Aspiring Level Designers Conference at QuakeCon 2005 This conference is directed at game players who have ideas or ambitions and wish to bring their concepts of game levels into a real, playable level. This session is designed to be between 60-90 minutes long, and focus on the "what" and "why" of level design, and only touching on the "how". General overview of discussion topics Purpose of LDC Personal reasons for beginning a Level Designer Lots of people want to build levels If all maps were great maps, they'd all be normal, and there would be no competition to innovate Benefits of level design Rewarding Fun Challenging Quake3 technology Who uses it - retail games, mods, etc Is it "old"? Fundamentals learned from level design, for Quake3 engine based games Example - Q3 tool knowledge is very portable to new games, such as Doom3 Part 1 - What is a... Texture Shader Brush Patch Part 2 - What is a... Surface Entity Skybox Model Tools GtkRadiant map editor GtkRadiant plugins Q3Ase q3map2build Using winzip to build a PK3 Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, Gimp, or other favorite image editor for texture manipulation Tips for testing new levels (console commands) Designing a level Pencil and paper layout Benefits and potential problems of not planning ahead Patience is a virture Basic functionallity of GtkRadiant The interface Mouse control Keyboard control and shortcuts Menu overview Menu button overview Functions of GtkRadiant Games and mods supported Platforms supported Compiling your level Shader support Curves support Plugins Building/compiling your level Q3Map2 What are the basic options' purposes? -BSP -Vis -Light Quirks Setting up GtkRadiant for the first time Different versions of GtkRadiant Shaders failing to function The vertex daemons Support It tales a village to raise a child... Available forums Helpful websites Lend a hand when you can Rev 06 Design by a wily duck