hey my name is Brendan Chang or the
small independent company called blender
games today I'm going to talk about how
to use mobile design architecture to for
navigation and storytelling so I'll
start with a little bit about myself
I started with mod work and that led to
working a designer at a triple-a company
and that led to returning to my you know
little personal games and making my own
little company called blender games I've
worked on third person games strategy
games first-person games so I felt I
feel very fortunate to have been exposed
to all these you know diverse group of
games so a blend of games I wear all the
hats I do all the design I do of art and
do the programming the business stuff so
at the moment I'm a one-person company
with one person doing porting work so
this talk focuses on how to convey
information through level design
architecture will cover a few things so
player navigation level readability and
storytelling one of the most helpful
design exercise that learned from was
from the lead level designer from a
product that worked on the way he had
his design was to take the level that
you're working on and strip out all the
UI and remove the abductor marker blue
the minimap remove a little magic
compass remove all that stuff and we
found that when we removed all those
things
let me just realize kind of how much
we've been using these tools as this
crutch you know suddenly things like
sight lines in landmarks and pathways
and lighting became so much more
important and this forced us to become
more creative to find design solutions
and Ament a lot of things the level
itself had to guide the player to
navigate it and to not get lost and then
we had to make travelling through the
world as intuitive as possible so in
order to achieve this the world had to
be instantly readable and what I mean by
a readable is it is it clear what that's
something
is clear what is trying to say and is it
saying that thing clearly well so I have
animated gifs apparently they're really
freaking out so sorry about that
so there are many things that can cause
like friction and readability and one of
those things is depth perception so in
the picture here the player is standing
on a platform pretend this is a
first-person perspective the person's on
a platform the player might be able to
make this jump question mark
you know when playing from the first
person or over-the-shoulder perspective
the depth perception becomes really
difficult to judge whereas here's the
exact same geometry but from side view
and from the side view it's dead obvious
you know what the distance between the
platform is you know this is kind of why
traditional platformer games use this
view perspective because it's incredibly
easy to judge distance and so here's one
of the ways that depth perception causes
friction from the first-person
perspective this space looks like you
know it could either be a hallway or it
might be a dead end but then from you
know from the map editor point of view
it's clearly a hallway with a bend in it
so when I'm making a map I spend a
ridiculous amount of time just wiggling
the camera back and forth and just kind
of simulating you know how it'll look to
the player when they're actually in the
engine but as areas like this I kind of
make it really clear that you know that
is important to not just stay in editor
the entire time you got to jump into the
engine and check it out because well
from the top-down editor view this place
looks fine it's it's a little elbow bend
no problem but in the game itself this
area becomes really a problematic so I'm
going to get a little bit touchy-feely
here I want to suggest that the problem
here is not that this hallway is
confusing the major problem here is that
things like this prevent the player from
moving through the level with confidence
these are the little things that kind of
make the players second-guess themselves
and kind of gives them that little
a sense of uncertainty when they're
moving through your level so I feel the
cleanest way to tell a story or to tell
a joke is with as few moving parts as
possible and I feel the exact same thing
applies to level design like for this
space the space is really ambiguous as
to whether it's an intersection or a
dead end where it's on top down view you
know is clearly you know at elbow a
t-intersection
so when a level has a space like this
it's adding this unnecessary moving part
to your level
it's clutter it's it's noise it's an
unnecessary wrinkle to the level
architecture so this hallway makes a few
changes to in an attempt to kind of make
itself more instantly readable there's a
slight 45 degree Bend added to it this
little bend hints that this hall
connects to an adjoining passage there's
an elevation change so by raising the
players viewpoint it's kind of grass the
player a better vantage point and the
distance between things becomes easier
to judge and this alleviates some issues
with the depth perception and the
passage is also given a light source at
the very end if you look in the 2d
editor that little tiny dot to the top
of the image and this light source
serves to draw the eye toward it it kind
of makes the passage more inviting and
the OP Hall also has a really tiny
cutout at the end that gives a glimpse
into the next room and this kind of
removes you know if there was any doubt
this this tries to attend stress to
remove all doubt that there is in
another area of beyond this hallway and
I just want to make it clear again I'm
not trying to advocate that every
hallway has to be made like this this is
a very very specific way this is not
this is not about hallways I think what
it comes down to is it's being mindful
of you know what you want your space to
say versus what it actually ends up
saying in the engine you know in this
example the layout of the space can
obscures the side passage so the Jeff is
guy
in the hallway and to your left is a
passage that is completely obscured the
player you know they probably find us
passage eventually but the point here is
that the geography of this space is not
easily readable my Joel here had the
suggestion of kind of playing through a
level layout backwards and I think that
is really a great method I found that
you know when I'm placing my stuff I
