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One of my favorite projects has been designing an elven home city, a breathtaking sprawl of elegant towers, cascading gardens, and luminous pathways woven into the natural beauty of the forest. Creating this city felt like composing a symphony of architecture and nature, blending the intricate details of ancient lore with the practical needs of adventurers exploring its wonders. The balance of grandeur and intimacy, from towering spires to hidden nooks brimming with secrets, made it one of the most fulfilling maps I have ever crafted.
The graveyard stands in eerie silence, recently abandoned yet still retaining much of its former order. The pathways remain mostly intact, though signs of neglect creep in—graves slightly sunken, scattered coffins disturbed, and vines beginning to reclaim the wrought iron fences. A sense of unease lingers in the air, heightened by the thick webs clinging to broken archways and the looming presence of a monstrous spider near the center of the cemetery. The mausoleums stand sealed and untouched, their stone facades weathered but unbroken, silent sentinels to the dead within. The wind carries the faint rustle of leaves through the overgrown hedges, whispering through forgotten memorials. Though the project was a rushed effort, the results capture the perfect balance between order and decay, proving that sometimes the best work emerges under the pressure of the crunch.
Follow me through my process as I walk through the steps of Video game design from concept to final product.
The concept phase can be the most exciting and challenging. Creating a theme and original mechanics for a game can be challenging enough with the amount of games out there today. In this stage originality is never my goal personally. In this phase no idea is a bad idea. Compiling everything and organizing thoughts brings me a lot of joy. Using software like free mind or trello to gather ideas is always a major help, sure beats the pen and paper method. Certain software can help this become a collaborative process and everyone has a preference. Deciding what to use as a team and ensuring everyone os familiar with it is an important step that I never miss.
During this phase it is absolutely crucial as a leader to manage expectations and ensure all members know what their roles and duties are. Everyone will have opinions and ideas. Write them down. During this stage of concept design you have to keep a few things in mind.
theme: mood, gore, art style
target audience: age, demographics - who are you building this game for
engine: unreal or unity - get familiar with your teams preferences, understand who your top performers are, and weigh that decision carefully
platform: pc, console, mobile
timeline and budget:
The finer details of figuring out a theme are more suited for a different page on my site. If anyone is curious about my process and how i created and developed some of my personal projects click the currently non functional hyperlink here to view that data. For the purposes of level/game design the only element of theme that really comes to the fore is the mood of the game. Building an ominous setting, tight spaces, twisted trees and creaking boards creates a very different mood when compared to wide open spaces, colourful and abundant flora and fauna and lighter tones for music. The trick is knowing what abilities will fit in the space, and what challenges the abilities are meant to overcome while matching the theme of the game.
An example is lockpicking; Each of the themes described above (the ominous/dark and the colourful/open) could potentially have a lockpicking mechanic.
In the ominous game, lockpicks might break, the locked objects could be trapped, lockpicking could make noise that attracts enemies, the camera could focus on the lockpick preventing the player from looking around to create a sense of danger.
In the brighter game that version of lockpicking might not be as well received. It could be a simple button press or a timing mini-game to unlock it with much fanfare.
The age categories and ratings for the game will help you aim at certain elements in the dev process. In my personal experience as a designer, I have had quite a bit of success in making simple games for younger audiences with the formula of low challenge, high rewards, lots of colours. The cool factor applies to any age group. The rule of cool. Having the ability to make a game more challenging usually appeals to an older and more experienced gaming audience.
I prefer having the option to appeal to a variety of gamers by having a modifiable difficulty meter. That being said, I am loathe to simply increase enemy health or player weapon damage to simply make a game more of a grind, there are much better ways to make a game more challenging and my first choice is always making a more aggressive AI before I look at changing health and damage values in a game. Even adding more enemies or timed challenges can prove to be very rewarding.
PC, Console or Mobile. This is a huge decision that creates parameters for the development. Each has its limitations and advantages.
Research in every aspect of the game is critical. Artists need references for style and form, programmers find reference to how mechanics have been done in other projects to help give a baseline for ideas and cut down on time, gameplay designers look for what works and what has failed in the past and why. We have a lot to learn from successes, but failures have just as much to teach us as game designers. I have personally worked with teams as small as 3 persons (3 programmers using art asset packs and delving into the wonderful world of everything art) to teams as large as 30 members. Having a common area where you can share your research as a team is not only ideal but necessary. Sharing progress keeps everyone on the same page and helps to motivate and inspire.
