The state of level design

[redfella]

I haven't really been following all the ins and outs of the hobby and profession of level design like I was a few years ago. I'm wondering what the current state of level design is like. Note, I am wondering what the overall general state is, not just q3 specific. Some questions:

1) Can hobbyists still get hired as professional level designers like they could say 5 years ago (without any formal training, but based on portfolio and community standing)? If so, is this still the most popular way to do it or are schools becoming more important now?

2) Has the level design community IN GENERAL grown, shrunk or stayed the same? Are players as interested in third-party maps at present time compared to 5 years ago?

3) What are the major community mapping sites (for any and all games)?

4) Which game (or series of games) has the richest mapping history? I'm guessing that it's the Quake series, but perhaps I'm biased?

That's about it. If there is anything I missed, feel free to inform me.

[o'dium]

Yeah, I think so. Method who posts here got snapped up by our very own id Software for some amazing level design work.

At the end of the day, the devs will pick who has the most talent. You dont need to study for 10 years to get that, you need to work hard and have a passion, and thats something Method and a few others who post here, have.

The only downside is we dont get to see any more custom maps from him, heh

[obsidian]

1) There are a lot of game design programs out there, few are actually any good. A portfolio and experience (professional or amateur) is certainly the most important aspect to getting hired still. Formal training in specific discipline areas (like programming, computer animation, art and illustration, etc.) are also benefits. As an example, id Software is currently hiring and you can see their requirements.

2) Level design community.... hard to say. It seems to be dwindling as far as "master mappers" go (but that's more from a Q3 perspective) but there is always a new influx of new blood, some of which can't make it past the learning curve hump, others will do surprisingly well. Doom3World.org founded a new community around idTech 4 full of mostly "new bloods" that is only now starting to round off. The main difficulty these days is that new game engines tend to have a larger learning curve and longer development times which are not amateur friendly. So a lot of newbies are a bit turned off by this, it's not like in the original Doom days where everyone and their sister made a Doom map of their house.

You should also take a look at the "indie" game developer scene. I attended a IGDA meeting and it was interesting to see all the work being done. A lot of amateurs are not working with prebuilt engines and modding them but building their own small micro games entirely from scratch. A lot of which are quite innovative.

3) There's one for each community:
http://www.doom3world.org
http://www.levelmakers.com/
http://www.splashdamage.com/forums/
http://forums.beyondunreal.com/ (boo...hiss)
Source engine stuff
http://www.igda.org/ (overall game developer association stuff - go sit in on an IGDA chapter meeting near you)

[phantazm11]

Yeah, I think so. Method who posts here got snapped up by our very own id Software for some amazing level design work.

To be fair, and to more accurately answer the question, Method had just finished college (game related studies) when he was picked up by id. Although his maps are fantastic nonetheless.

[rgoer]

re: which game has the richest mapping history, community development (maps, mods, whatever) related to the various valve technologies dwarfs all other community development by multiple orders of magnitude...

[o'dium]

Erm... Is it... Unreal 2?!

[Mikko_Sandt]

The amateur mappers I've noticed getting picked up by companies tend to be the kind of individuals who're able to produce original, unique maps, not technically uber-detailed but conceptually original. To create such maps you need to have, as suggested above, passion and an online portfolio helps a lot, of course. Ever since Doom there has been such an influx of great amateur mappers so the above mentioned aspects help you stand out.

3) What are the major community mapping sites (for any and all games)?

Heh, if you're interested in Duke3D, there's AMC, DNR, my own site (check my sig) and 3DRealms mapping forums. It's actually doing better than Q1, Q2 or Unreal.

[obsidian]

Heh... well that's cuz there's no segmentation of the Duke3D community by the appearance of sequels, they're still waiting for that.

[Method]

Hey guys,

phantazm11: Where did you get your information?

Haven't posted here in a while and the time I decided to check up on the place saw this thread. Just to clarify, I did NOT finish college. Nor was college of any interest to id when I applied. As far as I know and this is my personal opinion is that degree doesn't matter in game industry. What matters is that you can produce quality content that can bring money to the company. What I realized is that there are 3 things that companies look for. Those are talent, ability to work under stress and team work.

I'm not all against college and believe it's a valuable experience in terms of social life, because once you start working there's no more partying it up (except a few occasions). But there's no school for level design and most classes have nothing to do with it. So college is also a great time to work on personal projects and portfolio outside of school.

Also I think of myself as an EXTREMELY fortunate guy who was lucky enough to get the job I have. It was a combination of things really. My maps were shit, but I've gotten a lot better since, so now they're decent.

-Method

[ix-ir]

Well I aspire to your former level of shitness then.

[fKd]

ya just gotta buckle down ix but yeah Method got skills and im not surprised he got snatched up, but by id... well thats just legendary! wd dude.

[GONNAFISTYA]

Well...degrees won't matter to the employer...but they will indeed matter to the immigration office (depending on requirements).

[Kat]

Well...degrees won't matter to the employer...

Oh I don't know about that.. dropping out of college sends what kind of image to a prospective employer? Granted it could be looked at from both ends but if you're in college it's best to stay and complete because you then at least have that as a back up - not a fall back - it tells people that you're serious about your commitments, i.e. carrying something through to the end even if it might not be of immediate use.

[phantazm11]

Sorry Method. I must have been misinformed. Didn't mean to start a gossip train

[GONNAFISTYA]

Well...degrees won't matter to the employer...

Oh I don't know about that.. dropping out of college sends what kind of image to a prospective employer? Granted it could be looked at from both ends but if you're in college it's best to stay and complete because you then at least have that as a back up - not a fall back - it tells people that you're serious about your commitments, i.e. carrying something through to the end even if it might not be of immediate use.

Actually what I meant was that a degree might not be required for them to hire you. I'm not sure where you got the "carrying something through" angle.