To finish this unit i had to research and make use of 4 key element in games design especially apparent in level design these were Ludic, Aesthetic, Technical and Narrative Design.
Ludic
this was difficult to research in a way since i had never heard about it and when it came to descriptions from dictionary and over places i found the answer to be cryptic and never quite get to what it means, but after many hours digging through the internet i found that the description was about subtle hints in game and level design which is used every where to either guide the player or change the players thinking in some way, like a form of subliminal messaging only with the goal of help the player achieve goals this can be used in many ways like faint lights in the distance or slight changes in coloured objects of the environment used to help guide the player on the path, this is prominent in most third person action games in which there is a climbing mechanic in almost all of them game the ledges you can use to climb will have a different shade of colour to show that they are there.
I have done this in my level making a fire visible on a far cliff that will always be visible to the player in some way basically draw them in like a moth to the flame, seeing some of interest high up will always make players have interest to discover the unknown especially if they know they can reach that location.
Aesthetic
in terms of Aesthetic design this simply means how the level looks or the style of art used, but this can also be key to directing players in terms of objectives and such even time of day can make big changes on a level, for example my level is at night so i can use things like fire and light to my advantages much easier than if it was day time in my level since its all set out doors this mean that i would be locked out of certain ways to direct the player depending on something so simple as the time of day.
Technical
Design is basically anything in the level that you actually do mechanics wise so this could be something like fighting enemies or moving blocks, these kind of mechanics plant in your mind a certain set of navigation queue's which can be different in every game but just fighting enemies means that if you see enemies somewhere that there must be something of interest there by making you navigate to that area, this one of the main corner stone to many games design which is something that is practised so much you dont even noticed its happening.
Narrative
When it comes to narrative in the level/game design this is anything directly influence by the story be this pieces of information in a conversation a mission objective or even a piece of extra lore to read, these are all things most modern games use narrative to aid in progression of the game and make them more immersive, in most case not having this is a death sentence for a game. in terms of narrative iv tried to do as much as i could with narrative in terms of the design of the level and the environment its self but this wont fully come into fruition until next unit when we focus on cutscenes and rendering which will further push the narrative in the level by giving some context to what kind of design im going for.
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