the most vital parts ensure you stay safe and take cover, to take out enemies one at a time, before getting cornered, and ensuring that there is enough time left to defuse that bomb slowly without making a mistake. But there could be side obstacles. Such as finding some items, that you have to trade a piece of silver with a merchant but the merchant also wants you to do a mission for him to, which means you'll then gather the material you originally needed as well as extras. But may cause harm somewhere else. But all end up in 1 outcome somewhere along the line.
• Top Down Layer: The top down layer is the birds eye view of the map that you want to create. This could mean there is a town square in the middle of the map with shops around in the close vicinity and then further out are houses and the further you walk away from the centre it becomes more run down and old. But it can show secret passages and alternate ways around the town, which could help with some missions. Creating multiple maps after refinement is a good idea because you could merge a possible two together to create the perfect one.
• Focal Points: where is the focal point? The church tower? Fountain? How does it make the surrounding area look, how does it add to the atmosphere, is it realistic to the world around the character.
• Visual Development: normally through concept artists, but this can produce a in-game effect that could become real. It allows the level to be made from, including the colours and makes it easier to change and manipulate repeatedly until there is the perfect one.
• Making Lists: Creating lists of what you need to do, what you need to create, what you need to collect, how long it's going take, how refined you are going to make each section afterwards. Are there props you can use within the map to test how realistic it is.
• Preproduction blueprint: This is taking everything and putting into one document or one blueprint in which if it is passed onto someone else to create a certain area they know what is trying to be achieved and follow the specifications in the documentation.

There is a very fine line between realism and stylisation. For me if the environment and level is realistic to the type of game, to the genre of game, to the action of game, to the mission that I am on then I can believe it is real. If it based out in space it has to be futuristic and new, something that hasn't been thought of before, but if it makes you imagine and makes you believe that there is a possibility that it could be out there somewhere then to me it is real. But if something is so far-fetched that it doesn't work, or doesn't look real, or does not fit into the environment or genre of game then it's just messy and poor. Its awful to play and will put off many people.

The Island

A typical environment that I enjoy is from the game Crysis. The first Crysis game is based on an island. Just a normal island with some scientists American and Korean. As well as some enemies. Having a high spec nano suit that can make you stronger, that can make you invisible temporary is quite far-fetched. You'd think it would be based in the future. But playing the game more it reveals something non-human, the aliens that are within the island. But playing the game, it's very FPS on an island, trying to figure out what's going on. There are normal guns, tanks, cars, boats, NPCs, etc. But because it's so different and new it works. When entering the alien base it becomes much more futuristic like the nano suit is. It all fits in. Aliens on earth is always a conspiracy and high tech suits are probably being made or planned. It could all be possible and the level, environment, desolate, warm and even peaceful, but with intense shooting, and that there is no where to go but forward all makes it worth while to play.

Aliens... YEAH!

http://www.worldofleveldesign.com/categories/level_design_tutorials/how-to-plan-level-designs-game-environments-workflow.php

Characters: True Blood

“To create a truly immersive game experience with a compelling fantasy world, you have to populate that world with real characters. Not just characters that behave realistically on the screen, but characters that ARE real to you, the game’s creator. The more you know your own characters, the more real they will become, and the more they will help draw the player into your game’s imaginary word. It’s not enough for your characters to have distinctive speech patterns and tics. They need actual histories, motives, dreams, and secrets. Then they will have real depth with which pull the player in, and your fantasy world will be come a real place that the player loves to visit, and can't wait to get back to when they leave.” - Tim Schafer

There are many characters out in the world that I have watched and read through books, TV and films even games. But expanding the feel of characters outside of games there are some very influential characters that I have watch on TV. There is one show in particular called “True Blood”. The HBO series is based on the series of books written by Charlaine Harris. Charlaine Harris started writing the True Blood series a while back, and I remember reading one of the books but then put it down to never pick it back up, until one holiday. I wanted a book to read and remembered that I wanted to start reading the books again. I started reading and was instantly hooked. It's a sexy, dark, magical book with mythical creatures and endless amount of dilemmas, twists and turns. It a roller-coaster of a book that always keeps you on edge. It's all based around the main character Sookie Stackhouse who lives in Bon Temps Louisiana. She is just a normal waitress in the local bar in a small town, however she has a gift. She is telepathic. She can hear peoples thoughts. She has to continuously block other peoples thoughts out to not invade privacy. Recently Vampires had come out into the open after many centuries of being hidden. Vampires wanted to mingle with humans, and the Japanese had created synthetic blood to quench the vampires thirst for blood. This is called “True Blood”. One night in the bar a vampire walks into Merlottes where Sookie works. She realises she isn't normal because she can not read a vampires mind. This meant peace and quiet for her. Thus she becomes thoroughly attached to this vampire called Bill Compton. He has many secrets that Sookie does not know, and will slowly begin to find out as their relationship progresses. Within America, the vampire community have sheriffs for areas of America. In Louisiana there is one vampire in particular that I adore. He is area 5 sheriff of Louisiana called Eric Northman. He is a Swedish vampire who was turned centuries ago and is over 1,000 years old.

