To prepare for the big GDC 2018 Level Design Workshop on Tuesday, March 20th, a handful of the speakers wanted to warm up by chatting (via email) about some of the finer points of level design.
How would you design an open space that draws the players attention to landmarks in the context of environmental storytelling?
Chris: When I want to draw player attention to a specific place on a map, I try to think not only about the environment art used to make that destination distinct, but also how environment art around the destination supports it and guides the player’s eye. If I want a player to go to a tall mountain, for example, I would frame it with shorter mountains or objects that get taller as the player’s eye navigates to the mountain I want them to notice. I’d also maybe use color to emphasize the mountain against the rest of the environment (sunset behind the mountain, fire coming out of it, light emanating from it, snow on top when others have none, etc.) Think of it as a relay race: each time the player’s gaze reaches an interesting object, their eyes will run to the next more interesting object until they hit the visual “finish line.”
Heather: Players are much more likely to notice motion in an environment than things that are still. This can be achieved in a number of ways, from pumping machinery above a door to a quiet stream of fireflies floating across a field. You can use continual motion, specifically that line of motion, to draw attention to more still things in the environment.
On level design strategies.
