What have I missed? I'm curious to hear what works for you in terms of helping making sure you get things done on time - let us know! Another thing I could've mentioned is taking the Skateboard First approach to building out your game / level - I talk about it in this vid: th-cam.com/video/uuCMeH7a_Es/w-d-xo.html I also could've talked about designing elegantly as a whole separate point, like I did in the final section of this talk of mine, back in 2018: th-cam.com/video/fuEcNGbze5g/w-d-xo.html
Paralysis by analysis is another pain point for many, including me. An empty canvas is terrifying. I've found that I need to put something in there right away even if I delete it 5 minutes later. I force myself to get going.
Absolutely. Agree on every single advise. Unfortunately because most of us already faced all 9, and we just accept the truth) Personally, I would add "Don't waste your ideas". We all know that feeling when a "genius" idea seems like a total trash to you after only few days of thinking about it. Nah, no way this is gonna make me a famous game designer, I need something bigger and more interesting than that. This somehow corresponds with "done and done well". If you loved the idea, there is definitely something about it, that caught your attention. Find different approach, ask for an advise, take a different view on it. Concentrate on developing the concept rather than finding a magic key to the game of all times by wasting dozens of "genius" ideas. The idea is worth nothing without hard work, tries and failures.
Agreed - especially with ideas that keep coming back to you over time. Usually there's something in it that means something to you, and that might be worth more attention or commitment than you're giving it 👍
@@ViktorartSnowtracked feel free to collaborate on sharing your progress with others. I am also glad to share ideas and experience with someone who is in the same situation
You make some of the best level/game design content, thank you for all of this. I love how you leave these funny imperfections in your videos, never change that!
All good points! Some things here I hadn't considered. A couple more which I find help out with general productivity when working at a studio: 1. Each day, write a list of 3 key things you want to achieve. It depends on the person, but keep it fairly light as you will always come across unforeseen things like chats, problem solving, tools issues, etc. 2. Mark out time on your calendar for design work as you would with a meeting. This helps structure your week and also makes sure people know you're busy in the calendar. Design thinking often falls by the wayside in favour of more practical work. 3. Always communicate when you hit a brick wall. Someone may have an immediate solve to an issue which you could spend hours on.
Great tips! To add on to your last point, I'd say be aware of hyper-fixating on features or ideas. Know when to step away and work on something else, or to ask yourself "Is this thing really THAT important?"
Great points! For number 6 "Do things in the right order", I think a big part of the reason it's important to do the most risky things first is that different elements in a design tend to depend on each other; they're not completely independent. So when you do something risky which might end up not working well, you don't want to already have created other elements of the design that depended on an assumption that the risky thing would work fine, because then you might have to redo not only the risky elements itself, but also the already created other elements that depended on it. That's why you want to tackle risky elements first, so the amount of rework is as limited as possible. I think the point in the video that doing risky things late can "screw you" was about this same thing; I just didn't feel it was articulated very explicitly.
Pretty great advice. I'd say these things extend into any creative work. I was just having a conversation with a new hire earlier today about doing a "broad strokes" pass first. I always try (in video and animation) to get everything represented in some form early and then come back through with a detail pass. It's sort of like sand paper. Start with the coarse grit first on the whole thing, then come back with finer and finer grit until the surface is flawless (or close to it).
Yeah, broad strokes / quick and dirty at first etc, is one of the main things I realised I kinda skimmed over when I was editing the video. Totally agree that kind of approach is vital 👍
I think Steve Lee's advice here is super valid for anyone who is working as professional, who needs to make actual decisions affect to the project in their daily work. I had been working as software engineer myself and I really think this video should be used as educational material for job training or something.
Thank you very much, that was super helpful! I rarely take so many "notes per video minute" :-) As someone who precisely tracks their focused work hours, it felt good to hear you talk about the 8 office hours. I often feel bad when I only worked like 4-5 fully focused hours in one day and hear people talk about their 60-80 hour work week. I should ask them to run a timer too 🙂 And I'd love to see a video about making elegant decisions about how to spend your time. Sounds like a fundamental skill that rarely gets talked about.
