The project I am currently working on is In our currently unannounced project. It is a third person cover shooter with an emphasis on mobility and speed. It was decided recently that we should incorporate a multiplayer aspect into the game. It was decided as a team that the stage would be something that can support a variety of modes.

  The map would need to support a survival mode, Team Deathmatch and a few other objective based game modes. It would need to support a minimum of 6-16 players. Being a cover based game this map needs to have a great flow. It needs to have great lines of sight. It would also need to be balanced out to support all the in game weapons (Machine guns, sniper rifles etc).

   I looked at Gears of War 3, Mass Effect 3 and Uncharted 3 for inspiration. Gears has a great flow and lines of sight. Mass Effect 3's co-op has very distinct areas so the player can easily recognize an area. Uncharted combines gun play and quick traversal (Climbing, jumping, rolling) which is what we're trying to to so it was the perfect example to look at.

  I was given a few limitation on what I could create. The level needed to be constructed out of existing assets, which meant that it needed to either go with the theme of a jungle or Minka house. If we look at the reference images above two of them are one distinct style. The GOW3 map has a singular theme, the ME3 map has a singular theme. The Uncharted map has a mix of of two. It has organic jungle elements but it also has the broken decrepit structures of the Chateau.

   With all this in mind I began to come up with an idea. The theme of the level I was going to design would be a Minka house surrounded by an overgrown jungle. What was left behind by the people that lived there before would now be overran by vegetation. All the structure would be falling apart and broken. Before I started working in 3DsMax I sketched out a bunch of ideas in my notebook. After that I spent a few hours a day working on the blockout.

  I immediately began a simple block out of the level. The house was to be in a raised position overlooking a garden area. Behind the house was going to be an elevated jungle area that would wrap around the house.

 One thing I wanted to do was make every area distinct. And with every distinct area there would be a different play style. For example the house would be small and be more for close quarters combat. The elevated jungle part would house an open line of sight, players would also be able to move around quickly, vaulting over fallen tree and using the jungle itself to conceal their positions. The lower garden area would be a bit of a combination. Players would be able to take cover amongst the low walls and would be able to bunker down or move about quickly to flank enemy positions. 

   The first I wanted to consider was the size of the map. Being a map that needs to support a number of players and Ai I made sure to make the map around 4096 in size. That is a pretty decent size of a map but I felt that it is always easier to scale things down rather than scale things up.

  The balcony overlooks the courtyard and to the left of the balcony is a ramp leading up to the house. At this point I didn't really know what the area to the right of the courtyard was going to be but I knew I wanted the courtyard to be a big area with many options for the player to move around.

   At first ramps seemed like a good idea but I knew from previous experiences that a ramp leaves the player too exposed as they make there way up and down.

 Adding a segment in the ramp that has a flat spot allows the player to stop. If the ramp just was a straightaway it forces the player to commit to it. It is like designing a corridor with no doorways. Once the player is being shot at they have nowhere to go.

  The key is to add some piece of cover on that flat segment. We need to add some cover that allows the player to quickly dart into safety. Imagine the player running toward the top of the ramp and suddenly someone at the top begins firing at him. The player is forced to run back down the ramp. If we add some cover the player wouldn't have to run all the way back down. Cover should be 3-5 seconds away from the player.

  The last thing I did for the day was to break up the garden area below the courtyard. It was one solid piece but that simple wasn't cutting it. It wasn't interesting gameplay wise.

 The idea I had for this area at first was to make it a quick way to get to the other side of the courtyard without being in direct line of sight of the balcony. The are still effectively allows the player to move ahead without being in direct line of fire but by splitting it up into 3 sections it makes it more varied, it adds a lot more to it. It makes this area into a better firefight zone.

  In the gallery above you can see the jungle area being put together. The jungle area behind the house wraps around the back. It also has three different ways to get into the jungle area.

 At this phase I felt that I had the blockout in a pretty solid state. I still needed to flesh out all the empty space to the right of the house but overall I had a good amount of the level figured out.
 
