GAME, World & LEVEL Design
GAME, World & LEVEL Design
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UNREAL EXPERIMENTS
UNREAL EXPERIMENTS
A video of rough "orange map" level concepts using an industry-standard game engine.
More info:
This video shows a collection of brainstorm map concepts done as 'orange maps' where I made rudimentary models for each level.
Trivia:
The Grumman G-21 airplane was a little nod to "Cutter's Goose" in the old TV show Tales of the Gold Monkey, which I loved growing up! Also, the gigantic "Indiana Jones warehouse" level concept eventually got used (in a very different) format when I worked on Payday 2!
FAR CRY
FAR CRY
A video of rough "orange map" level concepts using an industry-standard game engine.
More info:
This video shows a collection of brainstorm map concepts done as 'orange maps' where I made rudimentary models for each level.
Trivia:
The Grumman G-21 airplane was a little nod to "Cutter's Goose" in the old TV show Tales of the Gold Monkey, which I loved growing up! Also, the gigantic "Indiana Jones warehouse" level concept eventually got used (in a very different) format when I worked on Payday 2!
Some game levels which I built and designed for co-op, single-, and multi-player.
More info:
Screens taken from Far Cry 3 (left), World in Conflict and Ground Control 2 (below).
Trivia:
I designed several multiplayer maps during development of Far Cry 3, including co-op, but my most significant contribution would be the map "Mudslide" from the final game that was chosen as a “showcase” to use in promotional materials and trailers. The level began as a research base that had been destroyed in a landslide, but story changes necessitated the conversion to a more mundane town setting. The screens to the left are from the final released level.
world IN CONFLICT
world IN CONFLICT
A video montage of game world locations I've designed and built.
More info:
The areas in the video were taken from the real time strategy games Ground Control 2 and World in Conflict. They might seem technically primitive compared to current-level graphics, but I feel that the design aesthetics still hold up- especially when they are filled with units in full battle! Each area was designed to have a very unique feel to it, easily identifiable, with 'standout' areas or features that would encourage players to talk about "the level with X" and so on. Whenever possible, I try to think about the "wow factor".
MISSION design narrative in ground control 2
The campaigns of GC2 were somewhat linear affairs, followed by the over-arcing story, but in building the individual single player missions I had to take into account unexpected actions by players and structure the narrative flow accordingly.
It may not have been a particularly advanced system, but on the whole it was robust, with solid functionality. Careless design could have easily broken the gameplay, but we focused on the details and it worked out well. In these screens you can also see some of the major 'set pieces' I designed the maps around.
MISSION design narrative in ground control 2
The campaigns of GC2 were somewhat linear affairs, followed by the over-arcing story, but in building the individual single player missions I had to take into account unexpected actions by players and structure the narrative flow accordingly.
It may not have been a particularly advanced system, but on the whole it was robust, with solid functionality. Careless design could have easily broken the gameplay, but we focused on the details and it worked out well. In these screens you can also see some of the major 'set pieces' I designed the maps around.
MISSION design narrative in ground control 2
The campaigns of GC2 were somewhat linear affairs, followed by the over-arcing story, but in building the individual single player missions I had to take into account unexpected actions by players and structure the narrative flow accordingly.
It may not have been a particularly advanced system, but on the whole it was robust, with solid functionality. Careless design could have easily broken the gameplay, but we focused on the details and it worked out well. In these screens you can also see some of the major 'set pieces' I designed the maps around.
MISSION design narrative in ground control 2
The campaigns of GC2 were somewhat linear affairs, followed by the over-arcing story, but in building the individual single player missions I had to take into account unexpected actions by players and structure the narrative flow accordingly.
It may not have been a particularly advanced system, but on the whole it was robust, with solid functionality. Careless design could have easily broken the gameplay, but we focused on the details and it worked out well. In these screens you can also see some of the major 'set pieces' I designed the maps around.
PAYDAY 2 Endgame "ARG" Narrative design puzzles
I designed the final year of the PD2 narrative to make use of environmental clues and themes from the entire lifetime of the game, tying it together, but allowing players to approach it in a non-linear manner.
Throughout the game (and outside it, even through marketing materials) story elements were layered, engaging players to speculate and search for the answers they needed to piece it all together.Parts of the endgame (seen on the left) were designed around a series of coded puzzles and riddles, much like what can be found in a CRPG, stretching the limits of what could be done with the creaking game engine!
We were at times worried that the overall meta-story was becoming too complex, but it spawned a community of hard-core followers that made dozens of hours of videos on YouTube unraveling it as we went. Paying attention and playing the game a lot was rewarded.
ancient space gui design guidance
Elsewhere on this site I write about the many hats I wore as a producer on this game, including some heavy work in helping optimize and re-design the GUI.
As far as RTS games go, the number of command levels and options was fairly deep, and we went through many iterations and refinements.
Having world on triple-A strategy games for several years came in handy when helping refine the GUI and control system.
ancient space Mission Briefings
Using what I learned working on RTS games in my early career, I helped the developers of Ancient Space create mission briefings for their complex, multi-objective levels.
I provided schematics, design instructions, storyboards and even animatics (including all the mission briefing dialog) so they could be built.
IP "bibles" and conceptual world design
When I read the first "Dragonlance" novel in the mid-80s, it cemented my love of Fantasy and Role Playing Games. Countless hours of my life have been spent playing different kinds, as video games, pen'n'paper or on the tabletop. I've created rules systems, written settings, adventure campaigns, and drawn my fair share of maps!
A few years ago I was tasked to do a rewrite pitch (and reinterpret) a long-established Fantasy IP (for which I sketched the map to the left). It was great fun, because my career hasn't taken me to enough, in my view, places for indulging in this area.
When working on an existing IP, I go to great lengths to be respectful and careful of that which has been come before, so as not to disappoint any existing fan base!
conceptual Presentation
Sometimes, the key to good design is just being able to break a concept down into its most simply form quickly.
When you're in a room full of people, each with a different background discipline, it's important to quickly establish a collective baseline from which to start working.
To the left is a (very) simple overview of a level concept for a casual, 2D pixel art game.
epic non-linear narrative
(on a shoestring budget)
Lone Star Pilot, of which the video to the left is a crude gameplay mockup of, is an indie game I've been working on periodically for a few years, in part within the 'Electric Thief' partnership. At the core, it's an old-school space exploration game (though not a 4X), inspired by classic 16-bit titles from the 1980s, but updated to take into account modern design ideas. (Despite how far we've come, I'm still amazed at how designers managed to fit entire worlds on one or two 800kb disks!)
Out of necessity, it will use a lot of conventional storytelling tools and methods, but the idea is to implement them in such a way that each player will get a slightly different and unique experience, without the feeling of procedural generation.
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