kind of end up accidentally doing that
and I found that seeing your
architecture from an unexpected and
unplanned angle is a really effective
way to troubleshoot problem areas and
kind of see it with fresh eyes because
you know when you are the person making
your level you know every detail but
when you walk backwards it's like who
made this level and it's really
interesting kind of see it from the
perspective so the level is constructed
in such a way that hallways look like
always and not like that ends you know
it standardizes dimensions so that a
doorway is instantly readable as a
doorway and a table is instantly
readable as a table and it's made in
such a way that when you see an obstacle
you can instantly read whether it can be
jumped over or whether it's going to
block your progress and so the level is
constantly asking you know what the
player does and does not have wine aside
to ask why are we giving the player line
of sight to visting right now and why
are we denying to play a lot of sight to
that thing over there right now
before we go a little bit deeper I want
to take a moment to mention that
everything that has been discussed so
far about all this readability and sight
lines and you know standardization of
stuff I want to stress that these
concepts are for for a very specific
kind of level design for a very specific
kind of game depending on what you're
trying to make your game might very well
benefit the most from doing the exact
opposite of everything I'm talking about
so I want to make it really clear that
this is not about like universal truths
null design and so I definitely
encourage you to not take this talk at
face value
and so there are times in which the game
needs the player to see specific things
and when challenge is you know if the
player can be anywhere in the map and
doing anything at any given time how
does the game kind of steer the players
viewpoint to a specific location so
there are many tool that the player can
use to kind of infuse this into the
level and some of these apples are
letters and buttons and pathways
so when the player is on a ladder the
game has a very clear idea of the player
position and the direction the player is
facing one of the classic examples of
this is from monoliths sphere and this
sequence the protagonist climbs up a
ladder and the game you know exploits
this opportunity by placing this
jump-scare at a place where the player
is guaranteed to be looking so every
time the player places you know the game
exploits the fact that the ladder is the
player the game knows exactly the player
is going to be looking straight ahead
and they're going to be you know
climbing upwards and when they even
bounce this ladder they're going to be
you know looking at this a very very
specific direction and they put a little
spooky sweet girl there the same thing
is true when the player presses a button
at that moment the game knows very well
where the player is and what direction
that they are facing example of this is
valves half-life and the protagonist
presses a button and they're treated to
this big spectacle payoff of seeing this
tentacle creature being burnt alive and
the button and the viewing area are
oriented in such a way that the player
is guaranteed to watch the spectacle
without their guarantee to force their
currenty to watch the spectacle but it
doesn't force them to you watch it and
the level geometry itself steers a
player this is my favorite thing and
whenever the player you know whenever
the player climbs a ramp or walk through
a doorway that ramp or that doorway is
nudging the player toward a certain
direction the combination an example of
a combination of these things are the
elevators from Irrational's you know
BioShock Infinite the protagonist enters
elevator they literally punch the button
and by steering the camera toward the
button this gives the AI character
Elizabeth the opportunity kind of
seamlessly transitioned into the
elevator and the elevator doors
themselves they give the player a very
very clear indicator
and for what direction to look at so to
further expand on that let's take a
moment to talk about you know building
anticipation through level geometry so
one way to build anticipation is to
constantly give the player glimpses to
an unreachable area and what I mean by
that is as the player kind of moves
toward the destination the little
provides series of vantage points to the
destination area so in a way this kind
of teases the player kind of helps
create this mental map of the
destination areas layout but most
importantly it makes the destination
this it makes the destination a very
tangible goal it makes that something
that the player can clearly see and
clearly here so we'll use the space from
gravity bone as an example so the player
starts in a room and they enter this
corridor and the door is angled in such
a way that when the player opens it
their viewpoint is immediately steered
toward a large window so by doing this
the door kind of guarantees that the
player sees was through the window kind
of sees what you want them to see and
the player can see the destination
through the window now the window it
physically blocks the player from
accessing the destination but it gives
an introduction to the area from a very
safe vantage point
so the player is then led to this
outside area and here they're given
another vantage point of the
distillation so by reminding the player
through these advantage points the level
reinforces the players sense of
geography gives the player an
understanding of where things are and
how different areas lie in relation to
one another so I'm going to take a
moment to talk about diehard so early in
the movie early in the movie diehard
policeman al Powell is attacked by the
bad guys he slams his car in reverse the
police car goes full speed office little
ledge and ends up in this really awkward
leaning position an office a little
ravine over here and then the movie goes
on stuff happens the police standoff
results action and then much later in
the movie the FBI arrived on the scene
and something really wonderful happens
the FBI climb up a hill and they passed
by al Powell's awkward police car and I
say that this is wonderful because it
gives the world of diehard a really
