Tom Hanrahan is
currently a Level Designer at Monolith Productions. Before working at Monolith,
he worked at Timegate Studios on the games F.E.A.R Extraction Point, Perseus
Mandate, and Files. This guy has been designing levels since he was 14 years
old since he had a lot of free time (even though he was getting a C in his
geometry class). When you start designing and making levels, you first have to
start in doing stuff for fun and making all types of things when you have free
time.
He basically starts by designing
small test rooms or areas in order to get ideas started. It basically helps him
design an architectural and lighting theme for the level. Once he has his theme
done, he will come up with a layout for the entire level.
If the them is already in place and
the concept artist has already dictated what he should be designing, then he
usually start by drawing a complete layout for the level and then make sure
that what he creates matches the scale and style of the concept.
There is also the fact of finding
inspiration and all types of references everywhere for architecture. The best
thing to do as a level designer is to go to places and travel according to him.
It is necessary to visit certain places to get a good sense of how you want
your levels to shine and what type of aura will be good for the game play.
The most common mistake he finds in
a level design is the lack of detail. He knows that getting the main shape of
the level is important, but playing in a level with no interesting qualities or
little qualities is bad for a player’s experience. Even if a section of a level
won’t take long for a player to explore and pass through because the part of
the game is fast play, a player will capture the undetailed parts of the rooms
and will hence see the game experience as intense as it should be.
Something to always keep in mind is
how you always have to make sure the level you are creating is made for fun
game play. That being said, he believes that architecture has two main roles
within a game level which is creating a sense of place, mood, and purpose. Then
you will have to facilitate the sense of a purpose and what the player needs to
do in the level interaction. Consistent architecture will unify the entire
level with ease and will make the level shine much more than having a bunch of
different mixed styles in the architecture.
