Seeking Games Industry Interviewee

While I realize there might be better candidates, I also like things straight to the point. Hit me.

• What is your current position or job title?

A) Look left.

• How long have you been a professional level designer?

B) ~2 years.

• Where did you grow up, and did you have to move locations a lot for career opportunities?

C) Denmark. I honestly didn't think that my possibilities were great. I think people in e.g. the US have much greater possibilities of getting into the industry because there are a lot more studios over there, and it's much more common to travel between states. In Europe, it seems more rare that people want to move between countries. Still, had I not gotten my current job I would have gone to another country without question. Some would consider it be to lucky, but I honestly don't see relocation as a bad thing.

• How did you get interested in level design and what got you started?

D) Very early on when I was a kid I was always inspired by mazes and labyrinths and the mental puzzle in trying to find the exit. Later when I discovered computer games I instantly gained a fascination with the environments and level through which the players went through... and it just stuck. I recently found my first level that I did on paper ever, and the amount of stuff I managed to cram in back then was impressive... I must have been ~7-8 years old.

• What engines, editors, or tools did you start learning and find most useful for getting into the games industry?

E) I started out with Red Alert/JETPACK! editors, and I used the latter a LOT since it opted for a simplistic and intuitive interface while still being powerful. Later on, with the advent of Half-Life, I migrated to Goldsource and used Hammer. I still think Hammer is beautiful in how easy it is to use, although its power compared to other editors (e.g. Unreal/UDK) has waned considerably. If I had to start over today, I'd choose UDK, hands down.

While it is IMO not as easy to use as Hammer ever was, once you learn it, it has a lot of powerful features that you can make use of. I always hated modelling software for general use (be it env art or level design or whatever else), because their interfaces are so horrible and complex that it just doesn't make sense to use them. I've had countless times trying to do stuff in Max resulting in rage because Max has a complexity reaching an almost infinite level, especially as a beginner.

• What is your typical day on the job like?

F) I can't really talk about it. But suffice to say that there is a lot of drawing layouts and thinking about the player experience.

• When working for different projects or companies as a level designer, do you find yourself doing the same kind of work, or are there many differences?

G) There's always going to be repetition in your work, regardless of what you work as. But I think especially as a level designer, you can levy a lot of the repetition because you have a possibility to think about different player experiences. As for how it is at different companies or projects: It depends on the scope of the project. For companies, I think everyone is pretty much in agreement about what a level designer is. While there might be cases where a company requires you to have a wider profile, the base work stays the same.

(For the record, wide profiles mean you take on work that is tangential to your current position, e.g. character artists taking on environment art, or level designers taking on game design, or programmers doing technical art etc. These profiles are not set in stone, and different companies may require different things from you.)

• What is your favorite aspect of being a level designer and what keeps you motivated?

H) Most of my motivation is internal, so whenever I make something I'd like to play through, I get motivated to get it done to try it out. I don't really have a favorite aspect of level design, but that's because I think the work you do as a level designer is well balanced, meaning you never get bored because you have to switch between the different things you do. Come to think of it, it's a pretty interesting process in that while doing level design, your work is paced almost the same way as any decent game.

• In level design, is there anything that you do not enjoy doing or something that you dread having to do?

I) Not really anything I dread, but stuff like late geometric changes in the development cycle are a pain most times. Thankfully most work processes eliminate this entirely, though you're not always lucky.

• What do you know now, that would have been beneficial knowing before you got into the games industry?

J) I'm going to be cocky and say "nothing". I already knew before what was necessary, and it's really just hard work. I did some things that in my earlier days I thought wouldn't help me (I got a degree in Software Development/CS), but have actually helped me a LOT in regards to my work as well as getting a general project overview and communication with more technical people. But the general gist of getting into the industry is do good work, talk and network with the right people (don't act like a sycophant/brown noser) and explore avenues of extra skills that are relevant to what you want to do.

• Are there any stereotypes, misunderstandings, or misconceptions that you have found about level design or the games industry now that you are a part of it?

K) None really. It's easy to become well informed about the discipline if you read up on it. At the most, the concept of wide profiles is really hard to gauge from the outside.

• For the future, are there any concepts or projects that you would be excited to work on, or to see progress inside the industry?

L) Yes, many... I love stealth, so any kind of game that permits stealth, any game that has RPG elements, and any game that offers a large (game) mechanical depth. I have a few things I want to realize as well, but I'll cross those bridges when I get to them.