Iterative Map Design

also known as:

Classification

#process

Intent

• Build a detailed map of the level.
• Improve upon older map designs.
• Constantly update the map.

Problem

General

• Any product goes through different steps of production (see Software Engineering Workflow).
• Designing comes before the actual development/prototyping.
• However, in the production phase, the limits of the product are discovered, and sometimes the product’s design has to be changed.
• Agile Development focuses on iterations (Agile Manifesto).

Specific

• Iterative design integrates feedback from other designers, team members, and external playtesters.

Process Steps

Iterative Design according to Zimmermann:

Step 1: Draw a Map

• Create a first draft of your Map that shows every important element you want to include.
• You can refer back to the Drawing a Map method to get an idea of how to draw a level map.
• Relevant roles: Designer, Artist.
• Tools: Digital Art Tools, Non-digital Design Tools.

Step 2: Test

• Test your first draft of the map by Gamespace Prototyping the layout, meaning that you build the layout of the map with simplified mechanics and forms.
• This will result in a prototype of the level.
• A map can also be tested without a prototype. Instead, you can test the map by merely discussing it with other designers who have different insights into the level.
• Relevant roles: Designer, Engineer.
• Tools: Game Engines.

Step 3: Analyze

• Discuss what you found out in the Prototyping step or while discussing the map with each other.
• Identify what works and what doesn’t work in the layout.
• Also, consider the pacing (can be analyzed in a Pacing Diagram) and how the map enforces the pacing you imagined.
• Document your findings to keep in mind what needs to be changed.
• Relevant roles: Designer.

Step 4: Refine

• Refine the map by taking into account all the points that need to be changed.
• Draw the refined map with more detail, at some point considering metrics as well.
• Relevant roles: Designer, Artist.
• Tools: Digital Art Tools, Non-digital Design Tools, Computational Tools.

Step 5: Repeat from step 2

• Iterate over the process until you’re satisfied with your findings.

Applicability

• Similar to prototyping your overall level, iterating over your map is an important step to discover problems early on.
• It’s a design step, but the map is still updated during the development phase.
• Consider how many loops you want to do as they cost money and resources.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Find problems early on.
• Keep your map updated with your ideas and findings.
• Problems get smaller and smaller with more iterations.

Cons:

• Need to spend more time and resources on iterations.
• Might be difficult to make a loop/iteration meaningful and truly realize its potential (Schell 2014).

Related Processes

• Can be done in parallel with Game Development during the pre-production, production, and testing phases.
• Combat Design can also be taken into consideration with the map design.
• Gamespace Prototyping of the level uses the material created in the iterative map design as well.

Relevant Literature

Game Design Workshop

Totten 2019 - An Architectural Approach of Level Design

Schell 2014 - A Book of Lenses

Zimmermann 2003 - Play as Research

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