Game Level Design (Game Development Series) (Paperback)

by Ed Byrne (Author) "One of the hardest things about being a level designer is trying to explain to people what you do..." (more)
Key Phrases: building your level, lead level designer, builder brush, Game Level Design, Splinter Cell, Ubisoft Entertainment (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
"....it’s nice to see a level design book that treats design as more than just theory...this book really gets down to how to do things right." —Christian Bradley Game Art and Design, Art Institute of San Diego

As a level designer in the game industry you can determine exactly what the player sees, hears, and feels in the game. The reward of seeing your game on a store shelf or hearing people talk about one of your levels is an incredibly fulfilling experience. If this is a path you want to take, Game Level Design will show you the way.This book is about the fundamentals of level design: it teaches you common procedures for designing, drafting, and creating interactive environments for games. It explains what level design is, where it came from, and, most important, how to plan, design, and construct levels professionally for modern-day computer and video games.

Throughout the book, practical explanations and demonstrations use the basic, advanced, and real-world techniques needed to create game levels for hit titles. It also uses historical examples, interviews with outstanding level designers, and a focus on professional level design, to teach game developers of all levels, from amateur "mod" mappers to seasoned multi-title veterans, how to implement these techniques into your own projects.

Although the content in the book uses many examples from popular genres, such as first-person shooters (FPS), action adventures, and real-time strategy (RTS) games, the approach is designed to teach level design as a genre- and platform-independent craft. All games need to take place in environments, and by extension, the rules of level design apply to all games to some degree, so with the skills and techniques you learn here, you’ll be ready for any level challenge.

Highlights: * Teaches the level design process, approaches, and team issues * Includes first-hand experiences and interviews with level designers * Provides an invaluable resource for level design beginners * Deals with some advanced and theoretical methodologies in level design * Uses popular tools throughout the examples with an emphasis on UnrealEd * Covers many genres and platforms and provides actual documentation from published titles, including a case study of the CIA Level from Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell * Includes a CD-ROM with the level files from the book, the Unreal 2 Runtime Demo, and Photoshop CS trial version

On the CD! * Photoshop® CS trial version * Unreal 2 Runtime –Demo Free demo of the acclaimed Unreal Engine and level editor used to create diverse titles such as Unreal Tournament 2003, Splinter Cell, Thief 3, Republic Commandos, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and Lineage 2 * Terragen™ - Free version of the classic shareware program that generates realistic looking skies and landscapes for use in game levels * OpenOffice.org – The free and fully featured open-source office suite with everything a level designer needs for documentation and design communication * All images, textures, and environments used to create the illustrations in the book, along with sample documents

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS To view the figures included on the CDROM you must have the following system requirements: Microsoft® Windows® 2000 with Service Pack 3 or Windows XP®, Intel® (III or better) or AMD processor at 300MHz, 192MB RAM, Graphics card and monitor supporting 1024x768 viewing resolution at 16-bit color minimum Windows-compliant pointing device, CD-ROM drive, Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher.

From the Author
Ed Byrne (Kirkland, WA) is currently lead designer at Zipper Interactive in Redmond, WA. He has also worked as a level designer for Amaze Entertainment and for prominent games such as Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and Ubisoft’s Splinter Cell.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Charles River Media; 1 edition (December 21, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584503696
• ISBN-13: 978-1584503699
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #88,553 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #82 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Programming > Game Programming

• This item is part of The Charles River Media Game Development Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fair book for beginner to intermediate level design, February 15, 2008

By	Level Designer Jojo (Irvine, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This book offers a solid foundation for the planning stages and a good overview of the implementation stages of level design. Good for those who are looking for general strategies for level creation and wanting to get up to speed on terminology/workflow for this type of work. It's all fairly theoretical with only one chapter on actual nuts and bolts level design, where you make a single room in the Unreal editor. If you're wanting something covering more specifics for a given level editor (like 'how do you create water?' or 'how do you make displacements') you should probably look for something more in a technical bible or a video tutorial series for the tool in question.