Level Design Process
My level design process comes from a strong understanding of how bodies move through space. Specifically, my time as a choreographer and performer in immersive theater has greatly influenced my level design process because I always maintain a visceral connection between the player and the environment.
I guide the player by giving them a playground. Depending on the game’s mechanics, the set pieces in that playground change, but they always support, amplify, or challenge the player’s possible actions. By guiding the player through that playground in a specific order, I craft a visceral narrative for the player. This culminates in an experience where the player becomes an improvisational performer in an immersive, digital theater.
This perspective is processed through a design methodology informed by the techniques I learned from Richard Lemarchand of USC Games and choreographic practices from my time in the performing arts.
My work is guided by this goal:
to create experiences that viscerally connect the player to the environment through action.
Documentation
I begin my process by creating a slide deck that details my plan for the level. Sharing this with collaborators allows me to get feedback and begin the iterative process from the get-go.
This deck begins with a flow chart describing the level progression in written language. Then a sketch of the layout drawn on my cute, little iPad. This sketch includes elevation changes, where narrative beats should be placed, and sight lines to important landmarks. I also create a diagram that maps the energetic arc for the level. The fundamentals of choreography are time, space, and energy. How those three things interact creates the sensation of narrative without words. This is how I structure my background in dance into actionable methodology in level design.
The rest of the deck is filled with inspirational imagery that establishes architectural concepts, environmental inspiration, tone, and much more.
This document is a concise distillation of my plan for the level to be created in engine.
My process begins with identifying the verbs that are available to the player. For this level, the player was able to run, jump, slide, swing, and vault in a fast paced, parkour like energy.
Inspired by classic platformers like Crash Bandicoot, I wanted to shift the player’s experience of momentum. I crafted the ‘conveyor belts’ to move the player either forward or backward, challenging the player’s control of timing with their parkour actions.
Try Again
Try Again is a fast paced, 2.5D platformer. Aa a level designer on this project, I owned the ‘conveyor belt’ level from ideation and prototyping, through many iterations, and finally, to polished level.
Prototyping
This game was created in Unity, so I made a script in C# for the conveyor belts that would move both the player and objects either forward or backward. I also made a script to instantiate objects onto the conveyor belts to create obstacles for the player.
I initially crafted a level that had verticality where the player jumped up or dropped down onto the belts. But this game’s goal was to give the player urgency to rush through in fast paced action like parkour. The verticality was cutting the momentum of the platforming.
Final Iteration
After extensive feedback from playtesters and the lead designer, the ‘conveyor belt’ level disrupts the player’s feeling of momentum, at one time propelling them faster and at other times hindering their movement. This encourages the player to pay close attention to the environment. Which way is the next conveyor belt moving? How fast are obstacles being thrown onto the belt? Keeping the level flat allowed for clear sightlines to answer these questions while maintaining the fast paced action of parkour.