What have you worked on?
My work and resume can be found on
my portfolio website.
How did you start?
I started out by creating stand alone custom levels for the original Unreal Tournament. I didn't participate in a modding team at all the first few years. I broke into the industry with my large number of quality custom levels, with which I managed to convince studios to hire me. Basically I didn't do anything more than just making some good levels, and let my work do the talking.
How did you learn all of this?
Nearly everything I know, I learned by myself. When I started with UnrealEd, I didn't had any access to the internet at all, and only very limited knowledge of English. I just started up UnrealEd, and clicked on everything to see what it all did. I continued doing this until I understood enough of it to build a number of levels. By the time I finally got internet, I already mastered a good deal of the editor. I am not a tutorial guy, I am pretty bad at anything theoretical in fact, but really fast at learning things by just doing them. None the less, tutorials definitely did help me master the really complex things later on.
How long have you been doing this?
I started with level design in 1999 and I got into the industry around late 2002, early 2003. 9 years of level design experience, 5 years of professional experience.
Why did you get into this?
I don't know really. I used to play a lot with Lego and the like, so I guess that I just continued what I was already doing, designing buildings and other kind of constructions. At first it was never my intention to ever do this professional. The first two years it was just a hobby and nothing more than that.
What do you value most in levels?
Atmosphere! An extra layer of depth. I want an environment to really immerse me inside the world and to invoke emotion within me. I need to feel the humid air, the warmth, the anger, the frustration, the fear, and so on. That, and consistency within an environment, are two things I value highly.
What does your name mean?
Nothing really. It is a random word I just got to back in 1999, and as I really liked how it sounded and looked, I decided to use it as my own name. It is a completely unique and made up name.
How long does it take you to create a level?
This depends a lot on the type of level, its size, the amount of custom assets, the engine it runs on, and so on. The levels that took me least time were DM-Sae for UT2004 and MP_TheSpire for Gears Of War, which were both done in less than 60 hours. The HOLP pack levels were even created in under 24 hours. Several other levels however, easily took me more than 500 hours of work to complete. I am usually a very quick worker though.
How much time do you spend on this a week?
I used to spend at least 12 to 14 hours a day, seven days a week, on game development, but the last few years social commitments have brought that back to around 8 to 10 hours a day. Nonetheless, I must have spend well over ten thousand hours on it already. My record stands at 22 hours of development work, non stop.
Do you want to make a level for my mod?
No, sorry.
I need help with learning Unreal Engine or get the development of game up to speed!
I am available for short term contracts, either remotely or if it is within Europe, on location. Workshops, private training, development advice, and polishing/optimizing your existing content all belong to the possibilities. Please contact
me@Hourences.com for more information.
I want to become a professional Level Designer one day, should I learn to program?
Not necessarily, but it won't hurt having some understanding of it. A big issue with the profession of a level designer is that every single game studio on the planet describes the role of a level designer differently. Where as at some studios a level designer never ever touches anything that even remotely looks like programming, at other studios level designers may spend large amounts of time scripting gameplay every day. So it depends largely on the studio. I am personally really bad at any type of programming or scripting, and always focus on level design jobs that are more visually orientated. So in short, if you like the visual side of level design more, do not get into programming. However, if you like to design and script gameplay, do try to get at home in a simple programming/scripting language. Look up LUA on google. It is a pretty simple scripting language used in a large number of popular games. Mastering that may definitely help.
And what about a modeling package such as 3DSMax or Maya?
Again, this depends on the studio, and on your personal view on level design. If you are visually orientated and you usually seem to care more about looks than gameplay, then yes, do get into such program, as good as you possibly can.
On the other hand, if you especially like to design gameplay, do get into it, but only master the basics. Some studios may require you to build basic mockup levels (very low poly cubic levels) in a 3D package, so as soon as you can do that in a 3D package, you are good to go!
And how skilled should I be in drawing concept art?