 The only thing I needed to figure out was what to do about all the ramps. Ramps are an easy thing to set up but it also felt pretty lazy, it also felt like I wasn't utilizing the theme quite right. I felt that visually I need to make more areas distinct.

   Feeling the the space to the right of the house was not being utilized properly I decided to take out that empty space and replace it with a bridge. The bridge would had a natural arch it that would help break up the line of sight a bit. I wanted the jungle to still spill over onto the bridge. The bridge would have a broken railing so the player could jump straight into the jungle that way and would not even have to go into the house at all.

  With the bridge in place I began to give it a roof. The idea here was that maybe there would be a way for the player to climb up on the roof of the bridge and possibly jump onto the roof of the house. I was trying to emphasize the traversal part of the game, giving the playing option and allowing them to be acrobatic. Being able to quickly roll, doge, climb and vault over cover is a big part of this game and it should be reinforced in multiplayer.

   On the right side you might notice the blue section. This part was meant to be some cliffs and rock faces that lead from the courtyard level up to the bridge area.

   I decides to get rid of the "courtyard ramp" and replace it with a smaller version of the bridge. The "courtyard bridge" leads to the cliffs on the side of the map that lead up to the main bridge area. The flow of this area was coming out great, the house and the cliff area needed to be redone. They just weren't meshing with the flow of the rest of the level.

   The flow of the house was really important to get right. I intended for it to be two stories and to allow for players to utilize the second floor as "sniper zone". The first floor of the house would be great fro close quarters combat. Players that utilized the sub machine gun or shotgun would dominate here.

  The house has many wide open doors on the first floor allowing for players to enter from the balcony, jungle and bridge. The side of the house facing the bridge allowed for players to climb to the second floor from the outside. The second floor has a open spot on the floor so the player can drop down to the first floor. The first floor has two areas on the inside where the player can reach the second floor.

   On the outside I decided to remove the second house on the left side of the bridges. I wanted cliffs here before but the cliffs area didn't really offer anything new. This new section allows for longer lines of sight allowing players using assault rifles to shine. This new area (in gray) connects the courtyard, garden and the main bridge. This allows the player to move along these sections of the map much quicker. The lines of sight were are a little too open so I plan on adding trees to break up the line of sight.

   I wanted to add another house and another route up to the main bridge area so I decided to cut the empty space around the bridge in half. This makes the path connecting all the area have a smaller raised section over the garden and courtyard.

   In the open space I decided to add a smaller house. I decided this because I wanted to give the player more options. In the middle of a fire fight players usually instinctively run to a place that can provide a roof. The area also allows players to take alternate routes to the "main bridge" area.

   The inside of the house has a ramp that leads to  second floor. This section is designed for close quarters combat and it leads to next area. This area is not meant to be heavily fortified so this area will be lacking cover. 

   Visually the second house breaks up the lines of sight really well. Before the house was added the line of sight was too open and it made the pathway up a killing field.

   With the map complete I proceeded to apply a gray texture to them so I could import the map into UDK. The map was originally intended to be around 4096 unreal units but it ended up coming out to about a little over 6000.

 The flow was thoroughly nailed in this pass and now the next step is to play test it. Once tested, I will come back into 3Ds Max and make changes and adjustments. After that I will begin to block out the cover in the game.

- Danny Q
@Dannylv100

   From late September 2011 to early December 2011 I was working as a Game Design Consultant for a small Iphone studio called GameDesk. I was brought on the team to help improve gameplay elements on two existing projects and to help design a third game called Geoscience.

  One of the first projects I was assigned to work on was a project called Aero. The purpose of this game is to teach the player about the science of flight through the act of playing as a Wandering Albatross simply known as Albatross.

  I began to study Albatrosses, I wanted to know as much as possible so I can make a fun and educational experience that not only taught the player about flight but also taught them about Albatrosses and the ecosystem they come from.