Eric Northman who is played by Alexander Skasgard is a Swedish actor. He plays a very good role as a vampire. He has a strong physique, blonde and quite pale naturally plus very tall. As a strong vampire this is what you would see and this is what you get. He is a gentleman at times but very aggressive and possessive all at the same time, and takes a liking to Sookie very quickly. This becomes an obsession with Eric as he wants Sookie, or in terms of vampire he wants her to be his. His property. But the way he acts, the scripture of how he talks, how he sounds and looks so emotionless adds emphasis on how powerful and old he is. He is a reliable vampire and keeps what he says. He may not go about doing good deeds in the right way but has a heart. Every now and then some of his lines are sexual and deviant, as well as funny and humerus.

In one part of the series he loses his memory and becomes very lost and childlike. When you see him in that state you start to feel sorry for him despite the bad things he has done in the past. He also becomes a very good lover and emotionally attached to Sookie. That side of Eric is very warming and over time I have grown more and more to this wonder of a vampire. Plus, he is very good looking.

Carefree Eric

To make Eric who he is a lot is dependent on the script. His anger, the way he talks, how he reacts to things, how he plans, how he feels towards others. His acting as well. He has to stand tall, has to muscular and strong, he has to look like a leader and someone to be afraid of. This is all very realistic and warming to the heart and you can really connect with him through the TV screen. This is the case for me and I’ve warmed to Eric more than I have with a lot of the other characters.

Stories that I find irresistible are ones with suspense and magical hints, such as vampires and telepathy. It makes me think of the world much more differently, wondering if there could be such things as vampires or even werewolves or fairies. Anything. It could be out there, the vampires in True Blood took centuries to come out into the open. Who knows. Some history may be lost. A missing piece of the puzzle. It gets my mind going, all the thoughts and the possibilities are endless! It's just exciting, the suspense, the action, the love and intimacy. The True Blood book series and TV series are AMAZING!

Oh Eric!

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=10216

Being an art director

So what is an art director? What does he do? Is he even important?

Within the game industry the art director is the main man, the leader or captain of the group. They’re generally responsible for setting the visual tone, quality, and style for the game. They are pretty much indirectly responsible for every object, texture, level, character, and effect that often appears in games, This responsibility is extremely hard and requires a lot of strength. A good director must consider all variables for even just one object and apply that to the many objects within the game. Everything you see within a game is strategically placed and is there for a reason and not just randomly added. The art director would go through and look at all of these cracks, plants, trees, blocks of wood, metal bars etc and place them in the appropriate place to add to the effect and given feel of the game.

After looking for an art director application there is a website in which applicants place their CV on their website and they are in relationship with many companies such as “Activision” and even “Crytek”. There is one application for an art director. The specifications that they are looking for in a person so be an art director involves:

• You should have:
  • Experience of working on published titles on current-gen consoles
  • A proven track record in the creation of high performance, high quality assets for AAA titles
  • Knowledge of a range of graphical techniques
  • Experience in creating and maintaining an Art Bible
  • The ability to confidently present best practices to art teams, critiquing problematic assets and work flows
  • The ability to communicate and propagate the artistic vision throughout the studio
  • The ability to collaborate with the Technical Director and Lead Engineers in agreeing technical strategy
  • A passion for games and game visuals

(Taken from the website)

Looking through game companies websites I came across a ubisoft Art director application. This is what they’re looking for:

Ubisoft Singapore opened its doors in July 2008 and is the 18th Ubisoft internal development studio. Located in the Fusionopolis (Solaris @ One-North), a state-of-the-art Infocomm Technology and Media hub, the studio comprises a core team of Ubisoft veterans as well as a fast growing development team - ranging from recent graduates to industry professionals.

In the short span of two years, the full-fledged development studio has already been involved in the production of some major titles such as Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, Assassin’s Creed 2, Prince of Persia : the Forgotten Sands and created independently Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled on Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network.

