Tag Archive - kismet

Life of a Level Designer (Pt.1)

This is how it looks behind the scenes.

When somebody asks me what I do, I try to explain it in a few simple sentences. “I design levels, I place walls, enemies etc”. In return I usually hear “Wow! That’s a great job, you are playing for a whole day and you get paid for it“. Ehhh… both statements don’t represent how it really is.

It’s easy to imagine that making a level is a piece of cake. What’s difficult about putting in a few walls, placing some enemies, adding dialogues, cutscenes or an event like a dragon riding a sledge? A day’s work and tadam! I’m drinking beer, playing my super mega marvelous level, delighted how it came out, knowing players will be exited when they play it. Honestly, it’s a shame that this couldn’t be further from the truth…

Don’t get me wrong. I love my job and I don’t see myself anywhere else, but I assure you it’s no picnic and nothing like you imagine. You want to know why? Read on.

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Because we care

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Okay, so we do not do everything by the text book. Guilty as charged. Truth is, however, that virtually any project of Bulletstorm’s scale will have changes and improvements being implemented until the very last moment… and then some more. This is exactly what occurred to one of the levels I’ve been working on. A particular area underwent a major last minute change and what follows is an uneasy path that we went through.

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