Something Classic Games

Originally, I was just a writer for the game, but for some reason (desperation?) the team finally named me as lead level designer and mapper. Will it last? Maybe…

There are a million how-to articles and videos that cover level design and mapping. While I’ll touch on these subjects, I see this post as an opportunity to share my unique perspective regarding my role. What’s it like doing this job? So, with tongue firmly in cheek, away we go…

Merry Christmas
Yes, that’s right, Merry Christmas! Uncle Tim bought you the brand new Earth Maze tileset to play with! Sure the wrap-job was meh (nonexistent), but you’d rather get a cool present rather than a crappy, exquisitely wrapped present. The tileset has everything you need to build a thrilling fantasy locale! Or so the big-letter marketing material claims…

You play with the Earth Maze tileset all Christmas Day. It’s so fun that when your parent (or significant other) tells you to go to bed, you throw yourself on the ground and kick your feet while screaming, “I don’t wanna! I don’t wanna!” It gets totally pathetic, and your dad tells you Santa just called and cancelled Christmas for next year.

Play Time
Surprisingly, your parents let you play with the Earth Maze tileset the next day. Anything to keep you out of their hair. This explains why you’re such a brat. You really go to town with that tileset though, trying to build all sorts of crazy things only to discover that you can’t! The tileset has some limitations! That’s ok, you’re a big boy(when you haven’t thrown yourself on the ground). Hell, you’re Ivy League! You put yourself through an Open Yale Course called Tile Editing 101 just last year (or was that a dream?). So you make some simple changes using GIMP and voila (“wah-lah” for non-Ivy Leaguers), you are able to achieve the look you want.

The Transition
You’ve spent every waking minute with the Earth Maze tileset. Your dad is convinced it’s a total waste of time (he thinks you should spend your time learning a “real skill” like electrical work or plumbing). You’re having one of those classic hero-questions-everything-he-believes-in moments from the movies (complete with a soul searching soundtrack) when you get a call out-of-the-blue from some hotshot computer game exec in Nashville named Tyler. He says he’s heard you’re “the shiz” with the new Earth Maze tileset. Apparently, in seismic super-trend shift, Earth Maze maps have replaced country music as the top Nashville export.

“I need ten chart-bustin’ Earth Maze maps ASAP!” He yells. “And a screenshot made of awesome-sauce before Saturday! Can you do it?!”

You smile.

(Tune in for the thrilling conclusion next month!)

In the beginning, Luke created a map file called testLevel.js. Now testLevel.js was formless and empty. Darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the cursor of Luke was hovering over the abyss.

And Luke said, “Let there be light,” but nothing happened. And Luke realized that ImpactJS’s level editor still did not incorporate voice-recognition technology despite months of whining for this feature on the ImpactJS Suggestions forum.

So Luke left-clicked and land or something land-like appeared. And Luke saw that it was good.

Well, not really. It was actually pretty crappy and incomplete looking. In fact, even Luke was not sure what the hell he was looking at. Something like grass maybe?

No matter. Whatever it was, it was clearly distinguishable from the darkness, so hey, that was something. Certainly enough to call it a day. And there was evening and morning—the first day.

Then the next morning, Tyler M. PMed Luke on Skype: “Where the @#$% is the new level?!” And Luke was very afraid and changed his Skype status to “Away.”