New Member - Presentation - Level Design Help and Tips
Hi guys, My name is Diogo, I'm 30 years old and I'm from Portugal. After investigating a lot about Level Design I found this forum that I think is fantastic.
I've been an interior designer for about 7 years, but the taste for games has always been huge, but in my country the game industry is still quite green, only with small companies and start ups. That's why and because of the "strength" of my parents, I never decided to invest in a career linked to games at the beginning. However, after 7 years in interior design, the taste for modeling, for 3D, for creating environments became more evident.
With the arrival of Covid, I had a lot of time to ponder and entered a Masters in Game Design here in Portugal. It's been going really well and I really realized that this is what I want as a profession - to be a Level Designer. My thesis will focus on Level Design Patterns implemented in Multiplayer Games.
Currently in college we made a 3D game which I can put the link to try.
First question, being 30 years old, with around 7/8 years in interior design, isn't it too late to enter the industry?
Second question: From what I have read here on the forum, I have a full time work, more research for the thesis, so the time is reduced. Should I start with: Sketching, level's moodboards and then go to gray boxing? Force me on what tools? Unity probuilder?
I use Sketchup a lot in interior design, but in level design it's not used a lot, right?
Third question: In fact, what appeals to me the most are multiplayer games and creating levels for such. Multiplayer can range from FPS like CS, OW, Valorant and/or sandboxes like Dayz, Conan Exiles etc. What suggestions can you tell me about the topic.
All help will be very welcome !!!
ps: sorry for the long post
Replies
1. Too late? Nope. https://polycount.com/search?Search=too+old
2. Make art outside of game education? Yes, see http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Game_Industry#Education
2b. How to start your level design work? See http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Level_Design
2c. Sketchup for level design? Sure, it can be a fast way to graybox if you like working with it.
3. Which multiplayer should you create designs for? Choose what excites you most. But then apply some rigor to your process to avoid burnout, see Motivation is Bull.
I am 31 and just stepped my foot in this industry after learning by myself for 4 years, coming from a totally different background. For level design you can try learning ue4 or unity. Unity is more common for game studios but ue4 is easier to use if you are not a programmer. Ue4 also branches a bit more to other areas like VR, where your background can also help.
One more thing, since you speak portugese. There's a studio I briefly collaborated with in Helsinki, they favor internships and the production team there speaks portugese. I'll dm you the name just for future reference. Cheers and good luck!