I am personally really bad at drawing. I did an art course for a few years, and I know all the rules and things to keep in mind concerning drawing, but I am still terrible at it. So is it necessary? No, not at all, but of course, mastering it never hurts either! The most important thing is that you can communicate your idea and your view on the subject clearly to other members of your team. Whether you do so by drawing concept art, or by simply googling photos online and assembling a collage, it doesn't really matter.
What should I really add in my level design/environment art portfolio?
It depends on the kind of level design jobs you want to apply for. There are many different ways to present your work if you are going for an art position such as an environment artist or level artist, but in general the most important thing is that you show your work ingame! You need to show that, besides simply being a great artist, you can also handle the more technical side of the work such as the importing process, work with specific limitations, handle annoying things such as simplified collisions, work clean and efficient, that you are aware of common tricks you can pull off to fake this or that without wasting a huge amount of resources, the implications things like vertex lighting may have on your model, and so on.
If you are on the lookout for a more gameplay orientated position, it would be wise to motivate your design decisions. Show that you put thought in the level. Why is your floorplan shaped like it is? What impact does the floorplan has on the gameplay and why did you choose to go that way? Motivate the gameplay related design decisions that you made. Also, make sure that your levels can be downloaded and played so others can test out your levels themselves. It may also help to provide some gameplay scripts you wrote, and a design document, describing a to-be-made level. Its background story, gameplay keypoints, and other important information.
Whatever position you are looking for, always specify what exactly in the level you made yourself, and how long it took you to build the whole thing. If you used an existing piece of concept art, mention that. The same goes for using textures that came with the game, or anything else that you didn't do.
Do I really need to use level editors such as Hammer or UnrealEd if I want to build levels?
No, not really, but it is advisable. Especially the Unreal Engine is hugely popular right now, so mastering that certainly isn't a bad idea. However, there are still hundreds of studios out there who do not make use of specific editors, but build all of it in Maya or 3DSMax. In general an editor does a better job at it than a general 3D package, as the latter wasn't really made to do that kind of work, and lacks certain features and tools that you do have in an editor. Also, it is of great importance to a.) be able to actually play your level, something a 3D package does not allow you to, and b.) to have your level be rendered in real time.
Should I attend a game development school?
That is a very difficult question that I can not answer for you. I discussed the pros and contras of game development schools quite extensively in my book "The Hows and Whys of the Games Industry", but in the end it is up to you to decide whether or not it suits you and if you really need it.
How many game development schools are there in your area? And are they any good or all brand new? How skilled are you yourself already? If you are already quite good, you might get hold of a job without any degree at all, as plenty of people got into the industry that way. How disciplined are you? Some just can't get anything done if they don't have someone that checks them up and motivates them. Where do you live and where would you want to live one day? Countries like the USA are notoriously hard to get into without proper degrees. And so on.
There are a lot of really bad schools out there so if you do decide to go for such course, do some extensive research. You wouldn't want to waste three or four years of your life on something like that.
And if you really don't know what to do, do both. Attend a game development course, and while you're doing so, keep applying to studios. If you fail to get hired, no problem, you will still have the game development course to fall back on. If you do get hired, all the better!
How many years of experience does one need to get into the games industry?
This depends on how much time you put into it, and how talented you are. Most people spend about two to four years modding games, before they manage to get hired somewhere.
What is the best way of getting into all of this?
By just doing it. Don't talk about it, just do it. And most important, like, even love, what you are doing or you won't keep it up. You don't get into this for the fame or money, as if there is any, but because you really really like what you are doing. Game development is not a career choice, it is a calling.
These days there is a massive amount of support available for people who wish to get into modding and game development. Nowadays people can attend a game development school, there are several books available on mastering the Unreal Engine (and others), thousands of hours of video tutorials on just about any popular engine or 2D/3D package, and thousands of tutorials are available online. Pick the approach that suits you most. I personally got into all of this by just experimenting, and reading a couple of small and random tutorials.
Learning by simply experimenting still is one of the best way to master something though, and in fact indispensable within the games industry. Not everything is documented and if you can't get around a problem using nothing more than your own insight and logic thought, this industry won't work out for you.
Can you recommend a website for this or that?
You can find links to some cool websites on
the Links page.