Very important video. A friend of mine has been in game development for over 5 years and I hear the same talking points from him when discussing the work. Thank you for such an important and wise video! I also want to add a couple important points: sometimes I feel like I have a lot of free time because I work from home and can sit down at my computer and overwork myself. You don't need to do that, it's important to be productive during the work day and not waste precious minutes on procrastination. And it is also important to monitor your mental health and at least for preventive purposes visit a psychologist to unload your head and approach work without a lot of internal problems and blocks.
Hey Steve, I really like your videos and I love how you see and explain Level Design or in this case general dev tips. You and the content you make is a huge enrichment for the Level & Game Design community in my opinion. You also inspired me to really go the path of Level Design and try to become a Level Designer.
Great and important video, thank you! Your channel is one of a kind. I didn't find such thorough information about game structure, level design philosophy and principles and overall about how to think about creating your game anywhere else. And it's always pleasant to listen to someone who worked in one of my favorite studios creating one of my favorite games that awed and inspired me ;) Thank you! And please do record a video on that elegant game design approach to everything. Because I'm in the early stages of creating my first game with my girlfriend, and I try to choose what ideas, mechanics and stuff to use in this game and what things I might better leave for later, for some DLC or a sequel. It's very important, to learn how to choose appropriate ideas to include and what to leave off.
Cheers Alexander, great to hear you like the channel :) Definitely hope to get down to the elegant design video someday... there's just so much going on it might take a while, haha. In the meantime, good luck with the game 👍
@@stevelee_gamedev Yes, I can imagine you're a busy bee :) Just wanted to thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge, that's invaluable. And thank you for wishing me well! :)
About your planning to be early attitude, it is very correct. A good sports coach for example would not accept their athletes aiming for second or third place. They have to aim for first place and maybe they would reach third or second if they are good.
Great tips! Unfortunately, in companies where crunch is part of the corporate culture, there is no way to put quality over volume, since you do not determine the volume. I really don't realize how to work in a situation where they tell you it's OK workflow - to do the worst quality, but important to be on time with all features for the release. But really a lot of people in the industry work this way and think it's normal. What can we do with the scope in this case? Cut? But we cannot reduce scope indefinitely. Such videos help you not to go crazy and understand that there are companies with a high level of trust in employees and their estimation. Thank you for the video!
Yeah this is a fair point, that we’re not always in control of our workload. I would hope that even in more crunchy studios, that there is room for people to discuss with their leads the amount of work they have to do, and how the amount of work will impact the quality of the work. Suggesting things you could cut, or ways of simplifying the work without compromising too much quality, are definitely good things to do if you can. But yeah, some studios and projects can definitely make these things tricky! If things seem really bad in this area, then I do think it’s important to consider whether it’s the right place for you, and remember that every studio is different, and things can be better (or worse) elsewhere. (And if this video helps anyone not go crazy, then great, haha)
@stevelee_gamedev level design question. Those games you usually can go only left or right. With more emphasis (a lot of the time im noticed) on background actions and larger environments. Kind of like Inside or Black the Fall. Planet of Lana.
What have I missed? I'm curious to hear what works for you in terms of helping making sure you get things done on time - let us know!
Another thing I could've mentioned is taking the Skateboard First approach to building out your game / level - I talk about it in this vid: th-cam.com/video/uuCMeH7a_Es/w-d-xo.html
I also could've talked about designing elegantly as a whole separate point, like I did in the final section of this talk of mine, back in 2018: th-cam.com/video/fuEcNGbze5g/w-d-xo.html
Paralysis by analysis is another pain point for many, including me. An empty canvas is terrifying. I've found that I need to put something in there right away even if I delete it 5 minutes later. I force myself to get going.
Watching this a day before my deadline, nice
Haha
Absolutely. Agree on every single advise. Unfortunately because most of us already faced all 9, and we just accept the truth) Personally, I would add "Don't waste your ideas". We all know that feeling when a "genius" idea seems like a total trash to you after only few days of thinking about it. Nah, no way this is gonna make me a famous game designer, I need something bigger and more interesting than that. This somehow corresponds with "done and done well". If you loved the idea, there is definitely something about it, that caught your attention. Find different approach, ask for an advise, take a different view on it. Concentrate on developing the concept rather than finding a magic key to the game of all times by wasting dozens of "genius" ideas. The idea is worth nothing without hard work, tries and failures.
