Ultimate Game Design : Building game worlds

C H A P T E R 2
� Props What props are present? Are they static or can they take damage?
How to behave?
� Hazards Define all hazards. Open graves? Collapsing trees? Electric fences?
� Puzzles What puzzle efforts will be required of the player, if any?
� Enemies Which enemies will populate this level? How do their abilities
mesh with the environment?
� Nonplayer character (NPC) involvement What NPCs are present? What is
their function and purpose?
� Power-ups and collectibles Which power-ups and collectibles are present?
What is their function and purpose?
� Effects considerations What kinds of visual effects will be present? Disease
clouds? Altar glows?
� Sound and music How will sounds, ambiance, and music be used to
support play?
� Script lists What scripts will be required for the level or mission?
� Artificial intelligence (AI) considerations What tricky “behaviors” will the
player encounter in single-player mode?
� Network or multiplay aspects What must the design account for to support
network or multiplayer modes?
� Team guidelines Establish grid size and workflow procedures.
� Gameplay notes Collect notes and ideas from team brainstorm sessions.
This list seems like quite a bit of information to settle, and it is. In the end, success
depends on having a roadmap that helps you know where you’re going with a game.
Once you’ve tested and refined your level ideas on paper and have done your design
document work, you are ready to begin the level planning and layout process.
The planning phase will help you lock down design and technical details, while the
stubbing or layout phase will help you to bring out the rough and basic form for your
level or mission. This chapter examines a number of workflow considerations for
taking your ideas from concept toward execution.
With adequate planning, the idea is to begin to translate your topographic map
and reference drawings into basic mesh or geometry form. This allows you to begin
to test, at an early stage, most of your level’s basic properties, like scaling, sizing, and
jumping requirements for an action title.
Again, as discussed in Chapter 1, it’s important to have a starting point and to have
tested your ideas on paper. Don’t begin by building blind geometry. Utilize reference
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Level Planning and Building