Archived from the original dev blog and left as it was written, so it reflects the game as it stood in 2008.
I’ve warned you that sometimes I may rant and this is going to be the first, quite simply it’s going to be about what it means to be a Level Designer. Please remember these are my personal views, and if you have problems with them address them to me, not to the rest of the team.
Watching a re-run of X-Play (A computer game review show for the un-initiated), they had one the interviews with an industry professional who simply introduced himself as a “Background Artist” with mounting distaste as the interview progressed it became apparent to me that he was supposed to be a Level Designer. This astounded me in many respects because of quite simply the difference the terms imply. A “Background Artist” is simply one who makes the surrounding pretty and interesting, they do nothing more than a special kind of art that’s not even really noticed that well just because it’s the background not the action itself.
While the position itself deserves respect and I’m not trying to take away form that it’s like the difference between a writer in a newspaper and TV newscaster. Both of them do the same thing, report the news, but the actual way and method about it are drastically different. Level Designers and Background artists both make maps but in completely different ways. A Level Designers job is to understand game play, analyze the action (players and AI), develop an interesting fight that takes advantage of all the weapons, allow tricks and features for each weapon or class, to build the game play from the tools the programmers have given them. They must also then construct a visually stunning and interesting environment using this framework for the game play they have developed. Being a Level Designer is more than simply creating a pretty world, its understanding how a player moves, how an enemy moves, developing a world that convinces you both are right and allows the player to have fun inside of it. A level designer’s job is to basically ensure the game play for the game is fun and interesting.
Because of everything a Level Designer is expected to do the best are usually part Programmer, part Story Teller, and part Artist. Programmer skills are required to control entities and add features and effects to a map, the Story Telling skill are required to ensure the map has a feeling and progression, and the Artist skills are required so that it can be stunning and beautiful. Now do not get me wrong here Level Designers are only as important as the rest of the team, no more, no less. What Game Play would there be for a Level Designer to use without a coder to create it? How would he create a believable and interesting environment without Sound Techs, Texture Artists and Modelers? A Level Designer cannot stand on their own without a team to give them the tools they need but it is still their job to ensure the tools are used to the best effect as the players opinions of the tools is so often shaped by the game play in which their used.
Looking at the community for Level Design it is unfortunate how many Background Artists I see, and I want that to change. I’m always willing to teach those willing to learn, so don’t think of this as an attack; instead think of it as a wake up call. I’m hoping you wake up and smell the coffee because the community deserves fun maps to play their games and for that we need Level Designers, not Background Artists.