Welcome to The Official SnarkPit Interview Series of 2011. Here we're looking to interview individuals who have at least two years experience designing levels for games. We accepted entries from amateurs and professionals alike in an effort to enlighten the masses, especially those who are aspiring level designers or hobbyists. From new to old, there is something to be learned by all. People from around the world talk about what got them into level design, and what they do to push the limits and explore the possibilities. Level design has always been a collaborative effort spent conversing with others for critiques and opinions, and it is in this spirit that these interviews are presented to you.

This is Interview #2 out of the series as given by Mr. Andrew (OmegaSlayer) Egelhofer.

Andrew Egelhofer has worked on such projects as the Eternal Silence mod (HL2), and dm_castigate map(HL2DM). He has been an active member of SnarkPit.net since 2004 as the user: OmegaSlayer, and continues today to assist mappers and modders on the forums in their efforts. He is currently working towards his degree in computer science (programming) at San Jose State University in California and still maps casually in his free time. While although programming his is focus of study, he maintains that "3D is where [his] passion lies."


You can best reach him through his SnarkPit User Profile page: http://www.snarkpit.net/index.php?p=viewprofile&uid=446
(You will need to register and/or sign-in as a SnarkPit member to send him a 'personal message' through our system).


The Interview:
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1. SnarkPit: Could you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got involved with level design?

Andrew: I guess it would have first started in ’96 when I picked up a modeling program and tinkered around with it. I then played a game called Quake, and found that it had a level editor, at that point I had made some simple levels (Killboxes), and experimented, but the real work came out when my friend had pointed me to world craft. I remember fondly about following the “your first level" tutorial, and creating two connected rooms with lights and pre-fabs. From there it took off to other works.

2. SnarkPit: How long have you been mapping or doing level design work?

Andrew: I would say since I joined the Snark Pit back in ’03, was when I had worked on a collaboration map with my friend; it was called op4_classic. From there I started learning how to give good feedback to the members however, I enjoyed “trolling” the question board answering obscure questions such as: Why maps wont load, or why they wont compile or, my favorite: How to find leaks in the HL1 engine!

3. SnarkPit: Where are you from and where do you currently work?

Andrew: I live out in Sunnyvale California, near Google, Mozilla, yahoo, IBM, Face Book, Apple, and a whole load of big names, but I don’t work for any of them. I work as a computer repair technician at a shop. It pays the bills, but 3D is where my passion lies.

4. SnarkPit: What games and game types do you map for?

Andrew: A while ago I mapped for a mod team called Eternal-Silence; I created
the es_asteroid level. This mod went on to win an award at the IGF for Best Multiplayer FPS Mod of the Year.


es_asteroid - An original Eternal-Silence map

Then I worked on a dm_crossfire remake, dm_castigate; this map took the original concept of crossfire and put it in a new light in the HL2 universe. If you look closely you can see the layout from crossfire is there in this new one.

After that, I got burnt out from mapping and took a break. Now I map on and off, I’m mainly studying computer science at San Jose State University in California, and that takes up a lot of my time however, the mapping bug bites me once in a while, and I put in a good couple of days on my side projects that I have on the back burner (mainly an Eternal-Silence map that I had been developing for over 4 years when I started on that mod team).

5. SnarkPit: If level design is currently a hobby for you, What do you plan to do, or continue doing with your experience and skills in the near future?

Andrew: It is still a hobby however, mapping with deadlines definitely ruined that for me a little bit; it moved from being a hobby to a job. Now I plan to use my mapping/mod background as experience on a resume to get a job at a game design company. My true passion will reside with content creation in 3D space (models, levels) however, my education is more geared towards 3D programming, so I suppose that will mean I will be designing the tools to make the 3D worlds (like Hammer, or UnrealEd). I’ve thought about 3D engine programming, but that’s a whole master’s degree in its own right.


op4_classic - A map for HL: Opposing Force


6. SnarkPit: What kind of system do you run?

Andrew: I used to run everything on an AMD Athlon 64 3400+ (2.5Ghz) with 1.5Gigs of RAM, on a decent map (at least my final version maps) it would take a good 2 hours to compile. Now I have an Intel i7 (3.6Ghz), 6 Gigs of RAM, and two 10K Raptors in Raid 0. It compiles decent sized maps in 30 min.

