Game Design 10 Level Study Guide PDF

Game Dr. Yaser Saleh Design Slides by Dr. Muhanna Muhanna 10 Game Levels What is a “Game Level”? 1st definition An environment or location where game play occurs. “If you are on the Death Star level, you are near the end of the game.” What is a “Game Level”? 2nd definition A unit...

Game Dr. Yaser Saleh Design Slides by Dr. Muhanna Muhanna 10 Game Levels What is a “Game Level”? 1st definition An environment or location where game play occurs. “If you are on the Death Star level, you are near the end of the game.” What is a “Game Level”? 2nd definition A unit of counting a player’s progression, especially when repetitive gameplay is involved. “I’m up to level 20 on Tetris.” What is a “Game Level”? 3rd definition The rank of a player based on earned score, experience, or skills. A term for marking character progression and improvement. “I finally leveled up my third WoW character to 70.” What is a “Game Level”? 4th definition A term favored by developers that describes how to break up physical space based on a specific gameplay experience. “I must have died a dozen times on the mine cart level.” Other Related Terms Rounds Rounds can be found in games where you play the same action, if not similar gameplay, over and over again. This term can be used for sports games as in a round of golf or boxing where the activity is the same, or there can be variation in the gameplay like rounds of Peggle or Diner Dash. Other Related Terms Waves Waves usually refers to combat, as in “wave after wave of enemies assaulted the unshakable heroes!” Pretty exciting stuff, but you are still doing the same thing—beating up bad guys. Whole games can be made of waves of enemies as in Plants vs. Zombies and Defend My Castle, or waves can be a sequence of play like those found in Gears of War 2 or Uncharted 2.3 Other Related Terms Stage Stage is usually interchangeable with the term “wave,” but it’s often used when describing an experience that has clear separations that relate to the activity. “Stage” is often used when referring to the actions of a boss enemy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SAuuHCOkyI Other Related Terms Acts/Chapters Acts and chapters are often used when the developer wants players to concentrate on the story of the game. These titles make a game feel classier. They’re not fooling anyone; they’re really just game levels. Stages of Level Game Design Stage 1: Knowing Limitations These general limitations (constraints) that a game level designer may encounter: choosing the correct length of level presentation of new technology, audio or art designing the environment according to the lighting effects in the game the time he has available customer requirements the platform on which the game develops who is the target audience Stages of Level Game Design Stage 2: Produce Ideas and Create Structure In this phase, the team comes up with ideas and creates a primary thread of the story. To make their work easier, some level designers divide their work into pieces that are easy to manage. At first, they think of the level in different “zones” within the level and design them separately for a faster design. Stages of Level Game Design Stage 3: Bubble Diagrams A Bubble Diagram is a very simple map of the whole level – circles representing areas in the level and arrows the flow and connections between areas. They help you visualize where each area is related to the others and the proper structure for the game’s objectives. Stages of Level Game Design Stage 4: Rough Maps Once the level designer knows how to connect the areas thanks to the Bubble Diagram, the next phase of level game design is to create a rough design for each bubble. Stages of Level Game Design Stage 5: Finishing the Level Design The conclusion of the level design consists of connecting all the previously created areas in a physical space. At this stage, all the details are set, including the heights and distances.