  The game didn't have a tutorial when I first started working on it. The game just had you taking control of an albatross and steering it's wings with little context as to why or how. There wasn't a story and the game just drops the player behind the controls of the albatross. The first thing I did was write a simple story of a curious albatross that decides to leave it's nest in search of a bigger world. Along his travels he will learn about his people and the other inhabitants of his world. The story was simple and I wanted it to be very atmospheric. Something that would instantly get people engrossed in the world. The more people were invested in the world the more they would be open to listening to the educational lessons this game had to offer.

   When I began working on the tutorial I looked at real life albatrosses for inspiration. I researched how an albatross begins to take flight. I researched how they take off, how they land, how they use air currents to travel long distances. I began to translate the everyday life of an albatross into a game. What better way to teach the player than through gameplay?

  One thing that I felt didn't make sense was that this game was that it was character based but the main character is just known as "Albatross". He has no identity and I found that to be a bit jarring. How is the player supposed to become invested in the main character if the protagonist isn't given a name? I promptly named the Albatross "Aero", it only made sense.

   The wingspan of a wondering albatross is anywhere from eight to eleven feet. This means that albatrosses rarely flap their wings when they fly. They flap their wings mostly when preparing for take off or landing. These majestic birds use air currents to travel long distance with little or no energy needed. We needed to teach the player that flapping was not how they were supposed to fly. They would need to make use of the air currents in the world.

  The way albatrosses use air currents is by slope and dynamic soaring. Slope soaring is when the albatross flies near the surface of something such as the waves or cliffs to catch the wind currents that rush over them. This allows the albatross to glide along the current without having to flap it's wings. 

   Dynamic soaring is when the albatross gains altitude and descends rapidly so when it comes back down it gains speed. The diagram below demonstrates how this works. It was important for me to understand this because we have to teach the player how to make use of this techniques in game so they can keep Aero flying for long periods of time. 

   If the player is flapping Aero's wings in order to travel than they didn't learn about how albatrosses fly. If the player does succeed in using these technique the benefits are immediate. They can travel quicker and faster in the game world. With this game we are teaching the player how to play the game but also about albatrosses. If we weren't teaching them on two levels than we were not successful in our mission.

Below is a video from an early build of the game being demonstrated by GameDesk Programmer Richard Harrington.

   Below are some notes I took after playing through of the game for the first time.

- Game Begins
- Aero is sitting in his nest.
- A blue prompt appears over his head.The prompt flashes over his  head slowly, urging the player to touch it.
In white slightly opaque font it the words "Get up" / "Stand Up" / "Rise" / "Stand"
- Once Aero stands up two blue prompts appear over him. Once again with the opaque font the word Walk can be seen in both of the blue circles.
- The letters and the circle flash lightly 
- Arrows also radiate from the circle. They pulsate out from all directions to tell the player that the bird can walk forward, right, left and back.
- The player will utilize both thumbs to make Aero walk. Aero is operated like a tank when he is on ground. He needs both thumb pads/prompts to be moved forward in order to walk forward. If the player were to have the right thumb pad moving forward the the left pad down/back Aero will begin to turn right.
- To teach the player how to walk we have a very simple and clear path for the player to take. We have the player walk down a simple path leading from the nest to an open runway.
- Once the player reaches the runway a prompt will appear over head that reads "initiate take off" , "Fly" , "Take off"
- Once the player activates the take off they are told to move the thumb pads up and down in order to get Aero to flap his wings and run down the runway.
- The thumb pads on the bird have the words "FLAP!" inside of them during this sequence.
- Once the player takes off they will be introduced to the flight mechanic. Just like with walking, if the player were to move one wing forward and one wing down it will shift the direction/altitude of Aero.
- Once the player is in the air they will need to fly through different sets of rings that will test the players aptitude for flight.
 Set one : Very basic. The player needs to fly in a straight line.
Set two: the player needs to fly straight, than make a right and left turn
Set three: The player needs to fly up, down, left right, and do a u-turn to complete this set.
- Once all these sets are done the player has completed the main tutorial.
- The goal of the tutorial is to ensure the player understands the basics of flight.

