A level designer is a person who creates levels, challenges or missions for computer and/or video games using a specific set of programs. These programs may be commonly available commercial 3D or 2D design programs, or specially designed and tailored level editors made for a specific game. A level designer may also be called a mapper; this term is however chiefly used in reference to amateurs such as people working on free mods. In computer and video games, a level (sometimes called a stage, course, map or landscape) is a separate area in a games virtual world, in modern games typically representing a specific location such as a building or a city. ... A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ... A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ... // A computer program or software program (usually abbreviated to a program) is a step-by-step list of instructions written for a particular computer architecture in a particular computer programming language. ... The rewrite of this article is being devised at Talk:3D computer graphics/Temp. ... 2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models (such as 2D geometric models, text, and digital images) and by techniques specific to them. ... UnrealEd is the level editor for Epics Unreal series of first-person shooters. ... The word amateur has at least two connotations. ... 2004 Banshee car modification for Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - replacement of original Banshee Mod or modification is a term generally applied to computer games, especially first-person shooters and real-time strategy games. ...

In addition to actually making the 3D environments the player inhabits in the game, a level designer may also work on enemy or Non-player character placement or scripted story events. They may also write high-level code, altering game rules or scoring in a multiplayer game, for instance. A non-player character or non-playable character is a fictional character in a role-playing game whose role is generally created and performed by the gamemaster. ...

Level designers use level editors, such as UnrealEd, to create levels.

Download high resolution version (1024x768, 249 KB)UnrealEd 3. ... Download high resolution version (1024x768, 249 KB)UnrealEd 3. ... UnrealEd is the level editor for Epics Unreal series of first-person shooters. ... UnrealEd 3. ...

Process

In developing a game, level designers are responsible for producing scenarios that the player will enjoy. A level designer will usually work on a level from design to completion, though rarely is one designer the sole editor of a level. For each level in a modern game, this task involves documenting its design, modeling or laying out its environment, and placing game entities in it. To perform these duties, many level designers have skills as both a visual artist and as a game designer, although in recent years the responsibility for visual, structural and gameplay related tasks has been increasingly divided amoung several specialists. Many times, the term art is used to refer to the visual arts. ... A game designer is a person who designs games. ... Gameplay includes all player experiences during the interaction with game systems, especially formal games. ...

Notable level designers

A number of individuals have made significant contributions to the field of PC First Person Shooter (FPS) level design are: John Romero, responsible for a great deal of the level design for Doom, and Richard "Levelord" Gray, creator of a number of levels for Duke Nukem 3D and SiN. A first-person shooter (FPS) is a computer or video game where the players on-screen view of the game world simulates that of the character, and there is some element of shooting involved. ... Romero with short hair Alfonso John Romero (born October 28, 1967) is a famous figure in the computer gaming industry. ... Doom (sometimes written DOOM) is a computer game developed by id Software in 1993, and is one of the seminal titles in the first-person shooter genre. ... Duke Nukem 3D is a first-person shooter developed by 3D Realms and released on January 29, 1996 by Apogee Software, featuring the adventures of Duke Nukem, based on a character that had appeared in earlier platform games by the company: Duke Nukem and Duke Nukem II. // Synopsis Murderous aliens...

In the field of console game design, examples of notable contributions would come from the level designers on Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for Nintendo 64 - Makoto Miyanaga, Hiromasa Shikata, Hiromu Takemura, Shinichi Ikematsu, Takeshi Hosono and Kenta Usui (who also worked on Super Mario 64), and Craig Filshie, Andrew Duthie, Chris Rothwell, Imran Sarwar and William Mills for work on the Grand Theft Auto series. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was a video game released in 1998, and the first Zelda game for the Nintendo 64. ... The Nintendo 64, commonly called the N64, is Nintendos third home video game console. ... Super Mario 64 is a video game for the Nintendo 64. ... Grand Theft Auto is the name of a felony in the United States of America that refers to stealing a car. ...

History

One of the first games that had an individual whose job was simply to design the levels was 1983's Lode Runner, which was also one of the first titles to ship with a level editor to allow users to create their own levels. 1983 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Lode Runner is a classic computer game dating back to the 1980s. ...

See also

• Level design
• Level editor