A few things really help me in this phase
create a mood board
post all art for theme together and remove any suggestion that isn't fitting as a whole
begin creating an art index of game elements that need to be designed, start with the highest priority items
gather references for every asset; the geology, fauna, flora, structures, clothing, weapons, persons, backgrounds and sounds
The brainstorming phase is always exciting. In this phase it is important to write everything down. There are no bad ideas, I have personally been surprised ate how the game can evolve in this stage and the results can be very intriguing. This is also an opportunity to learn a bit about your teammates and what inspires them, what they are passionate about.
This may be the most important document your project has. Everything anyone needs to know about the game you are creating resides in the GDD, and if you think drafting it is hard, wait until you try to get your team to reference it before making decisions.
The GDD has ended up being my responsibility on every project I have worked on thus far. Honestly I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it. Organizing a GDD, inputting all of the information, posting reference materials and notes, updating the document as changes are being made, keeping everyone up to date, reading the notes, the comments and answering them is a pleasure for me. Yes I know how insane that may make me sound but it is the truth. I embrace the chaos of the GDD and I am always very proud of it when finalized.
A challenge that I encountered often enough while working with teammates was having people reference the GDD before beginning a task. Very few people referenced it, others forgot of its existence entirely. This lead to team members redoing work often. The solutions we came up with as a team were;
Eliminate any documents that were old an no longer used, destroy the links
Create a reference link in our job board
Encourage team members to seek answers to questions in the documentation, eliminating the need for multiple and repetitive one on one conversations
Ensure someone keeps the document updated to avoid miscommunication and frustration
Those tricks helped ensure that teammates were building the habit of referencing the document. Keeping it up to date daily was a huge part of its success.
Creating a small workable version of the game is crucial. Not all ideas are gold and that is a very tough pill to swallow for many people. The secret to creating a fun game is letting people play what you have and accepting the feedback from the testers. In this step I aim to achieve;
Functional Core Mechanics
Gray Box Test Level
Test Gameplay
Make Adjustments
Once each of these elements is complete, you you have your playable demo. There are going to be changes made to almost everything at this point. Ambitious ideas might be put to bed, the size of the project could be halved or quartered depending on many factors (usually time/money) and this will challenge you.
I stay on top of this element by making as many of the values for abilities and functions able to be modified quickly via sliders. Testers will modify and test the controls and give you feedback. At this point you can gather all the data and find the common ground. Before you know it you will have a game that appeals to as many persons as possible, or you will discover that your game model is not viable as it is. Pivot, make changes, or get on to the next idea and push forward. We learn more from failures than success.
My absolute favourite step as a level and game designer. The first time you have a functional area, test area, or little corner of the world you have created to run around in and test abilities will bring you so much joy.
In this phase I bring my real world construction experience into play, and there is no more valuable tip that I can share than this "Measure twice, cut once". In the construction world a bad cut wastes material and time. This is the same in the video game industry. There are a couple of lessons I learned the hard way that really stuck with me and I will share them now with you so hopefully you can avoid the same mistakes.
Scale....Scale.....SCALE
Determine units of measurement
Ensure everyone is familiar with the units of measurement
Don't get carried away making an insane test level, its going in the trash later.
Focus on the core mechanics
Post progress daily (the minimum) or hourly
A picture is worth a thousand words, and seeing progress is inspiring to everyone on your project
Keep the theme in mind even in the test level
Using simple geometric shapes will allow you to make quick adjustments to everything in the test environment. I still attempt to use my skills at level design to create a flow of sorts, using the lay of the land to guide the testers to where they need to be. Everything you create is an opportunity to better yourself, treat everything you make as a challenge and the improvements will come naturally.
Keep scale in mind and try to ensure that any code made has values that can be modified easily in the game. This will allow you to create hazards and challenges that fit the abilities and functions available to the player.
A jump puzzle on floating platforms isn't testable if the players jump distance is too limited.
moving the obstacles or platforms is an option, but a short leap is often less exciting than a long one.
Does you game have enemy units, NPCs or any AI? Ensure they can travel where you need them to go. Ensure doorways and hallways allow for the player and enemy units to pass through them without getting hung up on the geometry.
Your game model and abilities may change over time as you iterate on the design. Create a white-box level that can accommodate those changes. Having empty spaces where you can expand to add more challenges or more geometry as the game evolves is a good thing, better than reworking the whole space to accommodate quicker movement or bigger jumps.
The testing and feedback stage can be a true test of your humility and sanity, so buckle up. The more experienced the tester, the more professional the feedback. This step can be painful for game designers and level designers alike but be sure to put your pride aside here my friends. The feedback here will turn your passion project that you are essentially making to be a cool game (your opinion) into a game enjoyed by more than just yourself. If the goal is to make a game that sells then this is a necessary step towards that goal.
