PDP Week 1

Now my personal development has started, I need to begin researching level design tips before I even start planning out how my Unreal 4 level will look like. I need to know what elements I want to include in my demo and what I shouldn't include, but I also need to find out a lot of different elements anyway regardless if I end up using it in my level, simply because it's good to be aware of a variety of skills and techniques. In my research folder I researched different professionals in the industry, but now it boils down to what made them successful. Likewise I compared and showed my current skillset in my self-evaluation form, and I have knowledge of the areas I need to improve on (knowledge of level designing and also just getting practise).

As talked about by (Dan Taylor, 2013), there are various tips and piece of advice to keep in mind when creating a stage. Firstly, a level must have a cohesive feel to it. Everything must flow naturally and it's better to ensure that everything you place in a stage has a purpose. Sometimes less is more, and it's a good idea to not overwhelm the player with too much content to absorb at once in any given moment while playing the game. Likewise the game can have really great graphics and impressive scenery, but if the level design's a mess then nobody will be interested in playing the game, as it simply wouldn't be enjoyable. Because I'll be using Unreal Engine 4 I should take note that the graphical capabilities of the engine will be of a lower priority, however the game still should look to a good standard and not too tacky. It's a fine balance between looks and functionality that I'll have to handle. 

Also as researched by (Masters, 2014b), it follows on from the 'doing and not telling' theory, where you should subtly navigate the player through your level with subtle things that entice them along (like a spooky doorway or large staircase). And also the things you encounter should be varied and different as you progress, so the player isn't just stuck looking at the same old scenery for the entire length of the game, it also gives them something to look forward too, as they wonder what they will see net. Likewise I should reward the player while exploring, however I fear that may be challenging to do inside the limitations of my game (which will just be the UE4 3rd person template as a base, and I'll be programming a small amount myself, like jump pads which launch the player into the air upon collision!)

These are concepts I must keep in mind the entire time I make the level, especially at the start as I begin planning the layout. The stage doesn't have to be enormous, as long as it's designed to a professional standard and incorporates some of my researched concepts inside it. Likewise it needs to be fun to explore, so I will try to have different places for the player to wander about and discover, but while also letting them discover these things naturally- without forcing tutorials onto them as I previously researched. However I don't want the player to ever get too stuck and frustrated in the game, so to remedy this I'll design stages confidently that weight up the player's ability. So for example, if the player has only learned how jump-pads work, a puzzle I later create will be a puzzle that's only accessible by a jump-pad to even start. This way I can be confident when designing my level that the player will never be too far out of their comfort zone!

I also planned the stage digitally (as I'm much better using software artistically over traditionally drawing by hand), it will be a large floating plaza area and the player starts in the centre, with them having the ability to explore from there. The draft is from a bird's eye view perspective looking down on the map, and is very-much subject to change as the development of the level progresses and I come up with new creative ideas throughout the creation of my personal development plan.

A variety of things to do, as the player can wander about and explore the HUB world!

References:

Dan Taylor, 2013. Gamasutra: Dan Taylor’s Blog [WWW Document]. Ten Princ. Good Level Des. Part 1. URL http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/DanTaylor/20130929/196791/Ten_Principles_of_Good_Level_Design_Part_1.php (accessed 1.27.16).

Masters, M., 2014b. Game Level Design Tips | How to Keep Players Engaged [WWW Document]. Digit.-Tutors Blog. URL http://blog.digitaltutors.com/keeping-players-engaged-tips-great-game-level-design/ (accessed 1.22.16).

Personal Development Plan

In 11 weeks before the hand-in of this assignment, I will start my work towards this personal development plan, improving my level design abilities. Level design is a section of the games industry I'd like to be in, and this process will help me hone my techniques and gain a greater understanding of the process for creating a level in a game. My aim goal is designed to follow the SMART format (Specific, Measurable, Agreed, Realistic, Time-bound), to follow a target at a professional working standard.

Through my previous research on level design, there's a lot of theory and planning involved in the process of even making a single level. Learning the process of creating a decently-sized map in a game, to a point where I know a huge amount of the concepts behind how a level is made is something I need to know. I' already aware of the basic mechanics behind creating a level, such as planning out out the stage first before I even open the game engine, having a good difficulty curve that improves as the player learns the game's mechanics and also to make sure everything I put in my levels have a purpose to reduce general clutter. However there's still a lot to learn and I want to continuously improve my design skills to a professional standard, following industry-level practises to become a great designer.

So throughout the course we are doing a Games Design unit on what makes a great game, and since these core concepts are quite broad, some concepts a level designer needs to know are more specific for the skills I want to improve in my development plan. To prove I'm learning new concepts I will add continuous blog posts into my development log showing my researchn into various concepts and my implementation of them. To provide evidence of my development I will also create a scene in Unreal 4 that shows various level design techniques, from the research I conducted proving that I will have learned throughout the 11 weeks. This involves various mechanics, like teaching the player the game's mechanics by doing not saying, among other things like possibly having a part of the level that can unconsciously manipulate the player in playing the game in a certain way (so for example if they see a hidden door in the corner of a room, they're instinctively going to want to explore that area). It will all be based in a giant HUB world that the player can explore.


To follow my SMART target, my designed end-goal will meet all of the criteria shown below:

Specific- I will specifically be researching level design concepts on what makes a level good, and I will be incorporating these tactics into a level I'll make in Unreal Engine 4, where the player can explore and I'll have various segments around the world that include a different mechanic, and I'll write about each one in my blog posts.

Measurable- I will have 11 weeks to create this Unreal 4 level with included research in my blog posts, and it's definitely possible to achieve this in that time due to it testing my implementation of concepts over actually creating the assets I'll be using. They will either have been made by me previously (like models in 3ds Max), or sourced royalty-free online from various websites (like the offical UE4 Store).

Agreed upon- Dan has approved this plan and I will begin working on it afterwards.

Realistic- I feel with my weekly management plan and content I plan to include in this, I have enough time to fit in both the research and development elements into my project.

Time-based- As shown below, I have a strict time management plan that I'm determined to follow. Each week will involve around 10 hours of work, with these 10 hours being outside of tutoring lessons in uni, and in my own time instead.


Weekly time management plan:

Week 1- I will spend this week researching various level designs, such as teaching by showing and not doing. I will document my finds in the blog post. Also I'll begin planning my level.

Week 2- I will continue researching other professional level designs, including examples of professional games in the industry and what they do well (as posted in my research document). I'll start importing various assets into a new Unreal 4 scene, ready to get started properly incorporating my designs next week.

Week 3- I will begin to create my level in Unreal 4 incorporating my concepts. It will eventually be a large HUB world where the player can explore and find various secrets using level design concepts. But I will start off small and being creating the scene.

Week 4-8- Continue researching other concepts as each section of the HUB world gets completed

Week 9- Begin polishing up the game, improving other areas and removing any possible bugs

Week 10- Write a conclusion on what I learned overall and how I grew as a person finding various level design skills

Week 11- Finish off with a fairly large 3d area in Unreal 4, where the player can explore and find secrets using various level design techniques, documented in the previous development blogs.