Level Design Portfolio and Tutorials

Recently, I’ve been thinking about Alcatraz again.  I’ve wanted to build a map of it for a long time…  Be it an educational walk through, or an actual video game – I always thought it’d be a cool environment.  So I decided to research Alcatraz a little further during the Wild West period, since I currently have that mapping environment installed and ready to go (The WildWest, a RTCW MOD).

Here are some of the pictures I’ve come across so far.

I came across an old UI theme for GtkRadiant 1.4. Back in the day I used to rock this, and now that I’ve installed it again, I remember why! It’s sexy.

Peep this!

You can grab this theme here. Or browse to it from my Downloads page.

I completed the second example map in my series of RTCW/WW Tutorials.
You can view the Tutorial here, or grab the example map here.

Enjoy!

I just put together this quick tutorial map to explain how Accums are used to create an Objective based map. Once all 3 boxes are destroyed, the Cowboys win.

Check out the full tutorial here, or grab the example map directly here.

Here it is:  My MOD (Project Phi) has been on hold for nearly a year.  We were simply sinking beneath the weight of an endless task list without enough bodies to finish anything significant.  And after 2 years of development this was an especially hard lesson to learn, but invaluable nonetheless.

Biting off more than you can chew is arguably the #1 reason most MOD teams do fail.  As a start-up group of developers, its an easy circumstance to find yourself in.  Why think small, right?  I’ll tell you why:  You Will Fail.  Like so many others before me have advised, please take these lessons to heart (you have been warned):

• Keep it simple, stupid.
• Focus on making your game fun, first.
• Refine your early game-play key elements, and often at that.
• Get the bulk of your programming finished ASAP.
• Gradually increase custom content as you move through beta tests, but remember, always start with stock content and focus your energy on what makes your game fun (and hopefully unique).
• Aesthetics and polish should always be at the end of your list. Creating a unique game should never rest on the visuals your world offers.  What good is a nice looking game that is a bore to play?
• Accept as much feedback, both internally and externally, as possible.  While most ideas might not be used, without this overflow of creativity, you will likely end up with something bland and tasteless.

So, with all of that said, I am taking in my own lessons and will be methodically re-sculpting and re-scaling the Project Phi MOD into something that CAN be completed.  Instead of an Intricate Single Player Episodic Saga, we will create a Multi-Player Demo of one map (for starters).  This will drastically cut down the asset list, and also draw a larger interest from the online gaming community.  Secondly, and on the same note, we will be moving from the Source engine to Unreal Engine 3.  This should provide a clean slate to rebuild from, bump up the tech, and entice more gamers and developers alike into checking out something made on an engine that isn’t over 5 years old (at its core).

That is the plan.  I plan on documenting my progress using the Unreal 3 platform, and its differences to the Source engine.  Wish me luck!