Architectural Approach to Level Design: Second edition

Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Table of Contents
Foreword
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Introduction
1: A Brief History of Architecture and Level Design
	BREAKING THE RULES OF LEVEL DESIGN
	AN EXPERIENTIAL HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
		Elements of Architecture and Level Design
			Functional Requirements
			Usability
			Delight
		The Beginnings of Architectural Sight Lines
		Architecture as Representation in Ancient Mesopotamia
		Architecture as Statement in Ancient Egypt
		Spatial and Symbolic Relationships in Greek Architecture
		Indian, Southeast Asian, and Asian Representational Architecture
		Linear Experiences in Roman Architecture
		Medieval Christian and Islamic Symbolic Architecture
		The Renaissance Return to Human-Centered Architecture
		Ornamental Reformations and Material Revolutions
	THE HISTORY OF GAMESPACES
		Board Design for Early Games
		Physical Gamespaces and Architecture
		Digital Gamespaces
	WAYS OF SEEING FOR LEVEL DESIGN
	SUMMARY
	EXERCISES
	Endnotes
	INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVES
	Dr. Umran Ali
2: Drawing for Level Designers
	LEVEL DESIGN GOALS
		Adjusting Player Behavior
		Transmitting Meaning
		Augmentation of Space
	NON-DIGITAL LEVEL DESIGN TECHNIQUES
		Basic Drawing Techniques
			How to Draw a Line
			Contours and Line Weights
			Drawing with References
			Shading
			Hierarchical Drawing
		Types of Architectural Drawings
			Plan
			Section
			Elevation
			Axonometric
			Perspective
		Sketching and Journal Writing
		Designing on Paper
		Notation Methods for Level Design
			Proximity Diagrams
			Concept Diagrams
			Game-Mapping
			Flow Charts
			Mark Brown’s Boss Keys diagrams
	DIGITAL LEVEL DESIGN TOOLS
		CAD Programs
		Digital Art Programs
		Engine Primitives and Placeholder Art
		3D Modeling Programs
	SUMMARY
	EXERCISES
	ENDNOTES
	INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVES
	Robin-Yann Storm
3: Level Design Workflows
	FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION
		Form Follows Core Mechanics
		Level Progression with Scaffolding Mechanisms
	LEVEL DESIGN WORKFLOWS
		Level Design Parti
		“Scenes” and Readability
		Non-Digital Prototypes
		Digital Prototypes with Grayboxing
		Pacing Your Levels with the Nintendo Power Method
		Iterative Design with Playtesting
		Modular Level Design
	LEVEL DESIGN SCHEDULING
		The Toy Box
		Building from the Middle
		Building in Order
	SUMMARY
	EXERCISES
	ENDNOTES
4: Basic Gamespaces
	ARCHITECTURAL SPATIAL ARRANGEMENTS
		Figure–Ground
		Form–Void
		Arrivals
		Genius Loci
	HISTORIC GAMESPACE STRUCTURES
		Labyrinth
		Maze
		Rhizome
	SPATIAL SIZE TYPES
		Narrow Space
		Intimate Space
		Prospect Space
	MOLECULE LEVEL SPACES
		The Basics of Molecule Design
		Spatial Types as Molecule Nodes and Edges
	HUB SPACES
	SANDBOX GAMESPACES
		Pathfinding with Architectural Weenies
		Organizing the Sandbox: Kevin Lynch’s Image of the City
			Landmarks
			Paths
			Nodes
			Edges
			Districts
	WORKING WITH CAMERA VIEWS
		3D Views
			First Person
			Third Person
		2D Views
			Side-Scrolling Space
			Top-Down Space
		Axonometric/Isometric Views
	ENEMIES AS ALTERNATIVE ARCHITECTURE
	SUMMARY
	EXERCISES
	ENDNOTES
	INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVES
	Jerry Belich
5: Communicating through Environment Art
	TEACHING THEORIES FOR GAME LEVELS
		Behavior Theory and Operant Conditioning
		Montessori Method
		Constructivism
	SYMBOLS AND VISUAL DESIGN IN GAMES
		Implementing Symbols in Games
		Teaching with Symbols in Games
			Introducing Symbols
			Symbols as Guides
		Designing and Placing Symbols for Effective Communication
			Basic Color Theory
			Contrast
			Framing
			Rule of Thirds
	ARCHITECTURAL FORMS AND TYPES
	CONTROLLING INFORMATION IN MEMORY PALACES
		Certainty
		Uncertainty
		Risk
		Putting It All Together in a Memory palace
	SUMMARY
	EXERCISES
	ENDNOTES
	INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVES
6: Building Exciting Levels with Dangerous Architecture
	SURVIVAL INSTINCTS AND GAME COMPLEXITY
		Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
		“Bad Spaces”: Vulnerability as a Game Mechanic
			Vulnerability as a Game Structure
			Vulnerability in Individual Game Challenges
	PROSPECT AND REFUGE SPATIAL DESIGN
		Creating Paths with Refuges, Prospects, and Secondary Refuges
		Prospects and Refuges in Architecture
		Prospects and Refuges in Video Games
	SHADE, SHADOW, AND AMBIGUITY
		Shade
		Shadow
		Negative Space
	LOVING AND HATING HEIGHT
	SUMMARY
	EXERCISES
	ENDNOTES
	INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVES
