Level Design Guide - Including Tips/Tricks/Advice
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Expect New Additions Each Day For Now
Also Expect A PDF File Attached Upon Completion For Easy Offline Use Of This Guide
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Introduction:
Hey DarkFrost here. Level Design, is something I believe is important and key to the creation and execution of games today. Many people don't even think of this when creating games, they just dig right in and start with their editor. I thought I'd mention a few tips and tricks to get people thinking about certain aspects of level design. I'm no expert but I believe a thread like this is important to have, and I'm sure it'll only help improve those who enjoy creating games with FPSC. So this guide may be made with game creation in FPSC in mind, yet I guess it could also be used to assist things outside of the engine.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
WorkFlow:
Workflow is key when creating great levels and games. It's what keeps designers at ease and organized. It's a major assist when planning out your next level as well. It categorizes the simple tasks needed to complete a game and helps you organize when you feel most comfortable doing each. For this guide, I'll go over a basic workflow that many designers use and can help you gather ideas and release a great game.
A common workflow used is the following:
-Idea
-Visualizing/Reference
-Sketching/Reference
-Texturing (1st pass)
-Detailing (1st pass)
-Detailing (2nd Pass)
-Texturing (2nd Pass)
-Lighting (1st Pass)
-Detailing & Texturing Final
-Lighting (2nd pass)
-Lighting Final
-Final test and Tweaking
-Release
So I'll now go into further depth of each phase.
Idea:
Think of something original. Gather your thoughts, likes, dislikes and figure out ways you can express your feelings of these things in a game. Good ways of generating ideas are by sketching them out on a notepad or viewing other game screens and concept arts. Photos, movies, personal experiences, books, history are also all good generators of ideas. These things can be the basis of the solid idea you would want to make and base your game around.
Visualizing/Reference:
This is an important part of the beginnings of your level. Being able to see your final product before it is done is key. Not only the production of your level, but how dedicated you will be to finishing it. Most projects I see being done with FPSC look amazing yet, finish up nowhere but with a lock on the root of its thread. So if you can see your finished game and visualize what it may be like, than you will most likely be motivated to work towards it. Visualizing puts you into the mindset, creating the steps that will help you achieve the final product. If you cannot picture your map at its final look, than it's going to be trial and error until you hit something visually inspiring by luck. Yet this way of planning will truly lead to frustration and may have something good or bad come out if it.
Sketching/Reference:
Once your have visualized your map, and can see what it may look like. Than it is time to begin sketching out your ideas before they fade away over night. So grab a pen/pencil and a notepad and get cracking on writing down as much as you can about your game. You should not only sketch out your map ideas, but also include things on the atmosphere you'd like to present and how you could keep the player engaged in your game. So at this point you should be able to write down a basic storyline, sketch out some rough maps, get down a basic atmosphere, TOD, and how long (how many levels) you plan to make your FPSC game. You may also want to begin sketching down key items/objectives and plan where they may be placed in your map.
Texturing (1st Pass):
Textures are an important part of your finished product. Many FPSC user have demonstrated suburb skill with their custom made textures, seen in their games and models. I will not mention any names in this guide but if you take a look at the Showcase and WIP Forums you'll be sure to find some yourself. Anyways most entities/segments you find within FPSC will have pretty good textures. Yet simply clicking and dropping entities into your level won't make too large an impact on your game. The main reason being that you want your game to be unique and even if you use a model seen in another game, if it has a different texture it will feel completely different in your game. Think of it as dressing the model with a different shirt. You can change the look almost completely and add a great deal of originality in your game. Some of the popular programs for texturing include PhotoShop, Paint.net and Gimp. Now I say "1st Pass" because even if you make your own textures and they look amazing, its best to take a second look later on in the process of your game, in case you want to make any changes to better match your level.
Detailing (1st Pass):
Detail is an important part to every game. It adds originality, enjoyment and assists in engaging the player in your game. Think of detailing like adding colour and shapes to a boring old canvas. You'll most likely take that second look if it looks great. Heck, you may even go back and buy it. So the same goes for games. You not only want your game to play well, but you want it to look visually stunning. So after you sketch out you game begin laying out those segments and entities of yours. Remember placement is key to a successful game. Entities can also play many roles in a game and can do more than most people think. Their not just there to look cool, they have different means of being there. Some entities can draw the players eyes towards something, others can interact with the player, some can even be the key to progressing in your level. So entities are important to your game, and have many functions. So remember to place 'em well and test your level multiple times to get that perfect look that you want expressed from your game.
