Sketching level designs

Having settled on a premise for the project, this week I set about sketching up top-down diagrams of the level’s design and flow. I prefer to do work initially using pencil and paper as it means that I can quickly mock-up level designs, ideating and iterating before beginning any work in-engine. My method for creating these plans has altered slightly, following a GDC talk I watched last week (Burgess, 2014). In it, Joel Burgess stated that Skyrim‘s (2011) level designers use simple top-down maps resembling flowcharts to convey “beats, and pacing, and a general feeling of connectivity” (Burgess, 2014). Taking cues from how the actual development team created levels, I have made a similar diagram to help me organise thoughts and remain consistent through development.

Continuing Creation Kit

I have been continuing my self-directed learning of the Creation Kit. Having followed along with Bethesda’s official tutorials (Bethesda, 2012), I looked for further content to engage with in order to solidify my knowledge and proficiency in the engine. I found an excellent series of tutorials that went even further in-depth with the engine’s tools (BestInSlot, 2012). Through these tutorials I have learnt how to script quest objectives, create unique equipment and weapons, and even make the level accessible through the game’s overworld. The entrance to my level can now be found in-game, just outside the town of Riverwood (fig. 1).

I also made a very small level space, in order to test out and experiment with some of the modular kit pieces (fig. 2). My level begins in a mine, before leading into a Nordic crypt, so I have begun the level’s design using the ‘Mines’ kit. This design will likely change greatly over development, and next week I look forward to further iteration and development of the blockout.

Working on statement

Primarily, work for this module has been spent on my Statement of Intent, as it is due relatively soon. After consolidating my thoughts on the project I have been able to complete the ‘project outline’ section, which I have ensured is clear and readable. I have included bullet-point breakdowns of specific details where I can, to ensure that the document is both readable and concise. Crucially, I have detailed the core gameplay loop that I intend for the project, so that the reader is able to gain a greater understanding of the player experience.

Following on from this, I began work on the ‘rationale’ section of the document which is intended to showcase my thought-process and reasoning behind the project idea. The primary reason for deciding on a level design mod has been my pursuit to become a more T-shaped developer. As my strengths primarily lie in narrative and mechanics design, I want to use this module as an opportunity to widen my skillset and therefore become more employable. I also detailed the ‘key indicators’ for assessment, for which I put a high emphasis on level pacing and structure. Following this I would like to be assessed on my employment of signposting and lighting, and finally the degree to which I am able to alter the game’s systems.

I will continue to work on the Statement of Intent next week, with an aim to finish it by the end of the week.

Research

In an effort to improve the quality of my project, I have spent more time researching theories and techniques behind effective level design. I began by watching a fantastic GDC talk titled “Ten Principles for Good Level Design” (Taylor, 2013), which provided a robust list of criteria that nearly all well-designed levels adhere to. Among others, core concepts such as visual communication, dynamic difficulty and mechanics-driven design were discussed in detail. One principle which I particularly resonated with stated that “good level design is easy, medium, and hard” (Taylor, 2013). The lecturer argued that static difficulty choices are outdated as they often ask the player to make the choice with no knowledge of their skill at the game. Instead, levels should allow the player to choose their difficulty by including elements of risk vs. reward, where the player has the option to follow more challenging routes at the prospect of heightened gameplay benefits. Throughout the development of my level, my goal will be to ensure that all ten of these principles are met.

Another beneficial GDC talk was centred around concepting levels, titled “Overcoming the Digital Blank Page” (Marinello, 2014). The lecturer discussed ways to begin prototyping and ideating levels from pen-and-paper through to ‘blockworlds’ which use primitives to capture the flow and feel of the intended design. In particular, the creation of a top-down map was encouraged as it helps to “capture the flow of the level, condense the scope into an image, [and] help to evaluate the level’s pacing” (Marinello, 2014). For this reason I am glad that I have taken the time to draw up my level’s design before its creation.

References

BestInSlot. 2012. Skyrim Creation Kit Tutorials [YouTube tutorial series]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZxuVY4dQ74 [accessed 25 January 2022].

BETHESDA. 2012. Creation Kit Tutorial Series [YouTube tutorial series]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDKivlGmia4 [accessed 24 January 2022].

BURGESS, Joel. 2014. How We Used Iterative Level Design to Ship Skyrim and Fallout 3 [GDC talk]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhW8CY8XkFg&t=1655s [accessed 25 January].

MARINELLO, Seth. 2014. Level Design in a Day: First Steps – Overcoming the Digital Blank Page [GDC talk]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R75g3elj7y4 [accessed 10 February 2022]. 

TAYLOR, Dan. 2013. Ten Principles for Good Level Design [GDC talk]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNEe3KhMvXM [accessed 8 February 2022]. 

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. 2011. Bethesda Game Studios, Bethesda Softworks.