by Annie | Nov 22, 2010 | Game Design
Okay, so maybe game design doesn’t have trenches per se, at least not the same as in teaching, but as students, we’re definitely on the frontlines. Just ask any of the guys in my class who have pulled all nighters at school, alternating between Red Bulls and naps on the floor, eager to add in that extra feature or refine the core mechanic just a bit more. On second thought, I think this counts as trenches. After hundreds of hours spent designing, scripting, and testing levels, I can safely say that I know a bit more about level design than I did when I arrived in Vancouver 6 months ago. Here are a few lessons for the road: 1. Put railings on things. As it turns out, players don’t particularly like to fall off the edge of your level into the abyss of nothingness for no apparent reason. Just like in real life, virtual navigation requires railings, gates, and appropriately sized stairs. Now you know. 2. Think before you script. It’s easy to get lost in a sea of code, coming up with “creative” and often unelegant solutions to simple problems. Always script with a plan. Break down your goal into the base components, then link them together in logical ways. Use your brain. 3. Save often. Save progressively. Save progressively often. For my last level, I made well over 100 progressive saves over the course of five weeks. Not too bad, but I’m already on version 22 just 2 days into my current level. Why? Because you never know. Undos are not always as reliable as you think,...
by Annie | Oct 14, 2010 | Game Design
Not too long ago, kismet was a daunting word to me. In Turkish and Urdu, kismet refers to destiny. As if that’s not scary enough, kismet also refers to the scripting tool for the Unreal Engine. Scripting? For a first person shooter? Not exactly my cup of tea. Kismet is a visual scripting tool, so in a sense, it’s somewhat simpler than, say, C++. The logic is similar, but instead of typing out commands, you can just summon the command boxes you need and link them together to create a series of instructions. Here’s a glimpse at some of the kismet behind the puzzle I blogged about last week. (Note: It’s not as clean as I’d like, but I’m working on that!) As we’ve delved further into kismet, the infinite possibilities are becoming clearer and more exciting. Shooting endlessly at enemies? Not so exciting. Solving puzzles while you’re shooting at enemies who do different things? Much more appealing. And for those of you who know me well, you know that I’d rather remove the enemies altogether and just have puzzles. First person sudoku, interactive simon says, top-down memory shooter… Like I said, the possibilities are endless. Kismet is fast becoming part of my...
