Archive for June, 2010

The Internal Struggle

Saturday, June 19th, 2010

I had a realization today. I kill my own fun.

Now, wait, hear me out.

Recently I tried out Left for Dead 2 and I was totally gangbusters to start developing content for it. I played it for a few hours and then dove into the level editor and started hammering out buildings and figuring out entities and how everything works. This led to my wanting to make a survival map which has blossomed into my wanting to create a campaign which has led me to my inevitable destination – a partially built level and waning enthusiasm. I see how much work I have completed but I also see how much work lies ahead. Blech.

I realized that I’ve almost forgotten how to have fun with games. I’m so eager to jump into content creation now that I don’t just appreciate the game for what it is. I don’t have the patience for magic anymore; I NEED to see behind the curtain and I need to tame it.

So with that knowledge I’m now going to start getting back in touch with games and just playing them for the fun of it. I’m going to stop tearing off the hood and resist my inner temptations to know how everything works right off the bat.

The level designer in me wants to know what’s under the hood. The game player in me wants to put the top down and just drive. I think there’s room for a good balance here.

Tags: ,
Posted in Misc | No Comments »

L4D2 : The Horde Has Me

Sunday, June 13th, 2010

I’ve taken a real interest in Left for Dead 2 lately. Something about that game has utterly grabbed me and I think that it’s a few key points.

  1. Zombies.
  2. The look of the game. I really like the art direction and the cohesive look to everything.
  3. The Director. The idea of an AI system that spawns monsters automatically to challenge you is very appealing. It means I can focus on the level structure and flow and not have to worry about when to spawn specific monsters.
  4. Hammer. I really like the Hammer editor. For games like Half-Life and Left for Dead, it’s ideal.

So, I dove in and started making L4D2 levels and met with dismal failure. The scale was wrong. The areas didn’t connect well. Everything was just – wrong. So I decided that what I needed to do was to take a step back and do some research first.

This research consists of two primary things:

  • What do the various entities in Hammer do?
  • What does proper geometry feel like in L4D2?
  • How do you create geometry that is easily editable and maintainable in the context of this game?

That last point may sound funny but it’s really not. It’s the difference between your staircases meeting the next floor properly and your doors and windows feeling like they’re in good positions – or not.

I found this great post over on World of Level Design that allowed me to get a grasp on the specific dimensions that L4D wants to use.

I then saw this reference link posted for ‘art deco’ style architecture around the USA and it got me to thinking. A lot of those buildings look like they would work in a video game. So let’s do that!

My current project, before trying to create a real L4D2 level, is to just create geometry. By referencing those photos as inspiration, I’m going to create a series of buildings in Hammer that feel good in the game. Once I do a few of these I think I’ll will be on a solid footing to create an actual level.

So, here’s my first attempt. I saw this building and was immediately interested:

Working from those shapes I came up with this:

The signage is obviously just temporary as the building could be anything you wanted it to be. I just liked the way it turned out, even with the basic developer textures on it. The shapes are what is important here, not the visuals.

Now, which picture should I work from next…

Posted in Misc | 1 Comment »