Theoretical work in your Portfolio

I started doing the analysis of random levels from games and abandonned it after a couple because the result didn't seem like it would benefit anyone but me, and writing it with pics and all that made sense proved way longer than analysing it

If those are well done, and you've done a few different ones, I think it could be a small plus on a portfolio, although obviously actual levels is going to be much more important. Basically, if I was hesitating between 2 designers and one had well-thought-out level analysis as well, it might make a difference, but that's it.

I don't really know about the game concept doc, those files are usually walls of text and hardly convey the actual vision of the game, so I would be tempted to overlook it in your portfolio and get to something that I can appreciate in a minute.

My advice is: do your level analysis, and if it helps put your thoughts straight, why not, write something down. But the actual benefit you'll get from it is not by putting it on your portfolio, but by being able to respond to interview questions much more in depth, thanks to the knowledge gained by looking closer at those levels/games. That's how you can usually tell at an interview the difference between someone that manages to do decent levels by trial and error but doesn't really know what or why he's doing, and someone who actually understands the mechanics at play and that you're confident knows the ins and outs of his craft well.

Yeah would pretty much agree with clem on that. Analysis/Design doc experience will help you answer questions in an interview but I don't see much benefit in an actual portfolio.

In a portfolio maybe not, but on the side on a personal blog it could be interesting. But this kind of work is very personal I think.

Yeah, could also crate a devblog section on your website. I did with that intention, although I never got around to post anything worthwhile, lol.

I did something very similar after designing two maps for that one Mapcore challenge with the Portal 2 Puzzle Creator. I have to tell you that both "Behind the Scenes" articles (here and here) took me a lot more of time than I had planned.

Although I really enjoyed doing that exercise to sharp my analytical skills, after writing them, including screenshots to ease the writing process and make the articles more interesting, and also creating a presentation of the level's layout + flow (maybe that's why it took so long!), I don't plan to do that again for every project because I believe my time could be better spent with practical work.

I posted the articles in my devBlog, linked each one in the corresponding project's page in the portfolio and in the Articles page as well.

Whilst we are on the subject, what sort of questions would you expect the author to be asking and answering in such an analysis? What key subjects and area's should someone wanting to complete an analysis focus on?

Many interviews will ask you to speak about a game you have played and talk about the good and bad, often requiring you to go into detail. There may also be theoretical challenges to expand or limit game mechanics, so it definitely helps to be familiar with that (or to only bring up games you feel confident dissecting ).

Ultimately I think actual content will speak much louder than any sort of game analysis document to show you know your stuff. That said, studios often have a few people that will share their experiences with games or film or whatever and are able to pick out great bits of information that can prove to be pretty useful. It might be useful to try an exercise like this but I don't think I would have it as a primary feature on a portfolio.

Yea if you had like a blog type thing at the top of your website I think that would be awesome. But Im sure someone already said this.

If I were to hire a level or game designer I would definitely be interested in reading theoretical work. When evaluating a the competences of a level designer the very most optimal is naturally to play a level designed by him. As this is not particularly practical, at least not for rough scanning, we stick to indirect measures of how well this guy can design levels. Typically this includes screenshots, videos or short descriptions of the levels created by him. As a recruiter is already dealing with indirect measures of level design quality I would not see any issues with evaluating other indirect work such as a theoretical analysis.

Also, as a lecturer I have evaluated a bunch of level designs with accompanying theoretical work and I have found there to be a pretty good correlation between quality of the level design and quality of the theoretical analysis.

I put my GDC presentation on my portfolio, so in some way that is also theoretical work

suggestion: submit / pitch these theory pieces to Kotaku or Destructoid or The Escapist or RPS or your favorite games blog thing that'll pay you

- players like learning about craft

- you want to write something that's "generally interesting" / readable by anyone anyway

- if the writing is good, then these sites are likely to publish it

- if you have industry affiliation or credentials, then they're even more likely to publish (assuming that's okay with your employer)

- you'll get some money for your trouble -- I mean, very little, but congrats, you're officially a published freelance writer

- great thing to put on your portfolio, to be affiliated with one of these sites, it means "you matter"?

for example:

- Hamish Todd analyzing barnacle placement for Destructoid http://www.destructoid.com/untold-riches-…es-233589.phtml

Quote from Campaignjunkie

suggestion: submit / pitch these theory pieces to Kotaku or Destructoid or The Escapist or RPS or your favorite games blog thing that'll pay you

- players like learning about craft

- you want to write something that's "generally interesting" / readable by anyone anyway

- if the writing is good, then these sites are likely to publish it

- if you have industry affiliation or credentials, then they're even more likely to publish (assuming that's okay with your employer)

- you'll get some money for your trouble -- I mean, very little, but congrats, you're officially a published freelance writer

- great thing to put on your portfolio, to be affiliated with one of these sites, it means "you matter"?

for example:

- Hamish Todd analyzing barnacle placement for Destructoid http://www.destructoid.com/untold-riches-…es-233589.phtml

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I never thought about that. Cool!

Let me take this opportunity and ask this: do you think I should do something similar and submit those two articles I wrote (and linked above) to a game news blog?

And btw, great linked article.

If you are applying to a job then anybody will ever just look at screenshots for 10 seconds until jumping to the next applicant, nobody will appreciate the millions of hours you took to analyze and break down Nintendo Classic Game #23, what do we call ourselves? Gangster Squad! You can't kill me, you are a cop! Not anymore.

theoretically this is a great idea, practically not so much but do it if it makes you happy.

yes, agreed, that's why I'd try to get your theory articles published somewhere -- if it's some random article on your blog, who cares -- but if this is on a big website that someone respects or visits a lot, they're a lot more likely to read it and think highly of it...

"oh, it was featured in game developer magazine // oh, it was a GDC presentation // maybe this is worth reading"

Quote from Al Anselmo

Let me take this opportunity and ask this: do you think I should do something similar and submit those two articles I wrote (and linked above) to a game news blog?

You'd have to re-write them. Mainly because those articles (I flipped through them) are solely about your level, and I haven't played your level, so I don't care about reading them?

Go back to your essay writing lessons in school. You need to have a main argument that you develop and support. What's interesting about your work or design thinking?

I think one possible format for this kind of article would be:

1) State general design idea / design structure that you'll talk about

2) Talk about 2-3 examples of that idea in other games, where that idea came from, pros / cons, BE SPECIFIC

3) Talk about your own implementation, explain it, compare to examples, assess, BE SPECIFIC

4) How do you know it worked / connect to general idea, BE SPECIFIC

5) Now, add further insight onto your original general idea and suggest future directions

example:

1) "There are many games that use level design to induce fear in the player. What is the architecture of fear?"

2) "Amnesia uses rooms with narrow hallways and dim, floor-height lighting in its second chapter... Half-Life 2 uses a stairwell that makes you turn right 4 times, then puts a headcrab at the top, designed to scare you when you turn left..." etc.

3) "In my map Gangster House, I combined narrow hallways with repetition of turns. In this room pictured below, I..."

4) "I think it worked because players often lost 5-10 health and ran into the barnacle. But is this fear, or is this surprise?"

5) "Maybe the architecture of fear is more about breaking a functional pattern unexpectedly, rather than just making something "look" scary according to what's traditionally scary in our culture norms? Or maybe there's another type of scariness possible in level design, one that's foreshadowed and unsurprising?"

one test of your writing: would my father / mother / bf / gf / friend, whoever has little interest or experience in games, be able to understand roughly the general idea I'm trying to get across?

That's very insightful and I agree with it all.

If I happen to write more articles I will keep everything you said in mind!

Thanks