Reflecting on World Design




The process over the past year has taught and incredible amount in regards to designing worlds and made me realise that I have been doing this my whole life without even realising it. It has sparked in me a passion for creating worlds and designing levels and laying out environments in games. A 500 word blog post seems too small a word count to cover all that I have learnt over this paper but if I had to pick three things that I have taken away that have influenced me the most they would have to be: how to guide the player, lighting, and designing a world
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Guiding the player was one of our first lectures and probably the most important and solidifying lecture for me. I never knew that so much work went into guiding the player and once I had this lecture, I saw this process in every game I played since. Things like placing large landmarks in areas where the player can get their bearings seems obvious but is very crucial. This allows the player to gather their bearings if lost or gives them an objective and purpose to go somewhere. Placing in obstructions such as a collapsing wall or fire or torches can also guide the player to where the developer wants them to go without breaking immersion like placing invisible walls can.

The second big eye opener I had was in regards to lighting. Again I knew nothing about how important it was to play around with this when creating a game. Lighting can honestly be, in my opinion, what makes or breaks a game/scene. There are so many tools at a developer’s disposal to create fantastic lighting in a level. I usually start with a basic directional light and sky sphere and adjust those to what I need, usually I’ll choose a time of day and adjust them accordingly. Next I’ll place in a skylight to soften shadows and colour them if needs be, implement god rays on the directional light then move on to atmospheric fog to really set the mood. Once I’m happy with all of those I’ll use a post processing volume to add final touches to the scene.

And finally, my favourite part of the entire year: designing a world. Nothing makes me happier than coming up with lore and narrative to create a believable and entertaining world and this paper has truly ignited that passion within me. I’ve found that I like to build a world from the inside out, starting with a single city, getting to know its inhabitants, rulers and culture, expanding out again and creating this areas outlying villages and towns. So on and so forth until I have a region complete with unique lore for each major town and the inhabitants within. Currently I am creating a world for a Dungeons and Dragons campaign I plan on running next year and this paper has been amazing for teaching me how to build my world so I can be a better Dungeon Master and Game Developer. In regards to video games I learnt to build a level from the landmark out, creating enough spatial awareness that the player can see their objective from wherever there are in the level, while keeping enough variation in design to keep the player interested in the environment and to encourage exploration.

There is so much more that I have learnt throughout the course of this paper, but I would just go on for days explaining everything I have learnt about world design, so I’ll just leave it at this: this paper has been the singular, most informative learning experience of my life.

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