Level Design Sessions - Agate International
I was contacted by Agate International to conduct a workshop for their students and I was asked to cover these 4 topics.
Introduction to level design
Puzzle design
Storytelling through spaces
Non-linear level design
I wanted to improve my skills as a mentor and my ability to speak to a larger audience as I am a very introverted person. It was a great experience for me to interact with the kind and smart students at Agate International and had the opportunity to share a few insights from my humbly limited experience.
I was inspired to do this by amazing and inspirational industry-leading level designers like Ryan Smith (Design Den), Steve Lee (Youtube), Max Pears (Youtube), and Iuliu-Cosmin Oniscu (Medium). I look up to these designers for their ability to communicate and pass on knowledge to enrich the community. Similar to many level designers within the community, I am thankful for their efforts and hopefully one day contribute more from my side as well.
Level Design Basics & Practical learning
Session was focused on
Level & Level Design
Role of a Level Designer
Job of a Level Designer
Spatial Design
Experience Design
Level Design Analysis
Exercise and Reading Material
Puzzle Design
Session was focused on
Puzzles outside of games (Crossword, Rubik's cube, Jigsaw etc.)
Anatomy of a Problem (How a player reads a puzzle setup)
Nature of a Solution (How a player arrives at a solution)
What makes a bad puzzle
Methods of designing puzzles
Storytelling through Spaces
Session was focused on
CHAPTER 1 – STORY - TELLING
Difference between “Story” and “Storytelling”
“Level Design” vs “Narrative Design” vs “Game Design”
Emergent Narratives vs Linear Narratives
CHAPTER 2 – TOOLS OF STORYTELLING
Emotion
Empathy
Expression
Engagement
Immersion
CHAPTER 3 – TELL A STORY
Exercise in storytelling
Reading material & resources
Non-Linear Level Design
Session was focused on
Linear vs Multi-path
Open world
Procedural
Multiplayer maps and movement flows
Playgrounds
Balancing & Readability
Quantity of choices vs Quality of choices
Exercise