strong sense of geography there are very
specific locations in the die-hard
universe and al Powell's car is one of
those locations so by giving this very
very specific shot of Al Pels car the
movie reminds us about this you know
much in the same way that giving very
specific vantage points in your level
kind of reminds a player of your world's
geography so back to the previous
example the player is led to the
destination and as they are being led
there their viewpoint is kind of a
clamped toward the destination itself
because when they're moving forward
they're kind of forced to look at this
place and then finally the player
arrives at the destination so there's a
few things happening here by giving the
player these multiple glimpses at the
destination level builds up anticipation
and also helps the player can create
this mental map of the area and finally
I mix it
clear what the players goal is the
player enters the area they understand
what the goal is and they have to figure
out how to reach that goal this is
dependent on you know what kind of game
you're making but for this example the
challenge for the player wasn't figuring
out how to solve something and not what
that something is
so much like how the level itself can
convey navigational cues it likewise can
convey cues about the world's history
the setting and the characters
so as an example this hideout area is
filled with a variety of items and the
items were chosen to each say something
the blueprints on the wall
kind of signify a level of preparedness
and planning and the previous in the
previous room prior to this the player
learns about the game universes
prohibition laws so by having boxes of
alcohol here it kind of signifies a
criminal element and the rifle and the
box of bullets clue us in and how this
group of people kind of approach their
problems and here we have that
chalkboard displaying some sort of plan
for an operation that place is a bit of
a mess there are many boxes of rolled up
blueprints and these things kind of
suggest that the group has been here for
a while
I mean though when the level takes this
approach the player kinda has to figure
it out things for themselves the player
is engaged the players involved in the
process and the player has to make their
own connections and come up with their
own conclusions there's the thing that
the director Billy Wilder was fond of
saying if you let the audience add up
two plus two so it equals four they will
love you forever
so I wanted to end with a really brief
note about airports amusement parks
casinos and IKEA when I walked through
certain places I try to see things
through the lens of a level designer and
by that I mean I kind of run this
thought exercise
I thought exercise is when I get lost
it is never my fault I wash myself of
all responsibility it doesn't matter if
I made a horrible mistake
it's not my fault if a place is designed
for people and I end up getting lost or
I'm not sure where to go then the place
has failed I blame the design I don't
blame myself and so the purpose of this
is to try to work out how I would have
designed the place differently and the
beauty of this is that the real world
has you know constructed and prototype a
bunch of level design for you you know
there is no UI there is no objective
marker the world trusts you it trusts
you to make connections on your own and
when you feel that trust you feel
respected when you're designing your
level and you use architecture to guide
the player through it and you're you're
putting a lot of trust in the player and
when the player feels that trust they
feel respected thank you
cool oh yeah
if you're sticking around please get
your badge scanned there will be ca's
walking around and if there's any cue
questions please go to the microphones
what are some techniques you guys kind
of get the microphone turned on please
no should I just yell there we go so
when you're using these techniques to
guide players over and over throughout
your levels what are some of the things
you do to make them less apparent and
less like give your levels of sense that
not every hallway turns just like that
and shows you the next room how do you
disguise that well I mean I guess I'll
put the question back to you like when
you see these things do you feel you are
being manipulated and do you feel like
the hand of a designer kind of like
tricking you to do certain things I felt
that way some times before and and I
feel like in some games they do a really
good job of guiding me towards something
without me realizing that I'm being
guided and in other games I get the
sense that every space that has the same
like like travel goals is shaped the
same way right right I mean I guess for
me I just try to like not I try to be
conscious of what I'm doing and to not
you know play the same trick over and
over again to just you know as you build
more and more levels your toolbox gets
bigger and bigger and just like you get
it like just try out two different
things and be more diverse in what
you're doing
cool thank you thank you oh hi
IDO McCray a narrative designer path of
exile what I'm really interested in is
the weight that you put on visual design
as far as conveying story character
theme and all of those sort of things so
what sort of principles do you have in
mind for getting a story across purely
through environment and visuals hmm yeah
so the question is how do you what's the
process of what's a kind of getting
story and things like that across
through just visuals and I guess for me
it's it kind of comes down to what I
mentioned very early on is to just have
that really hard limitation of no UI and
then work from there
which is a and I guess once you have
these like really really hard
restrictions
kind of puts you in a different mindset
and you start noticing like how do other
things do it and how no what are ways to
kind of a
sorry I'm looking up I'll actually jump
in and sure like expanding on something
that brenda was talking about with like
the heist room like a lot of that stuff
is sort of casually baked into an
environment like Brendam actually does
this better than many people do right
where all of that stuff has a level of
implication and I think one of the
things when you're building any space is