  In an early build I played the player needed to fly into a ring in the sky. Flying to this ring felt like a chore because there was nothing in the world to gauge distance. It felt as if I was just floating in place, as if I wasn't going anywhere and that I would never reach my destination. I quickly took notes on what we can do to fix some of these issues.

  Below is a gallery of slides I made for a presentation on new game mechanics and ideas for Aero. My first week at GameDesk had me researching and studying the game and the albatross. I was to present an hour long presentation on my new ideas for Aero and Geoscience.

   My job was to come up with a constant stream of ideas. I would sit down and sketch my ideas down into my notebook constantly and when they needed to be presented I made simple images in Photoshop to display my ideas clearly and concisely. When it comes down to game/level design your work doesn't need to look gorgeous, it just needs to properly communicate you're idea.

   I spent a lot of time redesigning Aero's HUD during my first few days on the project. It was a challenge to come up with a look that would be minimalistic and unobtrusive while still giving the player all the info they would need.

   I kept the altimeter on the left side of the screen but I made it a bit simpler. Instead of an arrow to tell us where the wind was blowing I added a windsock in it's place. This would function in the exact same way but now we are being guided but something instantly recognizable instead of an abstract object. Finally I added a compass below Aero so the player knows what direction they're headed.

Gameplay mechanics:
- Making the in game world into a living and breathing habitat.
- Making slope and dynamic soaring a larger part of game play.
- Allowing Aero to take off and land on any of the islands in the game world.
- Adding an element of exploration. Players find collectibles that teach them facts about albatrosses and their habitat.
- Allowing players to land on the water to rest and regain energy.
- Allowing travel to other areas such as New Zealand and the Prince Edward Islands.
- Objectives that encourage flight, education and exploration. Example: Your nest is destroyed so you must travel to nearby islands to obtain materials for your nest. In this mission we encourage players to fly, explore the environment and learn what albatross nests are made of and located.
- Possibly avoiding predators such as the Skua and Petrel.
- Each level would have a Pipit bird. When the player locates it the bird will sing a song to the player.

Improvements:
- Adding distinct landmarks.
- Simplifying the Heads Up Display.
- Changing the wind direction indicator from an arrow to a windsock.
- Aero would make noise depending on the situation.
- If the player does an impressive aerial maneuver, completes a mission, etc he will cry out in joy.
- If Aero is getting tired he will cry out in pain so the player knows that they need to rest.
- Adding texts to the thumb pads so the player has a clearer understanding of what they do.
- Make air currents more visible and clear to the player.

   My personal challenge when I was working on Aero was to make it fun and educational. I think that educational games are categorized as not being fun or engaging. The feeling I aimed for with this game was a cross between the game Flower and Tony Hawk. I wanted the flying aspect to be instantly rewarding with a very soothing and mellow atmosphere. Everything in the game had to reinforce flight, exploration and education.

   The game would give players objectives such as gathering materials to build a new nest. This mission teaches the player about what materials go into an albatross nest and it has the player flying around the game world exploring nearby islands. Another mission I came up with was to help a hungry penguin by flying out to sea and catching some fish for him to eat. This mission introduces the game mechanic of fishing and teaches players what fish penguins eat.

  If the controls and atmosphere were right the player wouldn't even realize they were playing an educational game. They would not think about it simply as an "educational" game but as an experience.

   As of November 28th, 2012 Aero launched a KickStarter campaign to fund the game.

  While working at GameDesk I often rode my bike to the office. It was a part of my daily routine. A trick I developed while riding my bike was to ride up the sides of driveways and peddle down them to gain a boost of speed. While working on this game I realized that this technique I had been using was my version of dynamic soaring.

  Overall I felt that my time on Aero was well spent. The game has a unique vibe and I think the goal of teaching through game play is awesome. I am glad that I was a part of it and I hope my feedback and input have a noticeable and positive impact in the game.

- Danny Q
@Dannylv100
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