Presuming that we are talking about good, or pleasant surprises, what would you say is a game or maybe even level that really exemplifies how to get "surprises" right in level design and why? What makes a good surprise and what is your approach to crafting surprises in level design? Looking at the ten principles, one of them that stands out to me is #5 - "Good Level Design is surprising". Its important for me that Level Designers draw inspiration from areas outside of games/movies/comics, so I try and route a lot of my thinking in classical disciplines (like ergonomics, psychology and architecture), so hopefully those particular elements will have a better sell-by-date, if you catch my drift. Well… I was actually pretty amused/humbled by the YouTube thing… particularly as the #2 hit is John Romero… who probably knows a bit more about making games than I do! The gaming landscape is constantly evolving, so it’s impossible to predict how long that particular set of guidelines will remain relevant, but I tried to make it super open-ended, so it could be of benefit to as many people as possible for as long as possible. Would you say these principles are timeless, or has your perception of what constitutes "good level design" evolved since then? Your speech at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2013 in which you lay out "Ten Principles for Good Level Design" is currently the top hit for "level design" on YouTube. LDs have to work very closely with all the other disciplines (Art, Narrative, Sound, Tech, Gameplay, etc…) as the level is where all of their work is deployed – collaboration and communication are skills that are just as important as being able to create a well-flowing mission! That is to say that the players receive the gameplay through the level, and it’s the Level Designer’s job to understand the game mechanics, narrative elements, artistic brief and technical limitations to create something that will evoke an emotion in the player. I like to think that a level is the metaphysical medium through which gameplay is delivered. A lot of people think it is a place… or a mission… but they would only be partially correct. In your own words, what is it a "Level Designer" does, what does level design entail, and how does it intertwine with the work done by others on a development team?įirst of all, we need to understand what a “Level” is. Since then, I’ve been operating as a Game/Level Designer in various capacities on franchises like Max Payne, Hitman, Deus Ex and, most recently, Tomb Raider.
#BEST HEXEN MODS LEVEL MOD#
In 2006 I left the UK to go and live in Vancouver, Canada, where my mod work on Morrowind landed me a role as a Level Designer on Medal of Honor. Crazy days! Marketing teams work super hard on a game’s launch, and I really enjoyed it, but I wanted to have more influence on the product, so I started modding as a way of getting into Game Design (as there weren’t really any academic courses for it back in the day). I worked my way up to be a European Product Manager at Sony, where I brought EyeToy and Killzone to market.
To start this off: could you please tell us a bit about yourself, your background, and what you do?ĭan: You are most welcome, Stefan - it’s my pleasure! I’ve been in the games industry for about 20 years now, and have had a bit of an odd career trajectory, so I’ll start at the beginning… I used to work in London as a marketing “assistant”, stickering the streets and doing promotional graphics for games like Half-life and Wip3out.
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