Comments on: The three Qualities of Level Design

By: Martin Nerurkar

Martin Nerurkar — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:49:16 +0000

Oh yeah. I got that big book here too. Didn’t really get to check it out yet though. It’s on a big pile of books I haven’t read yet. I’m guessing it’s a good reference though, sorta like the 400 project I mentioned upthread.

By: Twitted by CaribouLighting

Twitted by CaribouLighting — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:04:57 +0000

[...] This post was Twitted by CaribouLighting [...]

By: James Gonzalez

James Gonzalez — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:34:13 +0000

James Gonzalez : Yes it does. ... And the Venustas would be the actualy art and them of the board game ...

This sentence has so many spelling errors I meant to say :" And the Venustas would be the actual art and theme of the board game."

By: James Gonzalez

James Gonzalez — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:31:44 +0000

Yes it does.

To me explaining these 3 is an attempt at writing a 500 page reference book, where you give examples of different type of scenarios and their optimum Firmitas, Utilitas and Venustas. Such as a Board Game. The Firmitas would be simple peice of cardboard with perhaps cards, tokens, stop watches, etc. The Utilitas would be the rules of the game applicable to the level movement and design. And the Venustas would be the actualy art and them of the board game, perhaps a Space Adventure board game would have stars and solar systems drawn on the board to represent systems the player can travel to.

But it would be a nice reference. I have a book “John Perry On Game Design” and it is pretty much the same thing; a huge listing of design principles and more example listings of each one. It’s a great tool to use when one is in the process of developing as you can get ideas from simple things you might not have thought of.

By: Martin Nerurkar

Martin Nerurkar — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:31:38 +0000

Heh. Yeah. And that’s a lot of work.

Firmitas is pretty specific to the engine you’re using but there’s lots of tutorials and tips on how to optimize your levels. I don’t think that’s ground I need to retread.

Utilitas is the big one for me. I’ll try to talk about that one but it’s such a huge subject (as mentioned in the article) that I’ll just be able to deal with splinters of the whole. Also just like firmitas is based on the engine, utilitas is firmly related to the kind of game you’re making.

Venustas is also quite important. I already have an idea for a post on an aspect of venustas in the pipeline. Also my recent article about player navigation – the immersed tools squarely fit into this category.

Does that make any sense?

By: James Gonzalez

James Gonzalez — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:06:06 +0000

Good stuff, now that we know the WHAT onto the HOW to put each one in effective use.

By: Martin Nerurkar

Martin Nerurkar — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 19:20:47 +0000

Thanks! Just fixed it. Also glad you liked it and enjoy the blog. It’s nice to get some positive feedback. I sometimes feel like I’m writing just for myself here.

By: sideEffect

sideEffect — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 07:10:15 +0000

i don’t want to be beotchy, but i think there’s a typo ( overlooked) in “A quite important (and easily overooked) one is that they can create associations.” Great article BTW.. i like your writing on level design and i hope to see some more in the future!

By: Martin Nerurkar

Martin Nerurkar — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 07:04:35 +0000

The point is that you can’t “design fun”. Fun is what happens when the player uses what you built. Granted, the Utilitas quality kinda deals with this but even if you’ve got a level that’s working with the game design and that’s enjoable it won’t be fun if it’s broken, and it might not be as much fun if it’s ugly.

By: battlecamel

battlecamel — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 21:41:53 +0000

Mein Anspruch an gutes Leveldesign wäre

1) Gaudium, fun. The amount of joy while actually playing a level of a certain game

Aber ich sehe ein, deine Punkte sind wohl die Zutaten dafür.