Level Designing

Veritasx5

Hey all.
So I'm working on a project for my level design class. I'm going to use polycount as both a journal (to fulfill my class requirement to have one XP) and as a place to hopefully get some feedback to make this project as good as it can be in the time limit I've got.

Here's the full rundown of what's all required and what my ideas are:

The Requirements:
I have to build a one level game, and I'm restricted in that I can't base my one level game around killing anything, so that means no fun things to blow up. Also, I've got seven weeks to get this done. It's not a lot of time at all, so if you all think it's too long or too much work for that time period, say so now or forever hold your digital peace. XD

The Idea:

The basic idea I have in mind for the game is a first person level based around gameplay that's reminiscent to Mirror's Edge. (A great game, if at least for it's design and pacing) I'm working in CryEngine3 because of its ease of use and dynamic lighting. The setting is a dilapidated city built over water, so as Cryengine has a decent water shader included in the SDK, at least that problem's temporarily solved.

To be honest, I'm pretty new to level design and modeling in general, so I'm looking forward to learning everything I can about my game engine of choice, as well as receiving feedback from you all as I work towards finishing a completed level. Thanks for reading up to this point, and here's to a good experience!

Veritasx5

So, here's the rough concepts, it's a pretty simple concept.

The player takes on the role of an wanderer/mercenary named Mauve.
The city she's exploring is built completely over water.
You transition from an interior, which is slow paced and more platform-ish, before triggering an event that initiates a timer, in which you must escape by running through the city.
I've included some rough, rough thumbs that I threw together just so I can start getting a feel for the world.

Veritasx5

Veritasx5

Veritasx5

Veritasx5

Alright, so now I've got a rough blockout of the level established in Cryengine. Thank god for the solid modeling system. And the ability to export .objs? Nice.

Tobbo

I know you're on a tight deadline, but I'd take some time and read into level design a little bit before just jumping in.

A good place to start is at www.worldofleveldesign.com. I think there are some free tutorials/Ebooks which are actually very useful. And will be worth your time and effort to read over.

I would use actual photo references, even for the blocking in process.

Also, it would help if you added a character scaled exactly like you want it for measurement purposes as you are blocking everything out to scale using that character as a guide.

I look forward to seeing this evolve. Good luck!

gsokol

First of all, you really could just make one big post instead of a bunch of small one within minutes of each other....people will get annoyed with that.

Anyways, as for your project, sounds interesting...are you expected to design it and do the art for it as well? Or just design it?

If you have to do the art for it...thats going to be a lot of work to do in 7 weeks, especially if you aren't too experienced in world building.

One thing to keep in mind...level design isn't just about making a linear path from point A to point B....there is a lot involved in making a level fun...Pacing, clear objectives, cool backdrops....I would suggest you get out some pen and paper before you start throwing together a blockout in-game.

Good luck, I'll be curious to see what you get finished in 7 weeks.