GDC 2013 Garrett Stevens

Post date: Apr 01, 2013 1:41:42 PM

Insights on Level Design from Bioware’s GDC 2013 presentation:

Most of Bioware’s design talk seemed like common sense to anyone who has leafed through Jesse Schell’s book, or read a few articles on the internet. They covered topics like Emotion and Theme charts, Intensity graphs, and other abstract ways of measuring the success of a level. I had always viewed these as mindsets to have in design, things that one should be thinking about all the time, and general concepts to hold on to. Until this talk however, I'd never viewed them as practical diagnostic tools to guide and direct iteration during production. Reusing these physical charts until you get something right was completely new to me.

Seeing their iterations over time, and multiple attempts to match the desired and actual experience was really encouraging. As helpful as these tools are, the hyper critical side of me thinks that their way of operating and level of thinking may still be rooted in a mindset (design wise) that is over 5 years out of date.

There was little to no high level thinking on narrative going on at the level design "ground floor". What little there was existed mostly in the Emotions and Themes chart. Big key points to hit, or else. If more narrative and story, even higher level design had been tied in at that stage, Perhaps I would have found Mass Effect Three more than a B+ action game. It seems that progressive mindsets already being pushed at companies like Valve, new and interesting ways of doing things like at DoubleFine, or reimaginings of existing types of experiences like at Bethesda, are not happening at Bioware, or if they are, it's not exactly working yet.

Overall I was impressed with the diagnostic tools they have developed for their iterations, but definitely underwhelmed by the disconnect between the level design and the supposed overall themes of the game.

-Garrett Stevens