Being a game designer entails a lot. In fact, it appears that there's way more to game design than I ever considered--at least in the way we're distributing duties among the nine members of our team. I've had a hand in art direction, certain engineering processes, the minute details of how each tiny piece of the game interacts with the others, the prioritizing of development tasks, and--most recently--the navigation and transitions of every GUI element in the game. However, I don't mean to suggest that this is a bigger workload than any other member of my team has--simply that it is a lot to keep track of since the job covers so many different aspects of the development process.
Because of all of that (and for other reasons as well, I'm sure), most studios have different people covering game design and level design. Now, however, I'm finding myself in charge of the level design as well. Again, don't get me wrong--I love level design. I think that most games make it or break it in this facet, and I feel like I have a strong understanding of what makes levels compelling in their given genres. Unfortunately, I don't think I've ever played a game quite like this one, so I'm having trouble developing levels that take most advantage of our mechanics (which still need tuning, too). Couple that with my lack of 3D modeling software skills, and I could definitely use some help with this part. Everyone on the team is so busy, though, that I don't think there's any other way to get it done. /ventsession
That being said, I'm still having a blast. I love having something to do with all the different parts of the development process, and it's an incredible satisfaction to be part of such an awesome and dedicated team. The game is coming together into a fantastic product, and what we have so far is definitely fun.
Bottom line, I don't want to let the team down. So I'll get back to designing levels now. :)
Here's what I did this week:
- Worked with individual team members to communicate design details--about everything from the physical force behind certain collisions to how a particular level layout lends itself to interesting scenarios with our trap setups
- Headed up stand-up meetings and made sure everyone had tasks to work on (this was my particular duty when Jesse was gone for doctor appointments this week)
- Laid out and listed every logical and visual function of GUI interactions and displays throughout the entire game--everything from the opening title menu to the in-level HUD to the retry and level select screens
- Used Sketchup to model/design level layouts
- Troy
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