Environment

There are lots of different genres of games which change the layout of the environment. Platform games are traditionally set on a 2d landscape, literally meaning there’s just lots of platforms and you have to jump a lot to get to them. Or you dieee

But as time went on and technology got better games moved into the Third dimension, meaning environments could be more expansive, and better!

It seems in modern games there are two different types of game genres which influence level design.

Sandbox games and rail shooters.

I guess there are some games which do create a balance between both. Bad Company 2 for example. Yes you were lead through a straight path from one checkpoint to another, but the game was kinda split into these big sections where you could choose which way you wanted to go through the level. Giving a small extent of freedom. The game also had gorgeous scenic backdrops.

These two types of level design are better suited, and can be used to influence the style that the game strives to achieve.

Horror games which want to scare the player usually force them through corridors conforming to the rail shooter genre. They are also normally heavily scripted so that certain events will happen when the player walks past a trigger.

The environment is usually adapted so that the player will be more likely to see the event. Moving/falling objects, lights and sounds can all be used to attract the player’s attention.

Then to scare the shit out of them…

Plus games are generally scarier when set in small dark corridors. A zombie stumbling across a field isn’t half as scary as one jumping out of a vent infront of your face!

Compared to purely sandbox based games such as ARMA II and Just Cause 2 where the player has complete freedom in the games world. The sandbox genre suits these games really well.

Seeing as ARMA II is a realistic modern military shooter, the sandbox suits this games aim really well

The game places you in its virtual world and gives the player objectives. How you get to and complete them is entirely up to you. For instance you and your squad might be asked to infiltrate a village of a known enemy position and retrieve a key asset. How you get there and what approach you take to achieve your objective is entirely up to you.

The game feels realistic and is always tense due to the fact it doesn’t take a lot to down an enemy soldier, or vice versa. You always feel vaulnerable standing

This game is definitely suited to the more hardcore gamer. Playing COD to prepare yourself for this game is not advised. You also need a really good PC. I can play Crysis on very high but my brain starts to hurt after playing ARMA for more than 10 minutes due to the stuttery frame rate rape…

Whats interesting about environments is that developers can create stunning landscapes which can only be seen and explored in games.

For this world to be believable I think there needs to be a high level of immersion into its world. A game which does this really well is Bioshock. Set in an alternate 1960s the player miraculously survives a plane crash to discover the massive underwater metropolis that is Rapture.

SUCH an amazing city.

Rapture is essentially based on the Manhattan borough of New York with a network of reinforced (waterproof) tunnels connecting buildings.

Some of my favourite levels come from Battlefield 2. I think it was the scale of the game, not just the 64 player count but how huuuuge the multiplayer maps were. Wake Island Particually stands out. I believe that Forrest Dowling was lead designer, after hours (not hours) of searching the internet his name seems most prominent.

The map is a remake of the original from Battlefield 1942, which was based on an of shore Japanese island where attacks took place simultaneously after the bombings at Pearl Harbor 1941. In both versions the maps are littered with wreckage from downed planes, boats and vehicles.

I think for a career path environments seem a lot more interesting than characters. But never know might change my mind.