There are a few things that I've learned as a level designer since I finished school and the most importance of flexibility. Be flexible, work with the people around you, absorb what the testers tell you with an open mind and try to apply what you can, if possible. Not every change can be made and some suggestions are made without an understanding of how code works. Flush the impossible and hang on to the plausible, you may be very surprised with the results.
Keep your timeline and deadlines in mind when receiving feedback and making changes to the game. Having a hard cut off for changes will improve the quality of the presented product during deadlines. Last minute changes before presenting can result in errors that will make your game unplayable.
Level Layouts are my personal favourite aspect of game development. Creating a space where players can use the abilities we designed to conquer challenges and test their abilities is why I do what I do. There are so many aspects to consider when creating a level layout, from the purpose of the level, the theme, and of course the pacing of the game.
A few questions need answering before I dive into a level layout.
What are the players meant to accomplish?
What is this level supposed to teach?
Is the player meant to develop or reinforce a mechanic?
Mastery of a mechanic, very challenging
What purpose does the level serve; combat, puzzle, stealth, movement puzzle, player HUB for NPC interactions, etc.
All of these need to be discussed and nailed down prior to creation or even white-boxing. Understanding the levels purpose heavily influences the design process and helps to avoid missteps and mistakes.
Level Flow & Navigation
Making an area easily navigable and providing visual queues for players to orient themselves is key in any level. Using a map feature/mechanic can help a player navigate a larger map with a bit more ease. My designs move forward with the assumption that a map UI will not be available. This forces me to consider all the elements of the map to create a space that players can become familiar with. One of the easiest ways to accomplish this effect is the use of landmarks. A mountain, unique building, smoke, colour changes in different sectors, lighting, even the skybox or position of the sun and starts can all help a player find their way without ever opening a map UI.
Level Objectives & Player Progression
The main objective must be kept in mind Is this an open area for exploration, is there an exit, enemies to clear, a boss fight, etc.
Secondary objectives make an area more useful, and using everything you have adds so much value to a game. Are there collectibles, side quests, puzzles, interactable objects, unlockable new areas, mini games etc.
At this point it also makes sense to consider at what points the players progress should be saved. Does a death send them to the beginning of the level, are there checkpoints or save points, auto-save points? Is the player meant to complete the entire challenge in one swoop or do we show mercy and allow them to save progress after each major hurdle. All of this is game design as well as level design and is very important for the creators to stick with the theme and pacing of the game. Avoid creating a game that is too punishing (unless you are aiming for that sort of thing (Darksouls)).
Being a junior programmer has been the greatest asset as a game designer. Any designer should have (at the very least) a passing understanding of how to code game mechanics, physics, etc. This knowledge allowed me to accurately and concisely communicate how the games mechanics and various components would come together as a whole. I have been fortunate enough in my career to work with some extremely competent programmers who took the time to work out the kinks in any game mechanic we faced as a team. It is my opinion that problems should be tackled as a group. Often someone needs to make a concession one way or another and these must be made with the final goal or vision for the game in mind.
Laying out game mechanics early on and defining them in detail will avoid problems down the road. For a programmer to have to redesign their code to function a different way is not a fun process. Ensure that everyone has read the GDD properly and that they truly understand their task, this will make the flow of development much smoother.
The first project I worked on with a team of students was one of the most challenging mostly due to a lack of willingness to read documentation before starting design. Take the time to read any literature and ask the questions that need asking before starting to write code, the same way and artist might inform themselves and gather reference images to create a new model. Finding examples of code online led many of our programmers to copy paste code that conflicted with the project as it was and in the end caused more problems than it solved. Remember, not every shortcut ends up being a shortcut in the end. Research, discuss, plan.
As a designer I had a very limited experience in the creation of 3D assets for the games we developed as a team. I created a few textures, some simple models for building frames and whatnot. Where my strength lay was in organizing and cataloguing reference materials for the artists to use. This saved them time (when the references were used) and energy that was very appreciated. Ask 5 different artists to design a rope-bridge and you will get 5 very different bridges. Reference materials that are thematic and fit the look of the game will avoid having them redo their work which we all know can be devastatingly draining when your hard work gets tossed aside.
Working alongside artists was one of the most rewarding and revealing steps of the game design process. I learned that my age and experience were great asset to the team. Below I will chare some of the issues that arose during development that will hopefully help anyone making their first games or assuming the role of a game designer for the first time to avoid certain pitfalls or what I call "energy vampires".
Improve graphics, animations, sound, and UI for a polished experience
Optimize performance for different platforms
Add accessibility features (colorblind modes, subtitles, difficulty options)
Ensure compliance with platform standards (Sony, Xbox, Steam, etc.)