January 29, 2024
You may sit and scroll up a lot of blockouts or final levels on social media day after day, hour after hour, BUT…
How about their design process?
How do their creators reach that kind of level?
Why did they decide to shape the blockout in that way?
Could you break it down and figure out the basic layout?
It’s not that easy!
It’s like when you eat a delicious food without knowing its recipe. Experiencing a good taste is NOT enough to make a similar one. You should understand about the entire process; from the fundamentals to polishing the product.
(Credit)
This image perfectly explains what I'm trying to say:
(Credit)
That’s why I started a visualized article series about the level design process and this one you’re reading is the first one. In this episode, I’ll transform the simplest shape in the world, Mr. CUBE, into an advanced TEMPLE in twelve steps.
📹 Let’s see a quick trailer of this article:
The complete process in a GIF:
The first and last «perspective» view in one shot:
💡 Before we get started,
Please pay attention to these notes:
1- This method I used in this article (step by step) is ONLY for educational matters. I myself, as a writer of this article, don’t use this method for my work. Yes, that’s right!My goal is to explain and visualize these concepts to newcomers through an easy and attractive way as possible, not the best one!
🔸 Question:
Well, what’s the right way to do level design?
You’ll find it in the senior's feedback at the end of the article.
2- I skipped the reference gathering step for the matters of article capacity. That step has its own long process, but don’t worry! I’ll show some good ones within the process.
3- The target game is NOT specified, because my goal was NOT to design a specific level for a specific game. I was trying to share common useful tips (which most of them have a connection to architecture) you can use in most games, no matter what the genre, or it’s singleplayer or multiplayer.
4- I did NOT care about the art theme that much, so don’t blame me for the mixed elements in the level! However, the main theme I was looking for is east Asian style, but I didn’t spend so much time on it to make it perfect. Not my job!
5- That soldier JUST plays a mannequin role as a player reference. Don’t bother imagining it in a different shape. Japanese Samurai, Nordic warriors, etc.
🔸 Question:
What’s the goal of the player in this tutorial?
It can be in different setup, Let’s picture them together:
1) FPS setup like the «Far Cry» series: A player has a mission to hunt a boss with a lot of guards around him.
2) Third-person action adventure setup like the «Tomb Raider» series: A player has a torch on a heavy rainy night, who’s looking for a mysterious thing in a temple.
3) Isometric action setup like the «Diablo» series: A player starts with the goal of finding the boss castle or a place for exploring and finding lots of loot.
Alright, Shall we begin? Lessgo!
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● Step 00:
This is our gentleman, Mr. Cube!
I collage 3 images into one: Isometric view, top down and section. That’s how I’ll present the complete process. Please pay attention to all three images with the same value to understand the design better.