New to level design and would love some advice

[Falconeyi]

Hi guys! I'm a newly graduated CS: Game design major who decided that he doesn't like programming. With that said, I've decided to give myself a few months to try to learn level design and create a good enough portfolio to apply for a low level level design job (hopefully this is a good idea...). Anyways, I've been working on a small dungeon mod for Fallout 4 before I discovered this amazing site. I can't help but wonder if I've been wasting my time as I mostly see CS:GO maps here. Should I keep working on creation kit, making my own levels/maps there, or should I try and switch to HAMMER and work on some L4D/CS:GO maps? The reason I chose creation kit was it already had assets that I could use, so I can focus on just level design itself. But I've noticed that I can't really greybox/whitebox on it as I can only put assets down (The idea of greybox/whitebox is to create a fast and dirty layout of the map with simple blocks right?).

I guess I should also add that I haven't tried to make any assets. I want to apply for low level level design jobs, so should I start learning that too? I can't draw at all. Wouldn't making assets be crossing over to ENV ART?

Also, is there any advice anyone could give me to help me accomplish my goal of creating a good presentable portfolio for a low level design job in a couple of months?

[Zimuus]

While there is a lot of CSGO here, there are professionals from all ranges that are also active here, especially on the discord channel (which I'd recommend joining for quick feedback and inspiration from others).

As a level designer you don't really make models that often, although it depends on what kind of level design parts you want to do (blocking or detailing for example). Usually the roles get split up, but the joy about doing it all yourself now is you will have a better understanding of how to make effective design choices that merge well between the stages.

The only issue I have with designing dungeons for Fallout4 is that its not easy to make a mod just showing off level design, it usually requires compelling quests (which involve good writing, interesting ideas, and voice acting) to go along with it so its a bigger job. That is unless you just want to make things look pretty, but an effective level designer can make their work both look pretty and play well. I guess if you are fine with just making the levels look good you would want to apply for the detailing roles in the industry, so its not like you're completely out of luck.

Hammer also has a wide variety of assets so don't be afraid to try it out, its just usually custom assets are what drive your map above and beyond other peoples work (although usually bigger projects like that will have multiple people working on them).

[Falconeyi]

10 hours ago, Zimuus said:

While there is a lot of CSGO here, there are professionals from all ranges that are also active here, especially on the discord channel (which I'd recommend joining for quick feedback and inspiration from others).

As a level designer you don't really make models that often, although it depends on what kind of level design parts you want to do (blocking or detailing for example). Usually the roles get split up, but the joy about doing it all yourself now is you will have a better understanding of how to make effective design choices that merge well between the stages.

The only issue I have with designing dungeons for Fallout4 is that its not easy to make a mod just showing off level design, it usually requires compelling quests (which involve good writing, interesting ideas, and voice acting) to go along with it so its a bigger job. That is unless you just want to make things look pretty, but an effective level designer can make their work both look pretty and play well. I guess if you are fine with just making the levels look good you would want to apply for the detailing roles in the industry, so its not like you're completely out of luck.

Hammer also has a wide variety of assets so don't be afraid to try it out, its just usually custom assets are what drive your map above and beyond other peoples work (although usually bigger projects like that will have multiple people working on them).

Thanks for replying! As you mentioned, I am having some trouble with quest writing at the moment for my mod. What games would you recommend if I wanted to focus on becoming a effective level designer? I do want to make a great map but I'm not sure about making custom assets...

[Zimuus]

CSGO is the easiest as it doesn't require any scripting, except for placing a few brushes and changing their properties to be bomb sites (which is super simple!). L4D2 requires more scripting (although its fairly basic in-engine stuff for the most part), so I'd recommend starting with CSGO.

Here is an amazing tutorial series by TopHATTwaffle which covers all the steps to making and uploading a complete CSGO map.

After each video I'd recommend just messing around with what was taught in that video and you'll learn it pretty fast!

[maxlevelboi]

Make what you want to make and it will be good, Hammer Creation Kit Unreal Engine whatever it is all just tools

[void_23]

On 10/22/2017 at 8:42 PM, Zimuus said:

CSGO is the easiest as it doesn't require any scripting, except for placing a few brushes and changing their properties to be bomb sites (which is super simple!). L4D2 requires more scripting (although its fairly basic in-engine stuff for the most part), so I'd recommend starting with CSGO.

Here is an amazing tutorial series by TopHATTwaffle which covers all the steps to making and uploading a complete CSGO map.

After each video I'd recommend just messing around with what was taught in that video and you'll learn it pretty fast!

thanks for the tutorial,was looking for something like this