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How to Design Levels/Adventures for Video and Tabletop Games
Introduction
What you'll discover (2:13)
Introducing your teacher (2:33)
How this class works (3:59)
Platformers? No. (2:24)
You'll understand this better if you know some game design (3:49)
This is not about software, it's about Design (4:36)
Start writing things down NOW! (4:01)
Anonymous Class Entry Survey
What is level/adventure design?
Why design levels/adventures (4:43)
What are you trying to accomplish? (4:46)
Who is the audience, and what is the player going to DO? (4:00)
One-page game design
The process of creating a level/adventure (4:40)
Level design documents (video games only) (2:31)
Questions you must consider when you make a level/adventure
Originating a level/adventure (4:41)
Strategic or tactical? (3:10)
Overcoming obstacles, or solving puzzles? (2:03)
Open versus linear levels/adventures (2:58)
Objective/Story (4:21)
The role of story - from my "Learning Game Design" class (6:21)
Characterization and Role-playing (2:27)
Taking control away from the player(s) (2:30)
Realism, fidelity, willing suspension of disbelief - it ain't what it used to be (6:32)
Style and Mood (5:25)
Tutorials (1:51)
Player versus player/"multiplayer (5:53)
Have you been writing things down?
Producing the Design
Obstacles animate and inanimate (6:44)
The Map (6:52)
Puzzles (4:25)
Quests (7:19)
"Bosses" (4:41)
"Loot" (3:20)
Map-drawing Practice
Pacing (2:53)
Phases, acts, and the hero's journey - from my (5:56)
Game Balance (3:32)
Practice - write your own overview of a level/adventure
Example of an overview of a level/adventure
Co-operative play (5:38)
Do's and Don'ts Part 2 (5:25)
Do's and Don'ts, Part 1 (9:23)
Practice: list the elements you'll use in a level/adventure
Warren Spector's "Deus Ex Rules of Role-playing" (9:47)
Playtesting is "Sovereign" (4:12)
Production clarity and document editing (8:00)
Software assist (not level editors) (5:56)
Campaigns, and Conclusion
How campaigns differ from single adventures/levels (3:53)
Example of campaign document
Text Adventures /MUDs (4:35)
Situations versus Specifics, Independence versus Handholding (2:59)
Wargame scenarios (3:19)
State of the tabletop RPG market (4:01)
Conclusion and where to from here (3:08)
Exit Survey
All the slides used in this course
Bonus Material
Your Game Design Portfolio - from "Learning Game Design" class (1:48)
How the industry works - from "Get a Job in the Video Game Industry" (7:35)
Rules-emergent versus Progressive Games - from "Learning Game Design" (4:49)
Why I wrote my book "Game Design" (8:24)
What makes my book unusual or unique (4:40)
Teach online with
Software assist (not level editors)
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