Agreed - especially with ideas that keep coming back to you over time. Usually there's something in it that means something to you, and that might be worth more attention or commitment than you're giving it 👍
I'm doing exactly this! A few years in now... I had a very subtle idea to go with, but it's paying off now. Hard work, it's in the execution
@@ViktorartSnowtracked feel free to collaborate on sharing your progress with others. I am also glad to share ideas and experience with someone who is in the same situation
You make some of the best level/game design content, thank you for all of this. I love how you leave these funny imperfections in your videos, never change that!
Haha, glad you like 'em. Thanks :)
This channel existence is a blessing
All good points! Some things here I hadn't considered. A couple more which I find help out with general productivity when working at a studio: 1. Each day, write a list of 3 key things you want to achieve. It depends on the person, but keep it fairly light as you will always come across unforeseen things like chats, problem solving, tools issues, etc. 2. Mark out time on your calendar for design work as you would with a meeting. This helps structure your week and also makes sure people know you're busy in the calendar. Design thinking often falls by the wayside in favour of more practical work. 3. Always communicate when you hit a brick wall. Someone may have an immediate solve to an issue which you could spend hours on.
Great tips!
To add on to your last point, I'd say be aware of hyper-fixating on features or ideas. Know when to step away and work on something else, or to ask yourself "Is this thing really THAT important?"
Yep 👍
Great points! For number 6 "Do things in the right order", I think a big part of the reason it's important to do the most risky things first is that different elements in a design tend to depend on each other; they're not completely independent. So when you do something risky which might end up not working well, you don't want to already have created other elements of the design that depended on an assumption that the risky thing would work fine, because then you might have to redo not only the risky elements itself, but also the already created other elements that depended on it. That's why you want to tackle risky elements first, so the amount of rework is as limited as possible. I think the point in the video that doing risky things late can "screw you" was about this same thing; I just didn't feel it was articulated very explicitly.
Yeah totally, I think you're right :)
Pretty great advice. I'd say these things extend into any creative work. I was just having a conversation with a new hire earlier today about doing a "broad strokes" pass first. I always try (in video and animation) to get everything represented in some form early and then come back through with a detail pass. It's sort of like sand paper. Start with the coarse grit first on the whole thing, then come back with finer and finer grit until the surface is flawless (or close to it).
Yeah, broad strokes / quick and dirty at first etc, is one of the main things I realised I kinda skimmed over when I was editing the video. Totally agree that kind of approach is vital 👍
I think Steve Lee's advice here is super valid for anyone who is working as professional, who needs to make actual decisions affect to the project in their daily work. I had been working as software engineer myself and I really think this video should be used as educational material for job training or something.
This is great to hear, thanks :)
Thank you very much, that was super helpful! I rarely take so many "notes per video minute" :-) As someone who precisely tracks their focused work hours, it felt good to hear you talk about the 8 office hours. I often feel bad when I only worked like 4-5 fully focused hours in one day and hear people talk about their 60-80 hour work week. I should ask them to run a timer too 🙂
And I'd love to see a video about making elegant decisions about how to spend your time. Sounds like a fundamental skill that rarely gets talked about.
Yeah I hope to get to the video about elegant design / decisions someday. Great to hear you found the video so useful 👍
Great vid, sent this one around the studio
Cheers Steve, good to hear :)
Very important video. A friend of mine has been in game development for over 5 years and I hear the same talking points from him when discussing the work. Thank you for such an important and wise video!
I also want to add a couple important points: sometimes I feel like I have a lot of free time because I work from home and can sit down at my computer and overwork myself. You don't need to do that, it's important to be productive during the work day and not waste precious minutes on procrastination. And it is also important to monitor your mental health and at least for preventive purposes visit a psychologist to unload your head and approach work without a lot of internal problems and blocks.
Totally agree about taking care of yourself and being conscious of your mental health. And great to hear you like the video, thanks :)
thank you, my dear teacher on TH-cam, and congrats for the 10k subs!
Cheers Chris!
Found it very useful, great reminders and great music choices! Cheers
Great to hear, and glad you liked the music 👍
This is really a valuable piece of knowledge
Great to hear it's useful, cheers :)
Thanks Steve, really helpful, literally noted everything you said.
