FUNDAMENTALS OF GAME DESIGN, SECOND EDITION
Expanding on the Principles of Level Design
This section looks at a few particularly important issues in the list of universal design principles: atmosphere, pacing, and tutorial levels.
The art director and lead game designer decide on the overall look of a game; the artists build the models; and the audio engineers create the sound effects. But it's up to the level designer to assemble all this material into a specific level in such a way that it's aesthetically coherent and creates the appropriate mood. A level designer does what in movies would be four or five jobs—set designer, lighting designer, special effects designer, Foley editor, and even cinematographer—because a level designer must look at the game world the way the player sees it, through the lens of the game's virtual camera.
As you work to establish the atmosphere of your game, you will use all of the following tools:
■ Lighting. The placement and orientation of the lights in a level can create a sunny day, a moonlit night, or a dark alley. Soft morning light filtering in through a window creates a sense of warmth and well-being, whereas the odd glowing colored lights of a machine room evoke a sense of danger. The yellow of a sodium vapor street lamp or the harsh fluorescent lights of an office and any other lighting you choose must work with other aesthetic choices you make to set the mood of a level. What you choose not to light is just as important as what you choose to light.
■ Color palette. Just as the color palette of the avatar's clothes reflects her character, the color palette of the level reflects its mood. The color palette of the level will emerge from a combination of the original colors of the objects you place in it (created by the artists under neutral lighting conditions) plus the lighting that you add. Notice how television commercials use color to telegraph an emotion, calm you down, get you excited, or keep you interested in watching. Do some research on color, and you will find many ways to create an effect in your level or elicit a particular response from the player.
■ Weather and atmospheric effects. Fog, rain, snow, and wind all create distinct impressions. So many games take place in indoor spaces that we sometimes forget the importance of weather to our moods. Dark, tumbling skies presage a storm and make us instinctively react with "Find shelter!" even in a video game. Fog creates mystery, while strong winds suggest instability and disturbances to come.
■ Special visual effects. When weapons recoil or screeching tires create smoke, when magic spells produce colored sparks or blood splashes across a wall, you're seeing visual effects. You can startle players, discomfit them, amuse them, or reward them, all with visual effects.
■ Music. You won't write the music unless you're also a musician, but you may well choose the music of your level in conjunction with your game's audio director. The rhythm of the music helps to set the pace, and its timbre and key help to set the mood. Generally, but not always, music remains consistent throughout the level, part of its overall tone.
■ Ambient audio. Like music, ambient audio contributes to the overall mood of a level. Notice how golf games use the sounds of birds singing and crickets chirping to suggest the peaceful outdoor tranquility of a golf course. The ambient audio can also vary with place and time, which tells the player something about where he is and helps him to orient himself. Great steam engines churning create a feeling of power and danger; owls hooting and foxes crying tell us it's nighttime; the hubbub of talk and regular cries of vendors put us in a market square.
■ Special audio effects. Audio effects naturally do for the ears what visual effects do for the eyes, and in some respects, provide even more important information. From inside a car, you can't see the tires losing their grip on the road, but the squealing sound tells you you're on the edge of danger—you're pushing the vehicle to its limits.
