Beginning Game Level Design John Feil Marc Scattergood © 2005 by Thomson Course Technology PTR. All rights reserved. No part of this Publisher and General Manager: book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic Stacy L. Hiquet or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system without written permission from Thomson Course Technology Associate Director of Marketing: PTR, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review. Sarah O’Donnell The Premier Press and Thomson Course Technology PTR logo and related trade Marketing Manager: dress are trademarks of Thomson Course Technology PTR and may not be used Heather Hurley without written permission. Figure 1.1 City of Heroes ©Cryptic Studios, Inc. City of Heroes is a trademark of Manager of Editorial Services: Cryptic Studios, Inc. and NCsoft Corporation. NCsoft is a trademark of NCsoft Heather Talbot Corporation. 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ISBN: 1-59200-434-2 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2004111221 Printed in the United States of America 05 06 07 08 BH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Thomson Course Technology PTR, a division of Thomson Course Technology 25 Thomson Place Boston, MA 02210 http://www.courseptr.com I’d like to dedicate this book to my wife and daughter, Jean and Sylvana, who had to spend many, many Daddyless weekends while I wrote this book. —John Feil For my wife, Stacie, a very talented author in her own right, for being my support, my personal editor, and my sounding board through this process. —Marc Scattergood Acknowledgments John Feil The number of people who have helped me learn and grow and write this book are many. I’d like to thank the Thompson crew, especially Sean , Jenny, Mitzi, and Brandon, for all their help in getting this book out the door. I’d like to thank Marc Scattergood, who came in to write when time got tight. I’d also like to thank Bob Bates for all his help, and Warren Spector for his fine sense of humor. Finally, I’d like to thank this random list of people, who have in some way contributed to my knowledge over the years: Gary Gygax, Todd Nord, Dave Hanifan, Tom Brundige, Rick Andres, Jeff Pipes, Chad Walter, Chris Seeman, Aaron Young, Chuck McFadden, Duncan Brown, Reed Knight, Quentin Westcott, Tim Longo, Rich Davis, Tony Iuppa, John Christian Vanover, and Jason Della Rocca. Marc Scattergood Thanks to my wife, Stacie, for putting up with my 12 hour days at work, only to come home and spend another 6 hours in front of my computer, writing. To John Feil, for being a mentor and a friend, and for including me in this chance to share the knowledge we’ve gleaned over the years. I’d also like to acknowledge the Mythica team, spread to the four winds as they are, the Sigil Games Online team, who I hope to continue learning from for years to come, and all the friends and co-workers I had in Microsoft Game Studios for their friendship, their shared knowledge and experience, and for helping me strive towards something greater than myself. iv About the Authors JOHN FEIL is a game industry veteran whose duties have spanned from quality assurance, to technical writing, and finally to level designer and designer. He’s worked on such titles as Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter and Microsoft’s new Xbox racing game, Forza, and is currently a member of the board of directors for the International Game Developer’s Association (IGDA). MARC SCATTERGOOD has been working in the games industry since 1998. In that time he has worked in a quality assurance and operations capacity, as well as level and game design more recently. His shipped titles include Asheron’s Call, Sudeki, and Zoo Tycoon 2. Most of that time was spent with Microsoft Game Studios. He currently is a game designer for Sigil Games Online on the upcoming MMOG, Vanguard, and was previously working on the now cancelled MMOG, Mythica, as a level designer. He currently resides in Southern California. v This page intentionally left blank Contents at a Glance Introduction . .xv Chapter 1 The Basics of Game Design . .1 Chapter 2 Paper Design . .25 Chapter 3 Building Terrain . .39 Chapter 4 Building Architecture and Spaces . .61 Chapter 5 Lighting and Atmospheric Effects . .85 Chapter 6 Placing Encounters . .95 Chapter 7 Breathing Life Into Your Levels . .119 Chapter 8 Dialogue and Story . .137 Chapter 9 Polishing . .159 Chapter 10 Specific Genres . .175 Appendix A Helpful Resources . .197 Appendix B Glossary . .201 Appendix C Review Questions and Answers . .211 Appendix D What’s on the CD . .219 Index . .221 vii This page intentionally left blank Contents Introduction . .xv Chapter 1 The Basics of Game Design . .1 The “Fun”damentals . .2 Fun . 2 System Design . .9 Gameplay . 9 Designing Challenges . 11 Pacing and Flow. 13 Making Your Game Better . .19 Respect the Player . 20 Hubris Is the Game-Killer . 21 If You Aren’t Having Fun, the Game Won’t Be Fun . 21 It’s Just a Game . 22 What You Have Learned . .22 Review Questions . .23 On Your Own . .23 Chapter 2 Paper Design . .25 Coming Up with Ideas . .25 Writing a Design Document . .30 Creating Maps . .31 Example: Prospero’s Island . .32 ix x Contents What You Have Learned . .38 Review Questions . .38 On Your Own . .38 Chapter 3 Building Terrain . .39 The Importance of Terrain . .39 Making Terrain . .40 Heightmaps . 40 Handmade . 42 Mixed . 43 Autogenerated . 43 Tiled Terrain . 44 Terrain and Gameplay . .46 Another Purpose for Terrain: Fencing the Player In . 46 Impassability Regions . 47 Making Realistic Terrain . .47 Making Terrain Fun . .49 Terrain and Strategy . .50 Texturing Terrain . .51 Terrain Props . .52 Placing Objects on Your Terrain . 52 Gameplay Effects of Terrain Props . 53 Example: The Building of Prospero’s Island . .54 What You Have Learned . .59 Review Questions . .60 On Your Own . .60 Chapter 4 Building Architecture and Spaces . .61 Creating Architecture and Spaces Using Toolsets . .61 Brushes . ..