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Video Game Design Composition
The characters are developed, the story is written, and the structure is set.
Missions, sub missions, and atomic challenges have been identified. Character
sheets, environmental illustrations, and other documents have been created and
assembled into the world-design document. Now it is time to start building the
levels for the game. There are five essential elements of a level:
• setting
• character motivation and emotional development
• purpose and goal
• dramatic action
• conflict and dramatic tension
Setting
Before levels are created, the setting needs to be established. The
setting
is the time and place of the action in the story. Often, the story determines the
setting, but many times the story can be placed in any setting. In some games,
the setting is the same for all levels. In other games, the setting changes from
level to level. There are two components to the setting: time and place.
The time setting is when the action takes place. Will it take place in 10,000
BCE, modern times, or the future? The visual elements of the background and
in-game objects will be very different depending on the time setting.
The place setting is the location where the action takes place. This also
impacts the visual design of the scene. Will it take place in a historical village,
modern city, or city on an alien planet? Each will have very different buildings,
nature, people, and more.
Determining the setting for the level is important to developing its visual and
audio elements. The grouping of related element of a scene is the theme. Each
object that contributes to or conveys a theme is a
thematic element.
Objects such
as buildings, roads, clothing, and technology all contribute to building a congruous
theme. For example, if the game’s setting is medieval times, the thematic elements
listed in Figure 3-15 may be included. Including objects such as a car or modern
clothing would be incongruous with the theme and distract from the gameplay.
The emotional feeling of the setting is its
mood.
Mood is conveyed by use of
color and shadow. A bright scene with pastel colors would convey a happy mood.
Essential Elements of a Level
Buildings Roads Clothing Technology
Huts Forest path Woolen and leather clothes Horses and carriages
Castles Wooden bridges No zippers or buttons Swords
Jousting stadium Dirt carriage paths Hats Bows and arrow
Woodland camp Stone roadways Armor No cannons
Catapult
Figure 3-15.
These examples of thematic elements would create a congruous theme for a medieval setting.
Goodheart-Willcox Publisher