well, I wrote this for gunn3r games, but I figured I'd put it here too.

for designing levels. mainly for FPSC, but I apply the same principals (just replacing the names and adding or subtracting a couple thousand polys) for: UDK, Source SDK, and Unity 3d.


LEVEL DESIGN TUT #1

(hopefully this helps someone)


Designing a map for a game in FPSC is a rewarding experience. not only
can you learn valueble architectural skills, (mostly from all the
criticism I'll probably give you) but also, you'll get a feeling of
accomplishment when you know you've improved. This tutorial is made to

do just that. read on and learn more!


When distilled to it's purest form, the level is nothing but the walls
and boundaries that the player walks around in. It is up to the level
designer to casually lead the player by the hand in the boundaries,
while letting them feel immersed, and if your game permits, confident
on their own in your level. Basically, navigation should feel natural.
Some games (mirror's edge) take leading you by the hand to an extreme,
and paint everything red to show where you go, whereas other games
(half life 2) stealthily make the player WANT to go a certain way by
making the level look more interesting in that direction. walking into
a boring part of a level that, while not bound from the player can
break immersion and flow, which is why the player needs to stay
constantly aware of where the right way to go is. it should feel second
nature to them, letting them focus on the gameplay. that is called
flow. that's what we're going to talk about next.


flow is the levels continuity. keeping the player on the right track
through the level, without even 1 second's worth of a "where do I go"
feeling. if your level flows well, and is "smooth" than the player will
know where to be at all times, and if they stray into a boring part of
the level off the beaten path, then it is completely by choice. a well
flowing, smooth level will keep the player immersed.

Immersion is a very important concept to gaming. mainly gameplay, but
level design too. immersion is basically where the player "forgets"
that they're playing a video game. now while it's not that simple, it
is basically a simpler term for when the player gets caught up in the
experience, and essentially loses track of the world around them. It's
tough to explain. good examples are:

*when you're so "in to" your game, that you don't notice (or dont care)
that you accidentally knocked over a glass of Kool Aid on your new rug.

*When you finally "get" portals and realise that you've learned a new
spatial awareness like none other before.

*When you pull off a triple back flip stalefish uber trick in SSX
tricky and you want to "high five" your character.

*when you're so close to level 70 you don't give a F*CK about going to
grandma's XD


Now you understand me when I say "forget you're playing a video game"


Immersion is something largely created by gameplay, but can also be
created by level design. can you imagine how much less immersed you
would be if there was no level in:

Tony Hawk- have fun doing kickflips

Half life 2- It's like GMod! without spawning anything or building
stuff ;(

Assasins Creed- half the game is climbing. if there were nothing to
climb, It wouldn't have made more than 10 sales.


see what I mean?

of course.

Immersion is made by having a level be as close to the real place as
possible. Feel like your on the mountain, BELIEVE that you're
infiltrating a base. It's all because you're immersed. now I'm not
going to tell you how to make immersion. you can't "make" much
immersion in level design. that's up to the gameplay. the level
design's main goal is to not "break" immersion. Keep your levels true
to life, and you won't break any.


HOW NOT TO BREAK IMMERSION

Have you ever seen a stack of crates in a hotel room?

How about an oil barrel in a well off suburban neighborhood? (maybe
these days XD)

if not, don't randomly place them in your map. If it doesn't belong,
leave it out. "but I thought I was supposed to populate my levels!?"
yes. populate them as best as you can, but that doesn't mean that you
need to have leaking pipe in a hotel penthouse, or a table on the rough
bank of a river. even if it is just for cover, or concealment, or even
blocking the players view to the end of the world. there are always
other options. Flow is one of the best ways level design can add to
immersion. this is, if it's easy and FUN to navigate (mirrors edge,
assasins creed, infamous)


Alright, back to reality.


if you're reading this, you should understand it's still good ole FPSC
before dreaming up running across a rooftop in a massive city with a
model pack 5 weapon in your hands. And FPSC can only handle so much.
It'll break immersion when the player falls through the floor, or can't
pass an object. when designing a level, keep in mind FPSC's awful
collision system. sure it's nice to have planks laying around on the
floor, or potted plants in a hallway, but if it means that the player
has a bumpy jolty ride over the planks throughout the level, or falls
through the floor because of the plant, than it's not worth it. the way
I do it is: a room that doesn't look totally complete without a single
floor entity (object that would rest on the floor in real life- table,
crate, anything held down by gravity) than it's not complete. make sure
to add lots of detail and "uumph" to your walls and ceilings as to not
make them look so flat and "segmenty". Add wires, electrical boces and
outlets, lights, pipes, air ducts, chainlink fences and other methods
of sectioning off rooms (I count fences as non-floor centric). Play
most online shooters and you'll notice that corridors are largely
empty. this is to ease the players flow through the level. the last
thing you want is for the player to have a tedious, difficult task of
walking around things.


Now, onto level gameplay/lag. you've got immersion, you've got flow,
and you understand that you need to work against the "grain" of the
editor to get good results. now you need to learn how to maximize the
playability of your level. this'll tell you how to reduce lag.


Lagging. It's something that every one of us, even some of the best
computers will get from time to time. especially in an FPS game. that
dreaded frame rate dip, that framy fight scene. It's something no
developer should have to deal with, but is an issue that should be
adressed when the pretty and fun part of level design is over. at this
point, playtest your map. have fun in your extravagantly detailed
albeit not-so optimised map. First things first, remember where you are
looking at for the most part, and what is ABLE to be seen. no lighting
in that corner? no need for a breaker switch there. never look behind
you when passing that? better take that chair and barrel away. if you
designed your level well, than removing these things, or "streamlining"
as I call it is going to add at least 3-4 FPS to your map. 2-3 if on a
really nice boxx. now that we've streamlined, try removing polies. if
you have the resources, remove the faces from models that you'll never
see the back of. take pictures of objects that you'll never get to and
make "billboards" (2d images of the same objects for replacement) and
replacement of certain objects for meshes less... well lower poly.
don't need that fence for a cool shadow effect? replace it with the
flat square with a texture. that plant making you fall through the
floor anyway? just make it a billboard. doing as much as you can to
reduce lag in a map can result in at least 6-7 pickup in FPS rate. a
rate which, even on the most laughable PC should never dip below 19.


that's all for this tut. if I decide to do another one, than I'll add

more gameplay oriented stuff like:

level design and enemy encounters
reducing lag with characters in a map
setpieces level design.