[game_edu] Teaching Level Design

[Nic Colley]

Do any of you use a similar approach?
No I do not. Your approach is interesting but I do not follow anything close to it.
 
Do any of you teach level design using a single editor for an entire course?
Yes. I use unreal ed. 
 
What are your favorite editors for teaching level design? 
Unreal Ed. Not to say that never winter nights editor or others are good, Unreal Ed has one of most supported communities as well as the ability for a student to see a level built and placed right onto the ps3. Their eyes light up once they reach do that.
 
I run two level design courses, intro and advanced. The introduction class, I have the students learn how to build geometry, terrain, place lights, AI paths, and how to import from 3ds max or Maya into unreal ed. As they are learning this, I start the class by designing a game as a group effort. A GDD is filled out and once the 4th week hits, we start sketching the levels. After the 5th week, most of the students are now able to build a basic level in unreal, minus AI and a few other topics. I assign levels too each student, if it is a sizable level then two students will tackle it together. The emphasis on this approach is a team approach, consistent theme, and play testing. The midterm is push a few weeks back from the normal ones as most students are about half way into developing. Around the 8th week, the students turn in the levels. We playtest them as a whole and see how they flow, how enemies could have been placed for better challenge, and to see if they captured that 30 seconds of fun.  After the results are given, I cut them loose on their next levels. These levels are their finals for the class. 50% of the grade is on completion of the project with the other 50% on attendance and class work. 
 
The second semester, I have students go over cut scenes, as far as where to place them given the story, how to make them, particles effects, kismet, materials, advanced lights, puzzles and other topics that add to the levels initially designed. <brag> I am able to really cut loose with the students when it comes to light placement, staging of characters, and so on as I am the lighting and technical director for my church.</brag>
 
I stress to them during both semesters to pay attention to resource management as the ps3 can only handle so much. They playtest the levels throughout both semesters to ensure that there is no lag on the levels and that they stream properly.
 
I do not have my students buy any books for either class, until the buzz guys finally release their books (I think they are on their 3rd push back on the release date), even then maybe not. For me, there is not a book good enough for my students to buy. A lot of books hit and miss on a lot of theory, but when together they are awesome. So instead of them buying tons of books, I find what I need and teach off of that. 
 
To change between editors throughout the semester is good but for me they are not able to fully dive into the tools and experiment with level design. Jumping from editor to editor seems to hectic for me. If they learn the theory then the level's can be developed for any type or genre of game. 
 
I always welcome critiques.
 
Thanks,
Nic Colley
________________________________

Faculty, Simulation & Game Development Program
Nic.Colley at cpcc.edu
704-330-6348
 

________________________________

From: David Wessman [mailto:wessmaniac at gmail.com]
Sent: Sun 22-Feb-09 2:40 PM
To: IGDA Game Education Listserv
Subject: [game_edu] Teaching Level Design


Hello all,
For those of you teaching level design courses, I'd like to share information and see if there's much agreement on methods and course materials. I've taught with and without a textbook, though I prefer using a well-organized textbook. I usually start with paper exercises, and then move on to increasingly sophisticated editors.
 
The most recent book I've used is Beginning Game Level Design by John Feil and Marc Scattergood (2005). It's an adequate text that comes with Sandbox (the level editor for Far Cry.) The lessons are therefore slanted toward FPS games, despite its attempt to be somewhat editor and genre agnostic. Unfortunately, it's feeling out of date now, and I haven't found a good replacement yet. I'd be grateful for any suggestions.
 
The last level design class I taught required students to learn three different editors and create a basic level in each. I allowed students to choose the editors they wanted to learn, since they were going to be teaching themselves the hands on use of the tools. I only stipulated that one of the editors had to be for FPS games (most students chose UE3 or Sandbox 2), one had to be for an RTS or RPG (most students chose Warcraft III for the RTS, and either Neverwinter Nights 1 or 2 or TES: Oblivion for the RPG), and the third could be anything they wished (many chose the opposite of what they chose for the 2nd, and several chose Trackmania or Little Big Planet.)
 
I guided them through the theory and practice, but they had to figure out the tools on their own. Part of this involved finding whatever help they could from community and publisher websites, and sharing that with their classmates. This led to the creation of a school Wiki page devoted to design tools in the hopes of creating an institutional body of knowledge that will help ease the learning curve on future students. One of the things the class struggled with was the paucity of beginner-level tutorials. There's a fair amount of friendly advice and tutorials out there on how to do many of the trickier things, but hardly any handholding for the students who've never touched a game editor before.
 
The best part of the class was the student presentations of their levels and their reports on the strengths and weaknesses of the various tools. This afforded the class an opportunity to compare and contrast the tools in terms of features and functionality, but more importantly in terms of ease of use and reliability. Perhaps the most valuable lessons they learned are the importance of good work habits and good tools.
 
So, here are a few questions for you:
Do any of you use a similar approach?
Do any of you teach level design using a single editor for an entire course?
What are your favorite editors for teaching level design? 
 
Thanks for reading,
David Wessman
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