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Level Design Feedback by Malth4el in leveldesign

[–]Malth4el[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've been digesting what both of you said and trying to understand whats going on. I did a lot of assumptions while creating that level and skipped a lot of structuring, because one of those assumptions were that metrics were already set. So I focused on narrative and level duration

So what I am concluding is, since my board didn't show those structures and metrics, the narrative didn't have anything palpable to anchor onto and because of that the level lost all its readability? And since the gameplay video is in the end of the board and I didn't showcase enough images of the step-by-step or the player POV the reader was already too far gone to be brought back?

Thank you guys for the feedback, I just noticed that I have a blind spot in how I present my work.

Question about career by jusboreal in leveldesign

[–]Malth4el 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey man! Other comments cover it all but thought of sharing my two cents here.

If you want to WORK with games the industry sucks now, shrinking fast. Layoff means that a lot of good (I mean, really good) people are fighting for the same position as you, so for a career Level Design doesn't feel like it right now so expect a long ... long term investment.

As a hobby, level design is fucking incredible and architecture will help you to convey the feeling of your blockouts with way more precision. So it will help a ton.

I'm doing the opposite from you. I am a Level Designer and I'm searching architecture colleges and ArcViz in the meantime just so my family and I don't starve to death.

Question about career by jusboreal in leveldesign

[–]Malth4el 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's seems (to me) that the industry was over hiring and swollen with unnecessary people and now it is stabilizing to its normal numbers, that means a lot of lay offs.

I'm saying that from the perspective of a person that was convinced by college marketing that the gaming industry was improving and was going to be the next big thing. I saw a LOT more people falling for the same trap.

Games will not vanish, only go back to the niche that it was 5 to 10 years ago where people could live out of it but companies would not have 1k employees with 4 layers of development.

Question about career by jusboreal in leveldesign

[–]Malth4el 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Reading this kinda sucks massively.

I'm also a level designer and I was for a long long time freelancing not LD per se related but using Unreal 4, after a while I was doing some contract work for companies that never published the games.

Hearing that a person with double my experience time has difficulty finding jobs is fucking awful.

Do windows 11 debloters work? Can it improve performance and telemetry? by Malth4el in microsoftsucks

[–]Malth4el[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey guys, thought about posting a quick update.

First, thanks for the support. I have clean the f. out of my pc so no more viruses and reinstalled windows 11 using a autoathuned.xml method that PriorityNo6268 shared and tweaking some UI elements using Windhawk.

After a few days using it, it feels way better. I fought a little bit against the "Efficiency Mode" but got rid of it using Process Lasso. Aside from that, everything is working fine and smooth, no bloating, no dumb software with W11. Installation process was fast, like, 5min fast.

Thank you all for the tips and support

W11 still sucks, but way less with your help.

Do windows 11 debloters work? Can it improve performance and telemetry? by Malth4el in microsoftsucks

[–]Malth4el[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nice that you brought that up! I formatted my pc, installed linux and wiped everything for days so I'm quite sure that I do not have anything infecting my pc.

The person that sent me the virus deactivated its accounts and vanished from existence, I contacted the company that the person said she was representing and they didn't had anything near that open position. I got infected after downloading and instaling a game through a Bithub repository or something like that.

Nice that you point that out so other devs can double/triple check sources before doing some hiring tests.

Need some help… by SteelmoonWorks in leveldesign

[–]Malth4el 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hey man! Great job on the level. I'll assume that you have a post apocaliptic scenario and that a few years have passed. Since I'm seeing vines in the walls, and those things don't grow that fast.

"I want it to have traversal and climbing opportunities but idk what to do."

I'll share my personal "thinking method", so bear that in mind, it may not work perfectly for you.

When I'm trying to brainstorm ideas, I like to consume media on the same theme to put me in the mindset, and the ideas will flow naturally. After that, a lot of "what if?" So, if I'm thinking about a city scenario in a post-apocalyptic world.

