There’s so much I wish I could post on this site. Systems design lessons and best practices for scripting and designing levels and set pieces. However right now I can’t, it would break the NDA I have with Sony and Naughty Dog. That’s why I’m happy to have started learning something new, level design! I’m a complete novice at this but I’m surrounded by some of the best in the business, so as I learn and get given advice, I’ll post my findings here.
This first thing I was told was to make a church, in order to learn scale. Churches are built on rigid rules and metrics, so in order to build this I would have to find ref and blueprints and work as accurately to scale as possible, starting with smaller things like chairs and building out. I had to space some things out more for gameplay metrics. In the last of us, you need at least 1.5 meters between things so that the character can move properly, and so the camera isn’t too jammed in. This meant spacing out the pews more than they are in real life.
The first versions I made were too big. As soon as I got the scale right suddenly it felt like kind of a real place when walking around it, which was so cool as I've never made something that felt sort of 'right' before, even if it has a long way to go. I noticed my windows were too bug and that I’d become a little sloppy. It started to feel off. When everything is scaled correctly, it’s amazing how it suddenly feels good, like a real place. Previous experiments with making things before I took the advice of other level designers, always felt weird and I gave up shortly after. It’s also interesting to see what becomes challenging in a job when you’re tired. The urge to just rough things in is strong but you have to resist, just like with scripting you have to resist to fix something the ‘easy way’ that will bite you in the ass later.
I showed my environment artist friends and they told me to keep modelling in the detail as it would increase my ability to observe scale. Make sure things like the columns were the right shape and size, to put in all the beams. To put detail in the chairs. I showed some level designers and they told me to build it in a modular way, so that when I needed to iterate and change it, it would be fast.
The next thing I was told was to alter it to give it a story, make it a little space that has some flow to it. Make more of the space impossible to see from some places, as it increases your interest. If you can see everywhere at once, it’s boring. Add versatility, balconies and so on. So, with that I'm going to try and make it so you have to venture upstairs and only then do you get a view of something you didn't notice downstairs. A tiny exploration puzzle. I suppose this will make it a little narrative, and so it will become a tiny level. A thought this was a really good first exercise.
I tried raising the back area, but it wasn't right. Then I realised I'd picked this incredibly boring, generic church that I didn't like, so in order to achieve this next goal I used the kit I'd made to rough out a chapel that had been converted into a theater.
I didn't focus on scale or care at all, so it's completely wrong, but I just wanted to kind of 'sketch' the shape out roughly once first, so I could see if this would be worth committing to. I think this is a more interesting space and I'm excited to get it done so I can play it in engine.
I think this seems like a nice way to work, make a super rough version, then if you kind of like it go back down and work outwards again, redoing everything for scale and putting in details.
The next step is to design the flow around this space, and how it will draw you around it.