With the focus of creating and developing new high-profile AAA game titles, the expansion of the studio is expected to be rapid as it strives towards its goal of becoming 300-people strong in the years to come

Job Description:

The Art Director will oversee the quality and content of the game’s graphic design production and must ensure that the visual elements are credible and in line with the game’s vision. His/her main tasks and responsibilities are:

- Define the graphic style of the game based on the creative direction (film references, other games, design documents)

- Communicate the quality and content expectations for the atmospheres, settings, characters, etc. to team members using effective visual references and documents that describe the artistic direction

- Follow up on and validate the work of the graphic design team to ensure that the elements produced are in line with the game’s vision and that quality objectives are met

- Establish visual priorities and help in planning the work in collaboration with the graphic design project leader

- Develop the graphic design concepts and participate in map creation (framing, scales, compositions, and interactions) with the creative director and game designer

- Work closely with 3D programmers and the graphic design TD so that the graphic data is properly integrated into the engine

- Play the game to detect any incoherence

- Work closely with the graphic design project lead, the graphic design TD, and the lead 3D programmer to optimize the efforts to innovate and the quality of the graphics generated

Profile:

- Experience on AAA games

- 5 years’ experience as an Art Director or an assistant artistic director (graphic design) or equivalent

- Knowledge of 3ds max and Photoshop, Zbrush (an asset)

- Drawing skills

- Excellent artistic judgement

- Ability to revise the work done by others and suggest improvements if necessary

- Ability to present his/her ideas, communicate the artistic direction, and provide constructive criticism

- Ability to collaborate with members of the graphic design team and members of other project teams.

An art director is a creative visionary who is responsible for defining the visual aspects of the game to a extreme high precision and up hold the art direction of the game. He must take into account, the colours of the game, what level of detail each level should hold, what are buildings and environment meant to look like within the game that makes it believable and realistic to the appropriate story, how does the terrain look, whether there are many NPCs or whether its deserted, and even how red blood should be. Fresh bright red or old stained dark red. The art director must be able to present their ideas to those who are creating the game such as the game developers, programmers, concept artists, creative writers, and many others that are involved in games. The art director will then pair up with the lead director to go over the design document in advance before assembling the art teams. Within the document they then take all the art specifications and create an art design document which pinpoints specific art parts of the document. Such as characters and environment. Being an art director is a creative role because you have to be pinpoint accurate with the visual effects of the game that comes along with the art side of the game. Thus when looking over all the art work adjustments may be made and toning and lighting can play an important role. Knowing the basics of the colour wheel will help in creating tone and mood such as dark colours would be good for horror and bright primary colours will be good for children’s games or party games.

If I ever wanted to become and art director in the future, im going to have to be able to lead a group of multiple people, and even multiple groups at the same time. Being able to manage time efficiently, and ensure that all work is to a high standard. I will need a good to detail and attention to specific parts and items, textures, detail, colour, tone etc. need a passion for games and the visuals behind it, to create what I set out to do.

https://www.ubisoftgroup.com/en-US/careers/search_for_jobs.aspx

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/jobs/aardvark-swift/midlands/england/uk-and-europe/art-director-id60607

http://my.safaribooksonline.com/159200430X/ch11lev1sec2?portal=oreilly#X2ludGVybmFsX0h0bWxWaWV3P3htbGlkPTE1OTIwMDQzMFglMkZjaDExbGV2MXNlYzImcXVlcnk9

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131524/common_methodologies_for_lead_.php?page=1

Elements of Game Design!

Within the modern society of games gameplay and game design it has played a significant role within the industry. Many players will look for an interesting storyline, realistic game feel, detailed environment and character design, and some will be more interested in just the general enjoyment and what feelings the game brings.

Game design is the development process of games in which there is designing of the content, rules of a game. Design of gameplay, environment, storyline, and characters are made during the production stage. It requires artistic, technical and creative writing skills to successfully have a brilliant design document for the game. So how does it vary from the past to the now?

When games were appearing the games designers, the artists, were the lead programmers and were pretty much the only ones who could programme the game. As games advanced it lead to game designers having to take away their role of game programmer and give it to others. It then started to become clear that there needed to be teams which specialize in certain areas such as a team of programmers and a team of game designers. With larger companies, these teams would have sub leaders within them. Such as lead artist and junior artist who specify in certain areas or levels and sytems within the game area. It can even lead to multiple producers, lead designers, and general designers in a team.

So what is game desing overall? It starts with a simple idea, often something that can be modified from something already real or something completely new with only a few concepts and ideas. The game itself may vary between many genres or can be specifically one genre from the start. Most of the time mixing genres is something that happens to find the right balance that suits the game that is being created. After initial ideas, a design document must be made. This will propose the initial concept, gameplay, feature list, setting and story, target audience, requirements, schedule and the staff needed to create the game as well as budget estimates for the game production, making, staff payment etc. Some estiamtes and budgets may be unreasnable and unachievable, thus this will mean the design document needs to be changed. Sometimes it can be changed various times throughout the course of its discussion between many artists and programmers within the company. The designer needs to pinpoint the important aspects of which the game will need and limit those that it is not necessary. Whatever the designer concludes from the design document can produce a positive or negative impact on the game.

So what does this game designer do exactly for the game and the production of the game within the industry? A game designer within the industry/company is the one who designs the gameplay of the game, putting forward the idea and designing the rules and structure of the game itself. But a game designer is not just down to one person. There are others within the game designing department.

