Posts by selmitto

  • Al Anselmo - Game Designer and Level Designer

    Quote from seir

    Very nice! Here are some thoughts:[image omitted in this quote, but can be seen above]

    Actually you could leave only "Home / Portfolio / Articles / Contact / Resume" menu. That would be clean and nice. Less is more

    @Seir

    First of all, thank you for the attention and I'm glad you enjoyed it! I think your suggestions are really valid and I'll take them in consideration. I have some questions about them, if you don't mind:

    -> Title

    • I don't usually see "game industry portfolio" in the title of the portfolios around. Is it really necessary?

    • I saw that in the suggestion the "Game and Level designer" was removed. Wouldn't it prevent the visitors to know what my job positions are?

    ---

    -> About the scheme for the header image:

    [Blocked Image: http://i.imgur.com/VsjM7.jpg]

    [Blocked Image: http://i.imgur.com/3aJBC.jpg]

    • Color: do you think that using only white and bold in the text is better than using blue to contrast the information?

    • Additional: I was thinking to keep the "(Personal project)" statement in the info to enrich the project. What do you think? (I changed the "sole" project for "personal" project).

    • Logo: do you mean the game's logo that a project is related? For example, adding the Portal 2 logo (as seen above)? I believe this would certainly increase the attention given to a project, as the logo should be directly recognized.

    • Engine: in those two Portal 2 levels I designed, I didn't use Hammer. However, in the end, the levels are running in the Source Engine. Do you think that nevertheless I can keep the "(Source Engine)" in the info?

    ---

    -> The cleaner menu:

    • I am thinking about the "Home" and "Portfolio". As in the current format the Home displays the header images, wouldn't these menus take the visitor to the same place?

    • I saw that you (apparently) suggested the removal of the menus "Design Docs" and "Extra Skills". Don't you think they are worthy to be kept?

    Thanks again

  • Al Anselmo - Game Designer and Level Designer

    Hey guys!

    I just updated my portfolio!

    There are two new projects: Competurn and Indirect Ctrl, the levels I designed for the Portal 2 challenge we made here.

    In each project (the top and bottom at home page) I included articles where I describe my design decisions behind each level, gameplay videos (;D) and screenshots.

    Do you remember that level flow I was mentioning about one of my levels? I created a presentation and embedded in the article "Behind the Level: Competurn".

    [Currently available for work and able to relocate]

    [Blocked Image: http://i.imgur.com/wcnYD.png]

    Please let me know what you guys think! If you have any feedback, feel free to share your thoughts.

  • WIP in WIP, post your level screenshots!

    Quote from Mclogenog

    @Al Anselmo I'd avoid dutch tilt in the future. I think it's one reason behind the feeling of over-complexity. Another reason would be the number of moving parts in each image. One shot has five cubes in it, which is a lot more than in most portal maps.

    Thank you, Mclogenog! I'll be more aware of it all.

    I didn't know what dutch tilt was. Lesson learned

    There are five cubes visible in the shot, but the player has only to be aware of a few of them. This will be clearer in the gameplay video that I recorded and will publish soon

  • WIP in WIP, post your level screenshots!

    Quote from Rick_D

    I can't see why choosing something for the first impact of an image of a project can be irrelevant. Why would it be? I'd love to understand more.

    because it's just kinda pointless unless it's a really bad screenshot. if someone is visiting your site as a potential employer then they're going to open all your projects, as long as the work is good (put your best stuff first etc).

    in fact it's better to have very identifiable thumbnails and avoid abstract images that only show tiny parts or don't give a good diea of what the person is clickign onm, it's not about intrigue ie: a mystery, it's about relevant information.

    Oh! Thank you for sharing your thoughts, that makes a lot of sense, very constructive ;]

    Therefore, I chose an image and will update the portfolio in the next days.

  • WIP in WIP, post your level screenshots!

    Quote from Rick_D

    so irrelevant

    I can't see why choosing something for the first impact of an image of a project can be irrelevant. Why would it be? I'd love to understand more.

    Quote from Puddy

    All those screenshots makes the map look extremely over-complicated and bloated.

    Hmm so the images might be transmitting the wrong message.

    But "All those images", without exception? Even the first and last one (for example)?

    Btw, the first one shows a section of the level during the level start. The other ones show the level after it has been solved/ during its solution.

  • WIP in WIP, post your level screenshots!

    Thanks for the positive feedbacks!

    It seems that the 3rd one made it!

    It doesn't show so much of the level as the other options, but I think that would be enough to grab the visitor's attention and make him click and open the project, where there will be more screenshots of the level itself, a gameplay video and a link for an in-depth article. I slightly moved up the text to get farther from the orange goo. I think that is a valid thing to include in the screenshot to show one of the puzzle elements.

    [Blocked Image: http://anselmo.gd/img/index/alAnselmo_competurn_home.jpg]

    Now, the other round of "what's the image that give you orgasms?"! This (LAST) study of the most appealing/ interesting header image is of my other level. I'm about to choose the last one, but I think the others are great too. What do you guys think?

    [Blocked Image: http://i.imgur.com/9PTlU.jpg]

    Thanks in advance!

  • Aaron Garcha - Level Designer

    Quote from Psy

    So I'm looking for work now and need some advice on what changes could be made to my portfolio to make it more appealing.I'm been thinking of writing in-depth articles about the thought process and development of each project. I know that most people will skip them but maybe it's worth adding just to show my development process? I've almost finished a lengthy piece about Nightfall that includes the original sketches, screenshots from early alphas, and plenty of info about how I shaped the level around player feedback and my own observations.

    I've already had advice from Valve where they suggested that I work on collaborative projects in other genres, as well as keeping diaries of each project which allow me to keep track of how things have developed.

    Now I want some Mapcorian feedback. :derp:

    I always like to read in-depth articles like the ones you mentioned. I think they add a lot of value to a portfolio and help the visitors to see/ verify what was the designer's approach behind the final product. If you do that, you'd have already at least one reader

    I wrote two articles of "Behind the (levels)" to add to my oncoming portfolio update for the same reasons as yours. I invested more time than I expected to write them, but I think in the end the effort will be worth.