Month: December 2022

SUMMARY

Role

Level Designer

Intention (SMART Goal)

By Jan 13, as a Level artist, I will have made a map for our fps game by following this tutorial for session 3.

PRE-PRODUCTION – INQUIRY

Leader(s) in the Field / Exemplary Work(s)

Shigeru Miyamoto is the creator and level designer for Mario. He is able to make games that are both challenging and fair, with incredibly fun gameplay.

Shigeru Miyamoto

1. By predicting what the player will do, you can try and make them have a more memorable experience.

2. You should establish for the player what a game is about very early in.

3. You don’t want levels to be too hard at first, this is why Miyamoto replaces a Koopa with a goomba to make it easier.

4. You should have people who have never played the game before test it.

5. Players will almost never do what you think they will do, and you should design around that.

6. Weight on a character gives their jump more character and makes it easier to relate to them.

Training Source(s)

1. Levels shouldn’t always be asymetric, since it is incredibly hard to make balanced levels

2. It can provide uniqueness to levels, but can also annoy players. So it’s situational to use asymmetric levels.

3. Action should flow through a map. You never want all the fighting to be in one place, that’s boring.

4. This allows for changes of scenery/choke points. And it changes which side is currently winning.

5. It’s important to understand where the conflict points are on the map.

6. Different methods of spawning players. Spawn them at a fixed location, spawn them at multiple fixed locations, near a teammate, and spawn them away from the action.

Evidence of Team Planning and Decisions

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1F7He9Lt5is-k6p_z6awE9-OI27Pmys1Elump9pGWUrY/edit

PRODUCTION – ACTION

The (FILM, SOUND, or GAME Creation)

Since this session was just pre-production for us, we do not have a completed project to present.

Skills Commentary

Google Slideshow

I was able to design the layout of a map for a shooter game when previously I had not had much shooter game experience. Using my experience in level design and watching youtube videos about how to do successful shooter levels, I was able to translate the layout of the map I made into probuilder.

POST-PRODUCTION – REFLECTION

21st Century Skills

Ways of Thinking (Creativity, Innovation, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving)

To build the map I created in Unity, I used Probuilder. Probuilder is a very tricky tool since it can only make cubes successfully, other objects are much harder. So, I had to learn how to use the custom shape tool to make several weirdly shaped objects on the map.

Ways of Working (Communication & Collaboration)

We divided the team into an art group and a coding group. Since I was making the map, I was part of the art group. When I needed textures for the components of the map, the art team helped me find things on the asset store, and I helped them find gun assets that they needed as well.

Tools for Working (Info & Media Literacy)

I got materials for the objects in my map using the unity asset store.

Ways of Living in the World (Life & Career)

I learned how to use a new tool that I am unfamiliar with, and overcome problems related to map design, which is something I want to pursue in the future.

Reactions to the Final Version

I was told that the map on the slideshow was hard to see and that I should have multiple angles to show it off. Besides that, we didn’t get much feedback, since our game is still in pre-production and we didn’t have much to show.

Self-Evaluation of Final Version

The progress we made in our first session working on the game was very good. We have a moving player, a working gun, an almost-working multiplayer, and an almost-finished map. I’m very happy with how quickly I was able to learn probuilder and utilize it.

Grammar and Spelling

Grammarly.

Editor

Arlo