$12256 / $11500
I have an unconventional question/topic that I hope some people will respond to. I am a writer working on a novel. I want my main character to be a video game artist. But I do not know very much (at all) about the gaming world. I will be conducting research elsewhere but really want to talk to some people who can give me personal details about the culture of the gaming industry, and day-to-day realities of the job.
Based on some light research, I would want my character to be a level designer. (Please correct me if I have any facts wrong!) I would want him to mainly work on mapping and landscaping through pen and paper drawing and Adobe. The plot of this novel is that he loses his sight and can no longer work very accurately through these mediums, at which point he will continue to work with the same team of designers and contribute with ideas, and eventually move to using 3 dimensional mediums, perhaps designing character and landscape objects through clay or something? I realize there have been many successful blind artists but for the purposes of this novel I would at least want him to switch from drawing and computer design to another medium.
Again, I know nothing, please correct me if any of my ideas are unrealistic and tell me anything you're willing to share about this world. THANKS!
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Hey.. You might have better luck posting on http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev and http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedesign
There's also http://www.reddit.com/r/LevelDesign but it's not very active..
This article will help give you an understanding of what kind of work goes into good level design.. http://superhappyfunblock.com/blog/gamedesign/puzzle/2015/05/10/puzzles-... (the lessons here can be applied to more than just puzzle games)
He'd probably not go full out creating intricate models until he has a good understanding of how the levels will play out.. Crafting things that are easy to change or discard as the work continues..
But you can only go so far that way, you have see how it all works out within the actual program at some point.. And I think it'd be pretty challenging for a level designer to figure out what's working and what needs to be changed from word of mouth alone..
There are games that rely less on gameplay mechanics and are still fun, Journey on the PS3 is the best example I can think of.. A game like that, I could imagine someone being able to craft more intuitively..
Other than that, maybe he could just take on a stronger role of focus on just worldbuilding and leave the intricacies of level design to one of colleagues.. http://www.reddit.com/r/worldbuilding
Anyway, good luck!