Detailing (2nd Pass):
Well the 2nd pass is when you are completely satisfied with your entity placement in the 1st pass. Basically this is a double check on your finished entity placement. At this point it's best to begin adding in sounds, triggerzones etc. These things will add to your game, and atmospheric sounds especially will help. Things like background music, sound effects, voice overs. They add realism and a professional look to your game.
Texturing (2nd Pass):
So after all your entities have been placed, your sounds and triggerzones are set to your liking, it is time to review you textures. Do they seem to blend with each other well? Should some be grunged up or darkened? Maybe one or two entities placed together don't look good with each other and a custom texture may help. These are the things that should run through your head as you double check and perform the "2nd Pass" of the textures used and seen throughout your levels. Once this task is completed and the game seems to move along quite nicely and retain a noticeable theme, move to the lighting of the level.
Lighting (1st Pass):
Placing lights is a major ally in FPSC. They have many roles like entities and it helps to have 'em in your level. A good use for lighting could be to highlight important game items such as switches etc (So they stand out and are easily viewed by the player). Know your color pallete and think simply when placing lights. Try to retain the atmosphere you planned out and sketched. Try to use your lights to highlight and improve the look of the entities and details you worked so hard on. Look at paintings, other maps, graphic design if you need assistance or ideas with your lighting. Do not use every possible color combination. If your map looks ok, but your lighting is superb, it will bring up the visual quality of your map. It truly will.
Detailing & Texturing Final:
Once you have some basic lighting throughout your level, begin to review your level. At this point it may seem ready to release but remember, it is always best to double check. Anyways once your 1st Pass of lighting is completed, play through your level a couple of times and sketch out some changes you may want to make. Yeah I'm serious, go grab that notepad again. So once your done reviewing begin the initialization of the repairs. In other words fix what you noticed. After you play through a couple times and notice the problems slowly fading. Your final game product that you visualized earlier will appear all the clearer, and now at this point your motivation to complete the game will skyrocket.
Lighting (2nd Pass):
Review your lighting further now that your level is almost complete. At this point you may add, delete or change the colour of lights to better suit your game.
Lighting Final:
This is the final time you'll ever worry about lighting again. After 3 passes of lighting your game should have suburb lighting for what you expect. As you grow as a level designer you may find that 2 maybe even 1 pass of lighting is enough to pump out great looking light from your light sources. Yet I recommend at least doing the 2nd after your final detailing to double check.
Final test and Tweaking:
Well your done making your level, you don't have to worry about ever opening up that editor again to work on it. It's down to the easy stuff at this step, simple editing and tweaking. So in my opinion its best to release a demo or two of your game. Receive some feedback and request users state bugs noticed. Once you get a good number of responses its time to fix up the things noticed. After the tweaks are made, you can feel comfortable with the release of your game.
Release:
Well after all the sweat and tears shed over the last couple days (or even hours depending on your skill level) it is time to release your game. Most development groups sell boxed copies containing disks of their games. Yet here in our little forum home, most users release their game in the Showcase forum. So head to that forum and create an organized professional looking thread. Have it attract attention, and show the uniqueness and originality of your game. Even include a little banner as seen in some thread. But remember to include the two required screens or your thread will get locked. So anyways create that thread, post a link to the DL of your great game, and enjoy the thought of others enjoying your game.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Level Structure:
Each and every First Person Shooter game, has a level structure in mind. Some games seen appear to be tactical shooters whereas others seem to be the casual run and gun. Level structure can help emphasize what kind of game you are going to make. There are three main structures used in FPS games. Linear, Branching and one I like to call the lobby (or hub).
Linear Level Structure:
A Linear level is a level where the player progresses forward all the time. The level never actually branches off into other areas. Its basically a line that has some twists and turns. There's no backtracking, no choices of which way to go, and no real thought required. Though linear levels may seem boring their are many great things about them. In FPSC, one good particular thing about linear structure is the easy spawning of enemies. Knowing the player will have to step in your triggerzone makes for a comfortable feeling, knowing they won't miss anything important (i.e battles, messages, voice-over, objective) Its also important to try and create some levels for player to move around in. So give that straight line some different floors, so your players can feel a little freedom. Anyways onto the pros and cons of Linear Level Structure.
Pro's
Simple to create - Pick your challenges that you want to throw at the player and arrange them properly. Than add some freedom with floors and boom. You've made a level.
