Week 1

Session 1

• rapid prototyping is just grey-boxing. 

• need to include as many of the functions/buttons as required - e.g. quit and interact 

• the purpose of level design is:

  • to create a space where action takes place 

  • to give the player a purpose 

  • to assist in game completion

  • to provide an immersive experience

• it is about the experience on the whole - the narrative, mechanics, audio, graphics, pathfinding, UI, etc 

• a level designer is better off as a jack-of-all-trades rather than a specialist 

• the four theories on types of players: 

  • LeBlanc's Taxonomy of Game Pleasures 

  • Bartle's Taxonomy of Player Types 

  • Quantic Foundry's Gamer Motivation Model 

  • GameRefinery Player Archetypes 

(links redirect to this week's powerpoint)

• There are several kinds of level structures: 

  • linear - the game moves from A to B with little chance to deviate, e.g. Tomb Raider 

  • branching - the game starts in a specific way, but the player's actions can alter the path of play and result in multiple endings, e.g. The Witcher 

  • hub - there are multiple worlds to explore, but there is always a single point to return to, e.g. The Bridge 

  • open world - there is lots of space for the player to move around and explore freely, e.g. Red Dead Redemption II 

  • arena - most competitive games, where the only objective is to defeat the enemy, e.g. Super Smash Bros Arena