Great to hear, cheers :)
Thank you for your advice and your presentation. It helped cheering me up, and motivated me to get through the procrastinating moment. hehe
Haha, great to hear it helped :)
Hey Steve, I really like your videos and I love how you see and explain Level Design or in this case general dev tips. You and the content you make is a huge enrichment for the Level & Game Design community in my opinion. You also inspired me to really go the path of Level Design and try to become a Level Designer.
That's lovely to hear, cheers :) Good luck on your LD journey!
@@stevelee_gamedev Thank you!
Great and important video, thank you! Your channel is one of a kind. I didn't find such thorough information about game structure, level design philosophy and principles and overall about how to think about creating your game anywhere else. And it's always pleasant to listen to someone who worked in one of my favorite studios creating one of my favorite games that awed and inspired me ;)
Thank you! And please do record a video on that elegant game design approach to everything. Because I'm in the early stages of creating my first game with my girlfriend, and I try to choose what ideas, mechanics and stuff to use in this game and what things I might better leave for later, for some DLC or a sequel. It's very important, to learn how to choose appropriate ideas to include and what to leave off.
Cheers Alexander, great to hear you like the channel :) Definitely hope to get down to the elegant design video someday... there's just so much going on it might take a while, haha. In the meantime, good luck with the game 👍
@@stevelee_gamedev Yes, I can imagine you're a busy bee :) Just wanted to thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge, that's invaluable. And thank you for wishing me well! :)
Hell of a channel you have here Steve! Keep up the awesome!
Cheers Eric! :)
About your planning to be early attitude, it is very correct. A good sports coach for example would not accept their athletes aiming for second or third place. They have to aim for first place and maybe they would reach third or second if they are good.
Thanks, that was very helpful.
Good to hear, thanks :)
this was just generally solid life advice (with some excellent tunes I may say 🤓)
Aye - tracks 1, 7, 10 and 11 in this are yours, I believe ❤
Nice video as always Steve. I'm guilty of a lot of this. Can't wait to use your advice to help with my current portfolio piece.
Cheers, hope it helps!
@@stevelee_gamedev Thanks! I'm sure it will.
These were all pretty helpful for me, thank you so much Steve.
Top notch as always, cheers.
Great to hear, cheers Youssef :)
Thanks. This was helpful.
Awesome stuff, thanks a lot
2:12 - "Must have been a rat."
Haha 👌
Pretty cool video
Cheers Daniel, glad you like it 👍
Solid advice
Great stuff!
Thanks for the insights 🙏🏻✨
Good to hear, cheers Ben 👍
Great tips! Unfortunately, in companies where crunch is part of the corporate culture, there is no way to put quality over volume, since you do not determine the volume. I really don't realize how to work in a situation where they tell you it's OK workflow - to do the worst quality, but important to be on time with all features for the release. But really a lot of people in the industry work this way and think it's normal.
What can we do with the scope in this case? Cut? But we cannot reduce scope indefinitely.
Such videos help you not to go crazy and understand that there are companies with a high level of trust in employees and their estimation. Thank you for the video!
Yeah this is a fair point, that we’re not always in control of our workload. I would hope that even in more crunchy studios, that there is room for people to discuss with their leads the amount of work they have to do, and how the amount of work will impact the quality of the work. Suggesting things you could cut, or ways of simplifying the work without compromising too much quality, are definitely good things to do if you can. But yeah, some studios and projects can definitely make these things tricky! If things seem really bad in this area, then I do think it’s important to consider whether it’s the right place for you, and remember that every studio is different, and things can be better (or worse) elsewhere.
(And if this video helps anyone not go crazy, then great, haha)
I have a question, is it possible to become both? Kinda like a lead designer role but I want to focus on the setting side of the game
What about designing 2.5D levels???
In terms of getting them done on time? Do you have a more specific questions about what you mean?
@stevelee_gamedev level design question. Those games you usually can go only left or right. With more emphasis (a lot of the time im noticed) on background actions and larger environments. Kind of like Inside or Black the Fall. Planet of Lana.
@stevelee_gamedev or have you ever done anything along those lines? Interested
this is awesome
Cheers :)