It´s about time I show a level design document I did at school some time ago.

The assignment was to design a single player level for a fictional game, with specific restrictions and then model it in Google SketchUp.

The goal was to mimic a realistic situation where a lead or director gave me a rough outline of a level to further detail the design, and at the same time learn SketchUp.

Read the level design document here (Press read online): Level design document: The canyon.

I hope you like it.
Below is a detailed overview of my level layout in scetchup.

Today I finished my unreal development kit map!
The assignment was to create a map with a menu and some kind of small puzzle game built into it,
Just to learn some more about kismet, UI Scene and matinee recording.

For this map my focus was to try and create a beautiful outdoor environment.
I really enjoy level design, how creative it is and the interesting challenges it gives me.

I hope you like it! (Watch in HD!)





On a side note I will be on the Swedish game event Gamex tomorrow! I am really looking forward to it.

Unreal development kit:

The last few weeks have been interesting!

Lately I have had allot of lessons in Unreal development kit (UDK), created by Epic games.
It is kinda similar to Source development kit which I had some prior experience with, still I find UDK challenging but allot of fun... there have been a few nightmares about Kismet (visual scripting) though, but I have learnt allot.

In about two weeks I will hand in a small map or game created by me with triggers using kismet to create some kind of puzzle.

Sjoerd De Jong (project lead and creative director at Teotl Studios) who have mapped since he was a kid and got experience from Epic Games and Starbreeze, is our UDK level design teacher.

The Ball:

Today Sjoerd showed us how he created his new game The Ball (a singleplayer action/puzzle game built in the UDK editor).
It was very educational and interesting to see how his levels was made, everything from design decisions and material editing to everything they did to create the actual ball and all its behaviours in the game.

Take a look at the trailer below! The Ball is available through Steam the 26th October and is yours for only 17,99€.

 

Meeting with Dave Sharp:

Last week I also got the chance to speak some with Dave Sharp (Binary Asylum) who have worked on amazing titles such as Baldurs Gate and Fallout! I have spent years in front of Baldurs gate so it was a great experience to meet him.

Find out more about The Ball here: www.theballthegame.com
Download Unreal development kit for free here: www.udk.com

Our first school project at Futuregames Academy is now complete!
The class was split into smaller groups, mine consisted of three graphic designers and four game designers working together to deliver a board game within one week.

The project was to create a the board game for 2-6 players, 30-45 minutes playtime and it should be inspired by the theme: suggestion, of course it also had to be a fully working game with an easy to understand game manual.

The goal of our game is to get from the start possitions at the edge of the game board to the center, there the player pick up a coordinate card that show to which of the eight exits the player have to escape through.
During all this time ghosts are constantly chasing the players, event cards are helping or slowing the progress and opponents are also able to block paths with doors that require specific colored key cards to be opened again. There is allot of tactics and tricks in the game and you could potentially give your opponents allot of trouble.

We had allot of fun creating this board game and spent something like 900-1000 SEK on materials, printing etc to make the project possible. Thankfully we got 500 SEK from the school as a budget for the game!
The money we spent really makes a difference though the game looks and feels really top quality.




This Friday our game was tested by the Swedish game industry:

• Almir Listo (Project leader at Bajoum Interactive / Teacher at Futuregames)

• Tove Enghed (Level Designer at Fatshark)

• Patrick Berglind (Lead game designer for a Microsoft touch surface game)

• Petter Sköld (3d Artist at Splash Damage)

• Åsa Roos (Lead game designer / Teacher at Futuregames) was leading the whole project as well as the game testing.

We students got allot of good feedback from them! A huge thanks to the game industry people for sharing their experience with us. To be able to talk to them, is always exciting and rewarding.



The winner of the board game competition had a brilliant game idea where you actually play on the outside of the game box and are able to use all sides with magnets as your player piece, at some points in the game the cube rotate.

The price for winning the challenge was a trip to the Swedish game developer DICE office and a lunch with one of there project managers. Huge congratulations and well deserved! :)

Thanks to my group for the wonderful teamwork!

Sadly this video was taken down and I cant find it anywhere else.

Do violence in games affect the players, and IF so, how?
How far can a designer go when creating a game? What responsibilities does a game designer have?

Below is a documentary on the subject, first they talk allot about Mortal Kombat and Grand Theft Auto but they also discuss the "snuff" game Manhunt and other things from different perspectives.