	Camden Bayer
7: Rewards in Gamespaces
	THE PURPOSE OF REWARDS
		Incentivizing In-Game Behaviors
		Enticing Exploration
		Creating a Sense of Curiosity
	THE TYPES OF REWARDS IN GAMESPACES
		Reward Vaults
		Rewarding Vistas
		Meditative Space
		Narrative Stages
	MAKING REWARDS EXCITING THROUGH DENIAL
		Zen Views
		Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hanna House
		Religious Structures and Eastern Garden Design
		Layered Walls
		Oku
	GOALS AND REWARD SCHEDULES
		Long- and Short-Term Goals
		The Rod of Many Parts
		Reward Schedules
	SUMMARY
	EXERCISES
	ENDNOTES
8: Level 1–1: The Tutorial Level
	THE MANY FUNCTIONS OF FIRST LEVELS
		Architectural Arrivals
		Interactive Arrivals
	BUILDING BLOCKS FOR TUTORIAL DESIGN
		Spatial Building Blocks
			Scenes
			Portals and Thresholds
			Controlled Approaches
			Meeting Spaces
		Behavioral building blocks
			Rewards in Tutorials
			Access as a First Level Reward
		Montessori Building Blocks
		Constructivist Building Blocks
			Proximity of Checkpoints
	DETERMINING PLAYER NEEDS
	PLAYTESTING IN-GAME TEACHING
		A Literature Game for Those Who Have Not Read the Book
		Teaching Molecular Immunology in Only Four Levels
		Developing Concepts into Challenges in a Math Game
			Puzzles as Problems, Levels as Lessons
			Four-Step Tutorial Design
	TUTORIAL ASSETS AND MEDIA
		Effective Visual Elements
		Audio Elements
	TEACHING GAMEPLAY THROUGH ADVERTISING METHODS
		Demonstrative Advertising with Scripted Events and Triggers
		Illustrative Advertising through Environmental Narrative
		Associative Advertising as Deconstruction
	SUMMARY
	EXERCISES
	ENDNOTES
	INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVES
	Melanie Stegman, Ph.D.
9: Storytelling in Gamespaces
	EXPRESSIVE DESIGN
		Narrative Design and Worldbuilding
		Narrative Worldbuilding in Games
	MECHANICS VS. MOTIF
		Narrative as a Generator of Design
		Mechanics vs. Story Narrative
		Mechanics vs. Gameplay Narrative
	NARRATIVE SPACES
		Evocative Spaces
		Staging Spaces
		Embedded Spaces
		Resource-Providing Spaces
	ENVIRONMENT ART STORYTELLING
		Storytelling with Modular Assets
		Environment Art and Cinematography
	MATERIALITY AND THE HERO’S JOURNEY
	PACING AND NARRATIVE REWARDS
		The Dramatic Arc as a Pacing Tool
		Rewarding Exploration with Embedded Narrative
		Rewarding Exploration with Optional Narrative and Easter Eggs
	SUMMARY
	EXERCISES
	ENDNOTES
	INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVES
	Kelli Dunlap, PsyD
10: Possibility Spaces and Worldbuilding
	UNDERSTANDING IMMERSION AND PLAYER INDIVIDUALITY
		The Immersive Fallacy
		Player Personalities
	ARCHITECTURAL PHENOMENOLOGY AND PLAY
	EMERGENT SPACES
		Emergence
		Possibility Spaces
	MINIATURE GARDEN AESTHETIC
		Overviews
			Overviews in Historic Games
			Overviews in 3D
		Tours
		Possibility Space and Procedural Literacy
	JAPANESE GARDEN DESIGN AND WORLDBUILDING
		Points of View in Japanese Gardens
		Scenic Effects
		Sensory Effects
	OFFERING EXPERIENTIAL CHOICE
		Introducing Choice
		Intelligible Choice
		Shaping Choice, Risk, and Reward
		“Metroidvania”: Worlds of Rewards and Possibility
	DEGENERATIVE DESIGN
	SUMMARY
	EXERCISES
	ENDNOTES
11: Working with Procedurally Generated Levels
	HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE PCG
	PATTERN LANGUAGES
		Patterns in Game Design
		Working with Patterns in Level Design
	BLENDING HANDMADE DESIGN WITH PROCEDURAL GENERATION
		Scenes as Patterns
		Combining Handmade Design and PCG
		Night of the Living Handmade/PCG Case Studies
			PCG Alternative Architecture in Left 4 Dead
			Mixing Methodologies in Dead Man’s Trail
	SUMMARY
	EXERCISES
	ENDNOTES
	INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVES
12: Influencing Social Interaction with Level Design
	EMERGENCE AND SOCIAL INTERACTION
	LEARNING FROM URBAN EMERGENCE
		Modernism and Non-Emergent Cities
		Jane Jacobs and Mixed-Use Emergent Neighborhoods
		Integrating Urban Design into Multiplayer Gamespace
	THE IMPORTANCE OF SPAWN POINTS AND QUEST HUBS
		Shaping with Spawn Points
		Shaping Player Interaction with Quest Hubs
		Enticing Exploration with Side Quests
	HOUSES, HOMES, AND HOMETOWNS IN GAMES
	SUMMARY
	EXERCISES
	ENDNOTES
13: Sound, Music, and Rhythm in Level Design
	THE ROLE OF RHYTHM IN GAMES AND BUILDINGS
		Mood and Music
		Rhythm and Interactive Sound
		Rhythmic Entrainment in Games and Spaces
		Varying Structural Rhythms
	COMPLEMENTING LEVEL DESIGN WITH AMBIENT SOUND
		2D Sound
		3D Sound
	ENHANCING GAMEPLAY EXPERIENCES WITH SOUND DESIGN
		Sound as Gameplay Feedback
		Sound as Reward
		Sound as Narrative Indicators
	SUMMARY
	EXERCISES
	ENDNOTES
Conclusion
Index