Great way to use special effects - So now that you know the player won't miss a triggerzone, throw in as many things as you can to engage the player. So explosions, crashing jets etc. You know the angle the player will most likely view it at. So work to make it look great.
Con's
Restricting - You don't give the player much freedom to "explore" your level. They are merely forced to go through endless halls and rooms to their objectives. Tho this is where special effects come in handy. So this restriction is beneficial, but if not executed properly, it may ruin your game.
Branching Level Structure:
Branching levels give the player options when it comes to moving along the game and eventually completing it. For example, if your mission is to secure a timed bomb, you could ether get to it stealthy and disarm it, or you could blow every enemy with your guns and fight your way to it. Games like this give the player a sense of freedom and purpose. It makes them think of what the best way to progress through the level is. So its not just going through the same rooms, but it could be going to completely different towns! Think of branching levels as a tree, you start at the stump and throughout the game you encounter branches you can follow. If you choose to continue up the tree than so be it. So branching basically means a game with options and different routes.
Pro's
Gives the player a sense of freedom
Allows the player to think
Engages the player with their decisions
Con's
Hard to balance out the different routes the player can take
Tough to place effects and trigger important events
Lobby (HUB) Level Design:
The Hub is a level where you return to a particular area more than once during the course of the level. It will probably have branching areas off this central hub space, these may be sealed off initially, or you may leave them open for the player to explore. Majority of hub levels will force the player to visit the same location multiple times. So think of hub level as a lobby. You'll start in the lobby, you may move around the location, yet you'll eventually end up back at the lobby before you leave. So a hub structure is level that is constantly revisited. A good example of a hub level, is a fetch quest. Go explore the place and bring each thing you find. So your basically running in circles in the same area as you perform and complete the objective.
Pro's
Reused areas cut down on loading time and allow higher frames
You can squeeze out more game time from your level
The player can have a "home" in your level
Con's
If the level is not highly detailed and interesting it can get boring
You must focus hard on these levels, when it comes to engaging the players.
Its hard to place triggerzones in a common area. The player might step in a zone you only want them to step in later on. (So custom appear scripts may need to be made. Resulting in more work)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Game Mechanics:
This section will include different game mechanics you can use in your game. Things like puzzles, objectives, missions and tools the player will use to complete the level.
Important part of games, are the tasks the player has at hand and must complete to push forward in the level. Puzzles are great for adding play time and getting your player to think. Bringing fun to the player and getting them to remember the puzzle which may increase the memorability of your game. Objectives and missions are also great assets to a game. Instead of giving the player an open world to randomly run and shoot things, why not give them a simple set of tasks to complete. This gets the player to focus on your game raising their enjoyment on it and also adds depth to your game. Missions and objectives are also great for telling your games story. Tools to complete the level can be simple things like blowing up doors to move on or hitting a switch. These little button presses bring the player further into your game. So instead of constantly pressing "w" and moving the mouse they can also open doors, hit switches, talk to people etc. These mechanics add to your games and may even assist them at becoming BOTB/VBOTB. Remember a dull game is a classic run and gun. So remember to add tasks for the player to complete, no matter how simple or complex.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Popular Set-Pieces And Ideas:
This section will include common set-pieces/ideas you can use to assist you in generating an ideal play-area for your new game.
Modern Day, Post Apocalyptic, Jungle, Future, World War 1/2/3? , Snowy Mountains, Grunge, Space, Industrial, Desert ,Underground, Abandoned Area, Airport, Asylum ,Medieval, Dreams, Downtown, Fantasy, Heaven, Hell, Prison, Island ,Lab, Rooftops, Metro, Train Station, Caverns.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Tips And Tricks:
This section will include tips and tricks that may boost the overall quality of your games.
Tutorials:
Tutorials are an important part of your game. It is almost essential be included in your game. If you include a manual, it will most likely not be read. Players will simply want to jump straight into the game to play...no matter how clueless they are on the instructions and controls. There are different ways of looking at tutorials. The different tutorials I have noticed are: Forced Tutorials and Flow Tutorials. I'll further explain what these two tutorials are and how they can help improve the overall quality of your game.
Forced Tutorials:
These are tutorials you are forced to play through. So something like a training mission. In these levels the player must view the controls in the form of a hud of some sort, and perform the controls to continue the level. Example, A hud introduces the jump controls. The only way to continue is to jump up to the second floor. So you have to use the controls you were just taught to continue. Forced tutorials are great for introducing a games controls and giving your games that professional edge on others. The only con is if the player were to already know the controls. It would be a drag to play through the level than.
