Am I on the right track?

[onji]

Hey folks,

This is my first thread to start, and I'd like to say hi to everyone. I'd also like to say sorry, if this one's been asked a million times.

Presently I'm a teacher, in Japan, and I'm at a point in life where I have to think about making a career. Don't get me wrong I enjoy teaching, but it's not something I'm passionate about. I want to get into level design.

My question is if I'm on the right track.

My plan is to have 3 levels finished (environment + gameplay) by next April when my contract finishes. I've already finished one map (http://www.crydev.net/viewtopic.php?f=278&t=38650), and about 40% through the second one. I'm currently using CryEngine 2.

I'm planning on applying for any job in level design in Europe, US, or Australia (dual AU/Eu national, American wife).

If I don't get a job in this timeframe, which I assume is a real possibility, I'm going to keep working on my folio and keep applying as often as I can.

Is there anything else I should be doing that would help improve my prospects of getting a job?

Should I try and network more with the people from IGDA?

Should I learn a new tool like UDK?

I'm up for anything that helps me get toward my goal.

Onji

[Puddy]

Hey,

You've come to the right place; you'll probably get some good answers from the people here. I'm far, far from being one of the more experienced persons on this forum (in fact, I have not work with games professionally as of yet), but I'll write down a few things I reckon are good to keep in mind.

• 
  [*:284j38u2] Remember to present your work in a good way on your actual portfolio site later on. Don't hold your work back by having a poorly layed out folio. Get feedback from the Portfolio subforum.
  [*:284j38u2] Post all your finished works here. We've got a lot of Crytek and ex-Crytek folks who'll be able to deconstruct your map by snapping their fingers and they'll be able to give you good pointers on what to improve.
  [*:284j38u2] Definitely decide if you are going to be a level designer or a level artist and focus heavily on the areas relevant for that position (lighting, texturing/modelling etc vs scripting, encounter design, pacing etc).
  [*:284j38u2] When creating these maps, don't ever try to "churn them out" to fill out your folio. Always aim to drastically improve the quality of your next project by using the experience of the previous one so that employer's can see an improvement curve (which you can point out as well when applying; that you are always eager to, and can, improve). Also, be sure not to call maps finished too early. Make time for follow-up and iteration. A few tweaks here and there can drastically improve the quality of your map.
  [*:284j38u2]I don't think it's necessary to branch out and learn another tool straight way (it's not bad either). Given your timeframe, you'll generally not be able to produce as much, or as high-quality, content if you branch out. It's perhaps a good idea to stick to one engine for now and make the best damn maps possible.

[FrieChamp]

This thread in 'gaming discussion' contains lots of valuable insight that might be helpful to you: viewtopic.php?f=23&t=14350

[onji]

@Puddy

Thanks for the feedback. From time to time I've been looking at other peoples folios, pro and non pro, to get an idea of the competition. Once I've finished this current level I'll put my folio up. I'm leaning toward Carbonmade because it's free, and there's pretty much no advertising.

Yep, as soon as I've finished I'll upload to Mapcore and Crydev.net, maybe mapfactory and moddb too. I'm considering uploading when I get to the beta stage if there's some folks that'd like to playtest...... or possibly even alpha if people are up for it.

Is that really true that I should focus on environments or scripting? I thought level designers did both jobs. Or is it more to do with junior positions being given environment or scripting?

I'm definitely not trying to churn out levels. I would not feel comfortable putting my name on something in my folio if I wasn't totally confident in it. Luckily in my job I've got about 2 hours free everyday, so I can do my documentation, preproduction, and paper sketches in the office I'm actually really looking forward to releasing this level to Mapcore when it's ready to get feedback on what works, what doesn't work, and how to improve it.

That's basically what I was thinking with regards to learning a new tool, so I probably won't bother with UDK. I have been considering switching to CE3, however, I like the look of the new irradiance volumes and shaders.

@FrieChamp

Thanks for that man. I'm reading that thread now