Level Design Books

This conversation could use a large bag of marijuana.

[Blocked Image: http://www.ashersarlin.com/cartoons/plato-pothead.gif]

well what do you know, i never expected this from you ricky. good on you for actually bothering with this!

i may have gotten too far ahead of myself when i said that immersion was measurable. it is measurable in the sense that you can tell whether or not a person is immersed, but there are no degrees of immersion.

Quote

the best you can do to learn, is to take somethign you enjoy playing, be it fps, rpg, platformer, whatever, get a game that has mod tools, and experiment by doing, learn to use the tools, learn what makes a fun experience for you, get others to play it and learn how they felt about it.

Quote

saying that fun is not important and that you should focus on trying to be some artsy ponce making braid all over again is a waste of everyones' time and doesn't help the OP who wanted to know what to do next. and frankly there's books out there that don'ty really explain shit. you are better off learnign by doing, getting a job as a junior, and learning from others with more experience. some of the best level designers and artists have never written a book in their lives.

i agree to an extent, although there are certain concepts i know i learned myself from reading about level design (especially from the valve developer wiki). i did, however, not consider the OP's statement or request when writing what i wrote about immersion; it was solely to counter the point that chris brought up.

Quote

i will not argue that psychology of human beings is not important in level design. i think it is important to understand that peopel do certain things when they are under pressure, to know the kinds of patterns our brains are receptive to, and the type of imagery that we are repelled by. but it is a vitally important step to simply create little arenas of gameplay to find out how to do things, what is actually enjoyable (a far better word that combines both fun and immersion ) and how to guarantee you can recreate certain feelings and experiences in different situations.

i would actually argue that once you get into the state of immersion, your level of involvement is so high that practically anything will be enjoyable. why? because with each step the player will take by then, he or she knows that he or she is crucial to putting an end to whatever struggle there might be in a game. there are of course restrictions to this, and the breaking of immersion could essentially destroy a game's potential. my point with my previous statement was that immersion is a state of mind that puts the player inside of the game. it is no longer 'just a game' when you reach that point, it is a second world.

Anyhoooo...

+1 on architecture books.

That said today I saw a building that if I saw in a game I'd think the level designer was really sloppy. Maybe a good idea for a topic, post pics of real buildings that look like newbies made them.

Quote from Ginger Lord

Anyhoooo...

+1 on architecture books.

That said today I saw a building that if I saw in a game I'd think the level designer was really sloppy. Maybe a good idea for a topic, post pics of real buildings that look like newbies made them.

let me see that building!

When I'm next out that way (early new year) I'll swing by and take a photo, the roof tiles are on at a 45 degree angle across the whole roof for no reason.

I ordered the "Hows and Whys of Level Desing" directly from Hourcences. I'll write a review on http://www.level-design.org ...

Quote from Ginger Lord

When I'm next out that way (early new year) I'll swing by and take a photo, the roof tiles are on at a 45 degree angle across the whole roof for no reason.

Ha, I've seen office buildings that look "wrong" like this -- too much tiling, poorly painted specular map for the windows, and needs a proper trim texture for the top, etc.

My favorite architecture book, in case you just want no-frills reference: The Grammar of Architecture

Beautiful engravings, lots of floor plans and close-up diagrams, cover practically every national style of ancient / medieval architecture and then some.

[Blocked Image: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51VC2…L500_AA240_.jpg]

http://%7boption%7d

Quote from seir

I ordered the "Hows and Whys of Level Desing" directly from Hourcences. I'll write a review on http://www.level-design.org ...

Gave a try on Level Design Concept, Theory and Practice by Rudolf Kremers (a dude who made Eufloria). I was positively impressed by the beginning of the book, I hope the next chapters will be as compelling and insightful as were the first pages.

Maybe later, now I'll concentrate on Hourences' book. Also I'm looking for some good landscape architecture book.