Flow Tutorials:
Flow tutorials in my opinion are a way of introducing controls, without even notifying the player their coming. In other words flow tutorials don't have to be a training level. Your game can simply throw the player right in, yet at certain points in your level you may throw a hud and teach the player a new control. They may not even notice they are being taught, they may read and continue without thinking of it as a tut. These tuts are great for getting the player quickly engaged in your game, yet they may not be as effective with teaching controls as a Forced Tutorial would.
Lighting:
In FPSC lighting is key. Whether you are making a horror game or a modern day shooter lighting is a must. There are many ways to achieve good lighting in games. A good way to start is to take a trip to the showcase and WIP Boards and explore current made games. Take a look at their screens, study and speculate on how they were made. Than open your own editor up and see if you can somehow mimic your favourite ambience's. An example of how to get a good light effect off one of your lamps is the following. Place a light source, than grab a light bulb marker and place it not on top, but just beside your light source. Than go through the colour key and find a good colour to set the mood. Some good techniques on getting that perfect colour is to place more than one light on light sources. Each with different colours. So if you want a blue light but not so deep, you would place a white light source beside it. Another thing to keep in mind is that some light sources are wide and to get the best effect multiple light bulb markers may be needed. Decals are another good addition that if placed properly can add to better the effect of your lighting. Most lighting decals are used to give the illusion of a lights path/rays. There are some video tutorials on these forums if you need any additional help. Although the last thing in this section to keep in mind is that, when using lights be sure to adjust your ambiance lower with the "<" and ">" keys on your keyboard. This will allow your lights to truly light up areas.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Community Tutorials:
This section will be composed of popular tutorials seen around these forums that have to do directly with level design, or things to improve it. The original authors will be credited and a link to their original tutorial will be added. This section is just another way to keep all important tutorials organized and compiled into a single thread.
Lighting Tutorial (Author: Bugsy) (Link:
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=169793&b=21)
The proper way to create excellent lighting refraction's and reflections, and keep the number of lights down, is to use a very dark light colour, and give it a big range. If done correctly, a very large dark light can illuminate an area unbelievably well. It's also a good idea to create a vibrant colour near it's center for added realism.
Sunlight Effect (Author: Scurvy Lobster) (Link:
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=165784&b=21)
A good effect of getting natural light for you outdoor areas in FPS Creator is to place a light marker with a large range a couple layers above your ground level. Place it properly and give it the right colour to match your skybox (moon in a night-sky, or like simple sunlight). When you test your game, if placed correctly you should be getting a lovely effect and great shadows to go with it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Community Thoughts:
Here members ideas can be heard. I'll post sections based on good ideas seen around the forums, so that different people can get different users point of views when it comes to level design. Unlike the "Community Tutorials" section that deals with full tutorials made by others, this mainly deals with single user posts that have to do with level design.
"Build As You Go": (Author: Bugsy)
Building your level in pieces. So the process of building your level room by room, finishing up the placement of lighting, details etc. in that room before you move to the next. This process is great for ironing out bugs in your levels and getting the picture perfect look.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Link Database:
This section will be comprised of links that will take you to great tutorials that can spice up your levels. Mainly tutorials that include screenshots etc. that would not fit into this thread. So don't forget to sort through 'em, since they'll really help!
Spawning Overlays (Author: Wolf)
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=150841&b=21
Creating A Rail Shooter (Author: Gunn3r)
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=120901&b=21
Light Mapping Tutorial (Author: CoZ)
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=163911&b=21
Building Multi Level Games (Author: Defy)
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=170920&b=21
Level Design For Dummies (Author: Bugsy)
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=167558&b=21
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Updates Of This Thread:
Created - 8th Feb 2010
Introduction Section Completed - 8th Feb 2010
Workflow Section Completed - 8th Feb 2010
Level Structure Section Completed - 9th Feb 2010
Tips And Tricks Section Updated - 9th Feb 2010
Tips And Tricks Section Updated - 24th Feb 2010
Community Thoughts Section Added - 26th Feb 2010
Game Mechanics Sections Updated/Completed - 3rd April 2010
Community Thoughts Section Updated - 3rd April 2010
Cleaned Up / Organized Thread - 5th June 2010
Popular Set-Pieces And Ideas Section Completed - 6th June 2010
Community Tutorials Added - 6th June 2010
Link Database Added - 6th June 2010
[img]
[/img]
