DM-StormD - Ep01 - Initial Design Ideas & Process

In my first map build video I'll share some important design considerations for creating a deathmatch map for the original Unreal Tournament, as well as explaining how I choose a setting for my map before designing a level on paper.
Follow me: / creative_xp
Portfolio: www.creativexp.co.uk/
_Timestamps
00:00 - Intro
00:53 - Design Requirements
03:25 - Choosing a Setting
05:53 - Naming the Level
06:38 - Gathering References
07:35 - Paper Design Process
08:10 - Abstract Level Flow
09:16 - Adding Structure
10:35 - Mapping References
11:43 - Refining Designs
12:19 - Outro
_Music
Intro / Outro: Baeb Steps - Noir Et Blanc Vie
Unreal Tournament Music: UTMenu, UTTitle, Nether, Skyward
_Image Credits
Storm Drain Photography: christoffer.co/projects
Sewer Photography: www.urbextour.com/en/urbex-tr...
Victorian Tunnels: Mercury Press & Media Ltd
#DesignXP #MapBuild #LevelDesign #UnrealTournament #DMStormD

[@janiceclark995]

❤❤❤❤ cool😊😊🎉🎉🎉

[@RazorOfArtorias]

One of the best LD workflow videos I've seen. Thanks for all the detail and work put on it. I can't wait to see your next DM-StormD episodes and future designXP videos.

[@creativexp]

Thanks for the kind words Vicente. I'm glad you enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to sharing more soon.

[@tommymapp6615]

I'll definitely be trying the spaghetti drawings soon! Great video and looking forward to future ones!

[@creativexp]

Thanks, I hope your 'spaghetti drawing' helps you out.

[@Hennejoe]

Great video mate, lots of concepts about the workflow that I'd not seen before - just started getting interested in Level Design these past few months with a view to hopefully career switch at some point in the future!

[@creativexp]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed the video. Good luck with the potential career switch if you do make the switch in the future.

[@DJwhatever1234]

Very inspiring to see your process. The paper flow part is something I'm gonna try. Any plan on doing a video on a single-player level? Could be classic fps still

[@creativexp]

I'm glad you found it useful Jakob.
I don't have any immediate plans for building a singleplayer level, but it's something I can keep in mind for a future video.
Thanks!

[@NicholasBrakespear]

The really sad thing here is that playing UT99 again, these lessons shine through - you can see the original developers figured out these things; figured out how to make levels flow, how to light them so they were interesting without being distracting, how to carefully calibrate room size and corridor length so that the players were never spending too much time getting from one place to another...
...then 20 years of bad level design followed, in which prefabs dominated level design, visuals became cluttered, and flow went out the window. And then, just when Epic themselves were re-learning this stuff, and genuinely doing some good work on a new UT project, Fornite came along and ruined it all.

[@creativexp]

Thanks for your comment.
UT99 and other similar games of the time definitely refined a lot of the design fundamentals that can still be applied to modern multiplayer shooters today. They were also a product of the technology and limitations of the time, but still considered cutting edge. As technology has evolved in the 20 years since, expectations for higher fidelity realisation and the possibilities for new gameplay experiences have also grown.
I think it would be fairer to say that games and level design has also evolved to match these developments. It has revealed new design challenges and methodologies that wouldn't have been possible in the time of UT99. The result is a more diverse range of experiences and design processes available to players and developers alike.
Even though the games have changed, the fundamentals remain true, and can still be recognised in everything from de_dust2 to Overwatch's Gibraltar or Apex Legend's Kings Canyon.

[@EvilNobby222]

Let's have a nice map made of dust

[@creativexp]

That'll never catch on...