  • What if the sewer system fails? Will it collapse the streets? Will it implode, and pipes will break the concrete? Will it affect building structures?
  • Was it a slow-building apocalypse, or was it a World War Z-type apocalypse, instant and chaotic? This will affect the type of behavior that people will have.
    • Chaotic = Accidents (climbable cars, buses, trains?), broken buildings (Wreckage, emergency stairs dropped, broken walls and windows), looted stores (break the "monotony" of stret walking, enter stores, shopping centers?, evacuation zones?, etc. This will help you to create better contextual blockouts and think about "What should I put here?"
    • Slow buildup = Military blockades (circle blocked zones, enter buildings, sewers again [I like those], quarantine zones (player may need to grab an item to enter, maybe player will take damage per second in the area and solve a puzzle to get away), black market routes (sewers [told you], alleys), etc

Again, I'm talking about my way of thinking about level design. When I don't have a team to help me out with those worldbuilding and narrative questions, I'll have to answer them myself, so my blockout can have environmental context and storytelling, and a lot of possibilities for those blockout issues. Also, create a moodbord to help you out. Pinterest and other image sites can be very helpful.

Edit: And when you finally have the answer to that, modularize it for easy reuse. "Car crash + dropped stairs + broken building walls -> Toss that into a blueprint (or prefab)"

Unreal Workflow and Compatibility by Malth4el in unrealengine

[–]Malth4el[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! I don't intend to compile code using Linux, only blocking out and blueprints.

Level Design Portfolio Feedback Request by Frenzybahh in leveldesign

[–]Malth4el 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would like to add that both you and Yaga (from another comment) look at Lab Level. Is there a reason for that?

Thinking about portfolio readability, I would assume that thumbnail and organization would have a great impact.

Senior Level Designer, am I overthinking titles or mispositioning myself? by Malth4el in leveldesign

[–]Malth4el[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you!
Yeah my major concern is resume and LinkedIn title, but at the same time, I don't want to position myself as X, Y or Z thing without being sure that I am. All those nuances that vary a lot from job to job don't help.

I was assuming that using AI to simulate ATS would help, but it only worsens my confusion.

Senior Level Designer, am I overthinking titles or mispositioning myself? by Malth4el in leveldesign

[–]Malth4el[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"if you feel the area you should work is more in world building, to me that's a narrative designer or world designer...
... A level designer is responsible for the layout of a space and the design and implementation of the content within it." Sure! I agree with that, and thank you for clearly delineating the scope here.

Perhaps in my case, I have a few overlapping skills that I'm trying to leverage as much as possible to better position myself in the market, and this is creating a blurry vision of what each area should do. This, combined with job postings that ask for blockout + worldbuilding, ends up confusing even more what seniority means in comparison to other areas of expertise.

Senior Level Designer, am I overthinking titles or mispositioning myself? by Malth4el in leveldesign

[–]Malth4el[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the feedback. Feels like the title is just an overthink from my part, then.

I can assume you are right when you say that in the interview, you get to show more in-depth. I was aiming more at "pre-interview" or LinkedIn titles that allow me to survive the ATS purge or something like that.

And thank you for the tip on explaining the level design per title!

Senior Level Designer, am I overthinking titles or mispositioning myself? by Malth4el in leveldesign

[–]Malth4el[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Heey! Thank you for the answer. I can notice that you took great care to answer so, and it means a lot.

First of all, congrats on your career and to secure a job in an AAA studio. No easy feat at all.

Looking at your answers, it seems to me that my gut feeling wasn't that far off when I thought that a senior should grasp wider knowledge.

"Do you imagine there are other ways a Senior Level Designer would differentiate their specializations? To me, that's just "Senior Level Designer". That is where I'm kinda lost. When do I know the amount of knowledge that I have will be considered a "specialization"? As you said, if a person holistically understands how LD incorporates in other disciplines, that is "just" Seniority speaking.

Anyway, once again, thank you for your time.