I don't think normal violence in games affect players but just watching the kills from the game Manhunt make me feel sick, actually. I have not played the game but it seems to be full of unnecessary violence and murders just for "fun" and "entertainment".

Some of the content of this film is violent (obviously) and this documentary is also very American, you have been warned. :P

I still found it very interesting and recommend you to watch it.
Grab some popcorn and watch this 1 hour 25 min long documentary about game violence.


"Moral Kombat takes a look into the controversial subject of violence in video games. Director Spencer Halpin shows the constant conflict between the game creators' first amendment right to make a violent game and the imminent threat that violence poses on the next generation. In addition, the film is full of the latest green screen and high-definition technology that allow watchers to actually envision the world of gaming. Filled with interviews from lead game designers, politicians, parents, and psychologists, this film provides a candid take on the influence games have on youth today."

Today I came across this great design tour of the game World of Goo by WolfireGames on youtube, if you want to learn some about basic game design such as user interface, game atmosphere and gameplay progression this is definitely a good video to check out!

Now I thought it would be fun to share some of the things I sent in when applying to Futuregames Academy.
Below is a short video of a level I designed during my quality assurance in games course at Gotland University.

We had an assignment to create a building in Hammer Source SDK editor. (Used to create levels for Half-Life 2, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike, Alien Swarm and many other games).

The assignment in short was:

Create a working Half-Life 2 map with the following features:

•     Building with two floors
•     Stairs to the second floor
•     One door that opens by a trigger
•     Glass windows
•     A balcony
•     Player starting position

We had a one week deadline to learn how to do triggers etc and complete all parts of the assignment.


This was my first real attempt to do something in Source SDK, I created allot more things then was required in the assignment, but I learn much and had allot of fun. I believe this assignment is a good way to start learning about level designing and it really helps in bug testing to have knowledge of what could go wrong when mapping.




The goal I had for the map, after completing the assignment objectives was to give it a creepy feeling, as if the church was haunted or something.

I tried to do this with game objects (props) from the Half-life 2 game. Examples of this are the trees with bare branches, the broken statue, and the doll forgotten on the church bench as if a child left in fear.
What I believe really add some feeling to the map is the lighting combined with the skybox and weather effects with the rain.

My friend Sanna is taking the role as our dungeon master for a night!
She wont tell us what rules or system she will use, so that makes it extra exiting.

She have prepared a roleplay adventure and sent us players some questions she made that will determine what kind of character we will be playing.

"Your hear the sound of someone rushing towards you, what are you doing?"

   1. You wait where you are, someone might need help!
   2. Starts running towards the sound, with your weapon ready, it might be an enemy!
   3. You don't want to be seen and hide as fast as possible.

"You are trapped with two enemies in front of you, what are you doing?"

   1. You send your bodyguards to deal with them.
   2. Use speed and reflexes to dodge there attacks and run away as soon as possible.
   3. Takes out a weapon and slay them both.
   4. Hides and waits patiently for them to leave.
   5. manipulate them to attack each other instead of you.

"Is your character able to kill another person?"

   1. Yes, unless I have a use for him/her.
   2. Yes, if he/she is between me and my goal.
   3. Not unless its necessary, everyone have the right to live.
   4. I try to avoid it, bodies attract to much attention.

I found this kind of character creation method with questions to be an interesting and fun way to decide what role and behavior you will have in the game.

I am looking forward to play this game in the near future, and might ad a new blog post about it later. 

Today I had my first look at Unity 3D, Game development tool. We will be using it some at school so I figured I need to get some basic knowledge of it.

I started looking at some very basic tutorials and found the ones from TornadoTwins youtube channel to explain it in a simple way with good descriptions.

I downloaded the program and will try to create something from the tutorial.
Below is the first part, completely basic, additional parts with more advanced things is linked in his videos.



Go to Unity 3D website where you can download Unity for free!

I just came home from a six day trip to Rome and as soon as I got inside the door I checked my inbox... and yes! I had received another e-mail from Futuregames Academy with some more information!

All old students have returned from their summer holidays and the time for us new students is getting closer.
The education and my new exiting life starts the 21th September and I will usually be at school from 09:00 - 17:00 Swedish time.

Its hard to grasp the reality and realise that I got accepted to this amazing education and I am both proud, exited and nervous at the same time.

While looking for game design information I came across this lecture from Futuregames Academy that I though might be interesting to others as well, this is part 1/5. (The language in this video lecture is Swedish).
 


Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

I hope you like it, part one was really interesting in my opinion.