like literally every decision has
meaning like if you take a gray box
space has no texture it's a minute that
you throw brick on there versus like
space tiles already starts to say
something about what it is so I think a
lot of it comes down to just being
cognizant about those choices and the
impact that they're actually going to
have yeah if you have access to GDC 20
last years of all there's a really great
talk made from the artists on the
witness and the process of making art on
the witness is this very very involved
process of like these this building is
made of these really really large bricks
and so how did they get these bricks up
here there had to be some sort of ramp
of some sort and where did those word
look forward to those rigs come from was
it from Island then the Newspeak 40
there was it you know from a boat there
you see a dock and there needs to be a
path from the dock to this you know this
building is being made yeah so just
really being really critical about
yourself and not just building for
buildings sake so just just add on that
a little bit so would you recommend say
if you're building an area think about
the story on how that can be portrayed
through the visuals before putting in
any non-player characters or dialogue as
well as UI to strip it right back and
then only add and that sort of stuff to
basically fill in the gaps so my process
is very not recommended what I do is I
polish as I go and I'll make every art
final as I'm great boxing I kind of
spend as little time as possible great
boxing couldn't find
art because I find that when you put in
final art as quickly as he humanly can
it forces you to make these decisions
just on the fly and I find that you know
I find that when I gray boxed and then
put in final art I found that it didn't
quite come together as well for me
whereas like when I'm being put to the
wall like alright I've put in a final
art barrel here now I need to figure out
you know why is this barrel here and now
I need to find put in this next art
asset that justifies this barrel and
then that kind of snowballs out the
other thing and then before you know it
the level is done go thanks Brandon hey
if you're calling older games
occasionally gonna be secretive behind a
wall or you get a strike - fine what do
you feel about like totally hidden
secrets and should to be some loose
guidance like what is your view on how
hidden something should be in a level
mmm I don't know I mean it depends on
what kind of game you're trying to make
I personally take the approach of I mean
it depends on how you're viewing your
game I know some games you know you want
the player to experience every bit of
content and so for those games that
makes way more sense to like to hide
your secrets but not really hide them I
mean they're just incredibly easy to
find for me personally I like to I like
I like it
when a thing is there and just does not
really make any attention to it just not
really call it any attention to itself
so I mean I like it when someone when a
friend is playing a game and they tell
me did you see this thingamajig in this
game and I say I had no idea that was
there and there's something exciting
about that there's something that kind
of it's kind of that gag of like having
tons of locked doors in your level and
just mix the level seem way bigger than
actually
thank you so basically I just wanted to
kind of go back to the very beginning of
your topic about getting rid of those
kind of flashy UI pieces you know the
giant arrow that's pointing to the
target or something like that and I
guess I'm just wondering is what you're
what you're saying generally taking the
UI making it less obvious building it
into the level itself so making the
corridors actually highlight hey this is
the way you want to go as opposed to an
arrow saying go that way yeah I mean um
I I personally don't think that UI is
inherently bad or evil and I think it
works just fine in many games I think
for me what I was talking about is more
about building your level without that
stuff and then when you do later on
putting a UI at X naught as the primary
way of navigable but more of you know if
if you do get lost this is what's the
view fall back on
Thanks hi
I had a question regarding the level
design the boundaries of the level there
are a couple of different ways to go
about doing the boundaries of a level
one being like there is a hard boundary
being architecture like you mentioned or
the unfortunate invisible wall and then
there are soft boundaries which are more
often that's boring to go this way like
when you see a beach and you can go out
in the water and you kind of lose
interest or maybe stop moving or if you
move behind a building and realize that
there is absolutely nothing behind the
last three buildings you went behind so
you stopped going behind buildings do
you find it more rewarding and effective
to use hard boundaries in a level or is
there some reason you might want to use
soft boundaries or do you have to decide
based on what the project is
I think for me the most important thing
in terms of boundaries is just making it
fit in the world and just making it
logically you know makes sense like when
you do when when levels do have that you
know very very tiny bar counter that you
just can't jump over that doesn't make
sense because anyone could jump over bar
counter but I mean as long as it
fictionally fits I think that you know
that's for me at least that's the most
corporate reporting criteria do you
think it is all rewarding for the player
to find out where the boundary is just
by going too far or do you think you
risk losing them because they're now
becoming bored I mean for me it needs to
be as like clear and obvious as possible
because I think for me like finding the
boundary of a place is not
thanks for the games that I'm interested
in making that's not really what I want
the game to be about or you just spend a
lot of time on because I think I think
time is a very finite resource and if
you burn it on this thing that's you
know something that you can never regain
back from the player thank you
all right we'll take a couple of minutes
to let the a/v crew set up for the next
talk and then we'll get going in like
two or three minutes