7. SnarkPit: What is the most important step or aspect in designing a level for you, and what should a beginning level designer focus on the most in attempting to develop their skills?

Andrew: Here, I can’t stress this enough: Game play, game play, game play, and ohh yeah! More game play! People won’t really remember your map for how nice it looked; they will remember how fun and satisfying it was killing their opponents on your level. Why do people think "Killbox" maps were so popular? The game play was fun and exciting. The first steps should be designing interesting game play. Vertical differences are important; it makes people move to taller heights for an advantage over their opponents, then use this “flow” to design a layout for your level. You also want to give players plenty of choices to move in and out of combat zones. I call this connectivity of a level, it’s the idea of how many choices can you make in a certain room, as well as move from one area to another quickly, and easily.

8. SnarkPit: Is there a particular level or custom map from any game that stands out as an excellent example of craftsmanship? Why?

Andrew: One map that I think does this well is dm_torque by Yak_Fighter. This map has great vertical game play, and it leads to a fun level to frag on with 2 through 24 players. It also integrates the theme of the battle ridden City 17 well using the gameplay.


dm_torque - A noteworthy HL2DM map by Yak_fighter

9. SnarkPit: Are there any special techniques you use in designing your levels?

Andrew: I like to imagine myself walking through the level, and making that area look like what it would in real life. I can do this by just walking around the real world. When I’m in buildings I’m looking at the architecture, shapes, and color. Once I was in a movie theater in town, and the lobby was just a giant square room (like a Killbox), and I said to myself “wow this level is designed poorly.” It’s always on my mind, and I think that’s why great looking levels have certain “realism” to them that we draw from the places we go to or have been to.

10. SnarkPit: How important is optimization to you in designing a level, and how much of your time would you say you commit to it out of the entire level design process?

Andrew: Optimization should be done as the level is being built, not at the last minute. You should design your hallways to block parts of the level that should not be drawn. The tools provided to us (hint brushes, area portals, occlusion surfaces) are merely tools to improve the design slightly, its not to be relied on as a “fix-it-all.”

11. SnarkPit: What other skills do you think are imperative for a modern level designer?

Andrew: I’ve seen the trend of level design move towards concurrent model creation. Models are great to use because they are well optimized however, creating them is another story. You need to learn to use another tool to create them. Being the way Hammer is designed, it is very backwards in terms of control scheme compared to modeling programs. So I would say learning a modeling program (and Photoshop for creating texture maps for your model) is very imperative for today’s level designers.


dm_castigate - A dm_crossfire remake for HL2DM

12. SnarkPit: What other hobbies or careers do you work/study in and do you think they compliment your level design knowledge and or skills?

Andrew: My degree that I’m working towards (Programming) has really helped me understand the map compiler. I’ve gone over the code and understood what it does. This has helped me create more efficient levels. Likewise, I’ve made a more efficient compiler using Valve’s source code (early terminations, efficient use of memory, etc.).

13. SnarkPit: What three (he insisted four ) pieces of advice would you have for an aspiring level designer?

Andrew:
-Game play – This is what will make people remember your level (or even a game you design).
-Take Criticism Well – People give feedback so you may improve your design. Don’t let criticism fall on deaf ears.
-Join a Mod team – You will get a lot of experience with criticism, as well as working with a team, which is critical when you want to do this for a living.
-Classes – Take an architecture class, or an art class. DO NOT TAKE A LEVEL DESIGN CLASS. They are scams, they only teach you how to use the tool, not what makes a level great. Art and Architecture will inspire you to create better levels/worlds.

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I'd like to thank Andrew Egelhofer for taking his time to answer these questions thoughtfully and without restraint. We wish you all the best in your mission to build up the level design community professionally and your efforts to help the burgeoning amateur level designers out there! Thank you.

If you're interested in giving an interview and feel that you qualify, feel free to check out our questions and criteria for submitting an entry here. We're eager to hear what you have to say!