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Please Note

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Production

• The thrilling world of workflow

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When is production?

• When youve got
• A plan/GDD
• A budget
• A prototype/VS
• A timeline
• Tools
• Fun!

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Level Design
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Workflow/Pipeline
Image courtesy of rickz
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Why Bother?

• Who wants red tape?
• Save time
• Avoid frustration
• Control iteration
• Manage budget
• Avoid crunch, delays

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The Frontlines Pipeline
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The Handoff
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The phases

• Phase 0 it exists
• Phase 1 its got stuff in it
• Phase 2 even more stuff!
• Phase 3 The GM says its done
• Not all bad as a designer, its kind of fun!

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Why did it happen?
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Our current process
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Stages

• Contain steps
• Time boxed
• Clear deliverables
• Approvers
• Responsibilities

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What is locked?
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The Process

• Research Concept
• Blockout test
• Iteration Vetting
• Refinement Playtesting
• Optimization, Art content, bug fixing

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A less crazy document
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Hows it going?

• - Time estimates off
• collaboration improved
• No cut maps

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Key Ingredients

• Unambiguous goals
• Defined stages
• Established approvers
• The courage to be clear
• Its not about feelings

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Single player process
Image courtesy of max_westby
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Process breakdown
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The Swarm
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Positives

• Focus
• Team work
• Coherency
• Specialization

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How do we do it?

• Unreal architected for sharing

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Submaps
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The tangled web
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Map Lead

• Produces known-good builds
• Insures seamless linking between sections
• Handles save/load issues

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Drawbacks

• Loss of mission ownership
• Technically challenging

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Will it work for you?

• Does it fit your game?
• Can your tools support it?
• Will it work for the developers?

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Hows about Fallout 3?

• Take it Joel

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What Came Before?
55 Ayleid Ruins 57 Imperial Forts 24 Mines 09
Sewers 19 Oblivion Realms 91 Caves
. 255 Dungeons
Oblivion Dungeons
1 Dungeon Art Lead 4 Dungeon Artists 3 Level
Designers (late) 8 Busy Individuals
Oblivion Staff
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How do 8 people build 255 dungeons/levels?

• Build Kits in 3ds Max
• Clutter/Light/FX Warehouse
• Layout Populate
• Ship it!
• Some exceptions may apply
• Major Locations Got More Love

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What Now?
13 Metro Tunnels 12 DC Neighborhoods 26 Office
Buildings 06 Vaults 15 Other 8 Caves 68 Z
Cells . 148 LD Locations
Fallout 3 Spaces
Fallout3 Staff
6 Level Designers (peak) 4 Environment Artists
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Fallout 3 LD Workflow

• Iterative Passes, Formal Collaboration
• Pass 1 Basic Layout
• Pass 2 Refine, Populate, Script
• Art Pass Lighting, Detail Clutter
• Pass 3 Polish for Ship
• Pass 4 Bonus Polish Time
• 1-5 Days per pass, depending on Size
• Passes Scheduled to match dependency
• Shared ownership, one party accountable

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In Conclusion

• Production is hard
• Develop a pipeline
• Communicate concrete goals
• Stay flexible

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Contact

• forrest.dowling_at_kaosstudios.com
• _at_stuckbug