Great Level Design is a Studio-Wide Effort

Speaker: Dana Nightingale

Background

• Born in the US, started gaming on an Atari 800.
• Fell in love with System Shock and Thief in the '90s.
• Contributed to immersive sim fan sites.
• Master's degree in architecture (2008).
• Joined Arkane in 2010 as a level designer (worked on Dishonored, Dishonored 2, Death of the Outsider, Wolfenstein Youngblood, Deathloop).
• Campaign designer for Deathloop (2020).

Experience

• Modder: Thief 2, Skyrim.
• Level Designer: Dishonored, Dishonored 2, Death of the Outsider, Wolfenstein Youngblood, Deathloop.
• Campaign Designer: Deathloop.

Talk Goals

• For anyone who loves great level design or is on teams making games with levels.
• Discuss role of different disciplines in making great levels.
• Explain how Arkane Lyon creates levels.
• Focus on the studio-wide effort and the importance of each team’s contributions.

Definition of a Level

• Segment of the game world, moment in player’s journey.
• At Arkane, it involves defining layout, crafting encounters, and scripted logic.
• Levels should resonate with the game's narrative and systems, creating memorable experiences.

Part 1: Team and Processes

Challenge 1: Evolving Level Design Team

• Consistent work despite team changes due to defined studio culture.
• Studio values important for recruitment and maintaining quality.
• Values spread across the entire studio, not just the LD team.

Challenge 2: Leadership Bottlenecks

• Validation bottlenecks slow progress.
• Solution: Team leadership structure involving multiple leads allowing for faster validation and a variety of ideas.
• Leaders include: Lead Level Designer, Campaign Designer, Lead Technical Level Designer.

Challenge 3: Masters of None

• Diversifying LD specializations (map owners vs. specialists).
• Specialists ease burdens on map owners (narrative scripter, campaign designer, level systems designer, tech LDs, etc.).

Challenge 4: Overwhelming Dependencies

• Level design intertwined with other disciplines (tools, systems, narrative, art, optimization).
• Critical partnerships (pre-LD: tech director, engine developers; during LD: level artists, system designers, narrative designers).
• Discuss ideas and keep the teams synchronized to avoid blocking other teams.

Part 2: Processes

Challenge 5: Determinism in Design

• Metrics and constraints essential but need flexibility.
• Metrics creation involves multiple disciplines from systems design to level art.
• Flexibility in metrics to avoid rigid, predictable designs.
• Metrics should allow for iterations and be flexible enough to suit gameplay needs.

Challenge 6: Pivots Happen

-Pivots driven by user research, but each team operates at different paces.

• Iteration together reduces wasted work and time.
• Crucial to de-silo and empower teams to iterate as one by sharing feedback.

Challenge 7: Markup and Sunk Cost

• Markup (manual implementation) is taxing and time-consuming.
• Prioritize ergonomic tools and create procedural features to reduce manual markup requirements.
• Maintain creative flexibility and protect the mental health and productivity of the team.

Challenge 8: Documentation

• Treat documentation as integral part of development.
• Regularly maintained, reviewed, and aligned with the production schedule.
• Essential for communication, accurate bug reporting, and leveraging team knowledge.

Summary

• Consistent studio culture maintains quality despite team changes.
• Empower leadership to foster creative ideas.
• Specialists in the LD team alleviate pressures on map owners.
• Flexibility in metrics and process adaptations are crucial for dynamic game development.
• Documentation and early collaboration ensure smooth iteration and avoid bottlenecks.

Final Thoughts

• Great level design is about collaboration across the whole studio.
• Continuous effort to improve processes and maintain strong communication within and between teams.

Thank you for attending!