• There is a lead designer who coordinates other designers and are the main visionaires of the game. They ensure that there is communication, makes large decisions, and presents the design to outside the team. The lead designer is techincally and artistically very good. Keep a well designed and clean design document is also part of the role of the lead designer. He may be the founder of the game development company.
• There are also game mechanics or system designers who balance the rules in the game itself.
• Level designers or enviroment designer is a position which is becoming more demanding. These designers are realied on to create the levels, environment, and missions within the game.
• The writing designer is only employed part time. The specifically write the games narrative, commentary, journals, hint system and much more. This adds back story to the game and is probably one of the most vital where the get together with the primary designer to intertwin both the writing and game seamlessly.

“Don't ever take control away from the joypad/keyboard unless you really want to piss off the player.”

Dave Perry

Next Generation Magazine, January 1997

So what is gameplay exactly? Gameplay is the specific way in which the players interact with the game. It is the pattern in which is defined by the rules of the game, and the connection between the player and the game, the challenges, how to overcome those challenges, the plot/storyline and how the player emotionally attaches to it. The gamepl;ay can be greatly influenced by the audio and visual aspects of the game too. If the graphics are poor on what is meant to be a next gen game then the player will become frustrated and now be able to fully connect with the game. The story line/plot has to be significantly important to the player. If the game is meant to be have an intense backstory to it, then it has to be shown, it has to be told to the player. If it lacks and sways the player will become uninterested in the game and will find it boring to play. So how important is it for others to have a good gamplay within the game?

I asked a few of my peers within my course and year on how important they think it is for a game to have a good gameplay.

“It's pretty much everything for me about a game. Take brink as an example. I couldnt play it as the controls and general gameplay was too different. I couldnt get use to it and gave up.” - Charlotte Clarke, Game Art, Year 1

“I would say game-play is important but along with other components such as the visuals and storyline. I don't think game-play necessarily takes preference over those, I find that I can still enjoy a game which may not have smooth or easy game-play as long as the other two aspects are strong. E.g. Deus Ex: HR had a big learning curve which was difficult to adjust to for me, which I think is because of the choice of going down the stealth route or run-and-gun option. The visuals and storyline were amazing but near the ending the game-play (as well as the several bosses) seemed to become very difficult, almost to the point where I felt like I couldn't get past a certain part because I chose the stealth option. The first boss I came across I couldn't beat because I had no offensive weapons which I could use so I found I had to replay a big chunk of it to gather weapons to get past that part. Despite this, it is a game which I would play again because of the strong storyline and twists and the striking visual style as well as having the option of playing through the game in different ways (which could make it easier for me as well if I went through it a second time)” - Marietta Pickering, Game Art, Year 1

For me gameplay is important and in all honesty I think it is important for a lot of people who understand and become emotionally attached to games. I've played many games that I have struggled to keep playing. Mainly because the controls are too difficult, that graphics are awful and even the characters and storyline are poor. Take “Balders Gate” as an example. This game is fantastic. It's a classic PS2 game and I throughly enjoyed the whole experience of playing it. It was a bird's eye view RPG game with warriors, magicains, theifs and weird and wonderful creatures. It had awesome weapons and the storyline was absolutley fantastic. It is something I could play repeatedly and a game i'll keep no matter what. But there are other games such as “Condemned”. “Condemned” was an awful game. It seemed enjoyable at first, but it got worse and worse the more I played it. I found it harder to control and complete objectives and found it overall boring. It just seemed pointless to play because I wasn't getting any satisfaction out of it. A good game brings emotional attachments and that's what “Balders Gate” brought me. But “Condemned”, no.

However all games must provide some variances in gameplay where it makes the game itself interesing. However there are some games out there that require different actions to bring different gameplay sections. It allows the player to become more emersed in the game because it is playing to what the player want. Some games focus on character creation (Skyrim) or select teams and classes that bring advantages or disadvantages to the situation (Call of Duty). This can also relate to a quote that my peer was talking about. The game “Deus Ex”. The game was initally designed so that you completely a level/mission in a way that you want and there would be a specific outcome that is relevant to how you go about it. Some may become stealthy and take out enemies without a sound, others would possibly run into the middle of the fight all guns blazing, and the outcome would be relevant whether no one knows you are there, or whether you kill innocent lives. But there are some negatives to this such as if your stealthy the weapons and skills you obtain may not be enough to kill a boss, and some guns blazing skills that are obtained may not help when you have to be sneaky in a mission. It can become very frustrating. Varied games can bring a sense of freedom to the whol game, which some players become more emotionally attached because they feel it's them in the screen and not just hold a controller or mouse.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_design

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gameplay

http://km.meme.hokudai.ac.jp/people/jantke/Lectures/TUD/Bjoerk_and_Holopainen_Patterns_of_Game_Design/collection/Alphabetical_Patterns/VariedGameplay.htm