Tokyo Downtown 3rd Person
This is the first week assignment from the CGMA Curse "Level Design for Games" I took in 2023, by Shane Canning a Level Design Game veteran in the industry and a very talented designer.
Assignment
“To begin your level design assignment, determine an appropriate scale for the scene. Ensure that doors, buildings, and other elements are proportionate to the size of the player's character. Each week, challenge yourself to exceed the example level provided. Create a contained space for the player to navigate and avoid creating bottomless pits along the edges of the level. Utilize your creativity to add extra details, hidden surprises, set dressing, and foliage to make the level rewarding to explore on the path to completing the level's objective.”
“Please Include
Proper start position facing towards the level
An intersection of at least two streets ( T-Junction)
A store that stands out in the level
Boundaries to block the player in (or death fall trigger in case I fall”
I chose to post the first week to show how raw I was when I started the course. I was still unaware of some basic Level Design ideas, as well as various Environments Artists and Level Artists, who I thought I had mastered even though I didn't know they existed.
As I studied architecture and urbanism for three years at university, I was extremely happy to learn that we would be starting the first week by observing the urbanism of an architectural style that I find very beautiful and rich.
I ran to the books I had on the subject and spent hours researching.
I tried something that I discovered was a meme in Level Design, such as verticality. However, as I only had a week, I went for a visual, observational verticality. Trying to make the player feel enchanted and sometimes stop to admire the urbanism of the stone jungle during a typical Asian neighborhood festival.
Without further ado, here are the requirements for week 001 of the course.
Here is a download link so you can try it.
Have fun.