Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design

1. Table of Contents
   1. Foreword
   2. Introduction: Press Start!
      1. If You Are Anything Like Me . . .
      2. No, You Can’t Have My Job
      3. Who Is This Book For?
      4. Why a Second Edition?
   3. Level 1: Welcome, N00bs!
      1. A Brief History of Video Games
      2. The Brave New World of Gaming: Mobiles, Online Distribution, and Touchscreens
      3. Game Genres
      4. Who Makes This Stuff?
         1. Programmer
         2. Artist
         3. Designer
         4. Producer
         5. Tester
         6. Composer
         7. Sound Designer
         8. Writer
      5. Have You Thought about Publishing?
         1. Product Manager
         2. Creative Manager
         3. Art Director
         4. Technical Director
         5. Marketing Team
         6. And the Rest . . .
   4. Level 2: Ideas
      1. Ideas: Where to Get Them and Where to Stick Them
      2. Getting Ahead of the Game
      3. What Do Gamers Want?
      4. Brainstorming
      5. Breaking Writer’s Block
      6. Why I Hate “Fun”
   5. Level 3: Writing the Story
      1. Once Upon a Time . . .
      2. The Triangle of Weirdness
      3. A Likely Story
      4. Time to Wrap It Up
      5. A Game by Any Other Name
      6. Creating Characters Your Players Care About
      7. A Few Pointers on Writing for Kids of All Ages
      8. Writing for Licenses
   6. Level 4: You Can Design a Game, but Can You Do the Paperwork?
      1. Writing the GDD, Step 1: The One-Sheet
         1. ESRB Ratings
         2. Unique Selling Points
         3. Competitive Products
      2. Writing the GDD, Step 2: The Ten-Pager
         1. The Rule of Threes
         2. The Ten-Pager Outline
      3. Writing the GDD, Step 3: Gameplay Progression
      4. Writing the GDD, Step 4: The Beat Chart
      5. Writing the GDD, Step 5: The Game Design Document (and the Awful Truth about Writing It)
      6. Writing the GDD, Step 6: Above All, Don’t Be a Jerk
   7. Level 5: The Three Cs, Part 1: Character
      1. Who Do You Want To Be Today?
         1. Personality: Do We Really Need Another Kratos?
         2. Let’s Get Personal
         3. Using All the Parts
         4. Games Without Characters
         5. We Are Not Alone
         6. When More Is More
         7. Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood?
      2. Finally, We Talk About Gameplay
         1. Metrics for Non-Characters
         2. Be Kind to Our Four-Legged Friends
         3. Why Walk When You Can Run?
         4. The Art of Doing Nothing
         5. Might as Well Jump
         6. Hoists and Teeters
         7. What Goes Up Must Fall Down
         8. Me and My Shadow
         9. The Water’s Fine . . . or Is It?
   8. Level 6: The Three Cs, Part 2: Camera
      1. Get It Right: Camera Views
      2. First Person Camera
      3. Third Person Camera
      4. Giving Up Control
         1. So You’ve Decided to Let the Player Control the Camera
         2. So You’ve Decided Not to Let the Player Have Control over the Camera
         3. So You’ve Decided to Let Players Sometimes Have Control over the Camera
      5. Two and a Half D
      6. Isometric Camera
      7. Top-Down Camera
      8. AR Cameras
      9. Special Case Cameras
      10. Tunnel Vision
      11. Camera Shot Guide
      12. Camera Angle Guide
      13. Camera Movement Guide
      14. Other Camera Notes
          1. Always Point the Camera to the Objective
          2. Never Let the Character Get out of the Camera’s Sight
      15. Multiple-Player Cameras
   9. Level 7: The Three Cs, Part 3: Controls
      1. Control Is in Your Hand
      2. You’ve Got the Touch
      3. Dance, Monkey, Dance
      4. Character or Camera Relative?
      5. Shake, Rattle, and Roll
   10. Level 8: Sign Language: HUD and Icon Design
       1. Heads Up!
          1. Health Bar
          2. Targeting Reticule
          3. Ammo Gauge
          4. Inventory
          5. Score/Experience
          6. Positive Messaging
          7. Radar/Map
          8. Context-Sensitive Prompts
          9. The Clean Screen
          10. Icon Has Cheezburger?
          11. Creating Icons for Mobile Games
          12. Don’t Get QTE
          13. HUDs and Where to Stick ‘Em
       2. There Are Other Screens Than the HUD
       3. A Final Word on Fonts
   11. Level 9: Everything I Learned About Level Design, I Learned from Level 9
       1. The Top 10 Cliché Video Game Themes
       2. The Name Game
       3. Everything I Learned About Level Design, I Learned from Disneyland
          1. Mapping the World
          2. Foreshadowing
          3. Goal Setting
       4. Following Procedure
       5. You’ve Got the Beat
       6. Re-using Re-use
       7. The Gary Gygax Memorial Mapping Section
       8. Sandbox Play
       9. Illusional Narrative
       10. The Dave Arneson Memorial Mapping Section
       11. Wrapping Up Mapping
       12. Gray Matters
       13. Leave the Training Level for Last
       14. Levels without Characters
   12. Level 10: The Elements of Combat
       1. 400 Quatloos on the Newcomer!
       2. Put ‘Em Up!
       3. And a One and a Two . . .
       4. The Big Finish
       5. Live by the Sword . . .
       6. Now You Have to Kiss Me
       7. Let’s Get Defensive
       8. Dodging the Bullet
       9. On Guarding
       10. State of the Art Bang Bang
       11. The Best Gun for You
       12. Run and Gun
       13. Not Just Shooting
       14. Dang it, Jones! Where Doesn’t It Hurt?
       15. Death: What Is It Good For?
       16. Conflict Without Combat
   13. Level 11: They All Want You Dead
       1. Sizing Up the Enemy
       2. Bad Behavior
       3. How Rapid is Rapid?
       4. Movement Style
       5. Bring on the Bad Guys
       6. I Love Designing Enemies
          1. The Alphabetical Bestiary of Choices
       7. I Hate You to Pieces
       8. Non-Enemy Enemies
       9. How to Create the World’s Greatest Boss Battle
       10. Who’s the Boss?
       11. Size Matters
       12. Location, Location, Location
       13. Why Not to Create the World’s Greatest Boss Battle
   14. Level 12: The Nuts and Bolts of Mechanics
       1. The Mechanics of Mechanics
       2. Holy Death Trap!
       3. What I Learned from Making Kids Cry
       4. Time to Die
       5. The Music of Mechanics
       6. Chip Off the Old Block
       7. A Nice Little Calm Spot
       8. Riddle Me This
       9. Puzzle Me That
       10. Minigames and Microgames
   15. Level 13: Now You’re Playing with Power
       1. Powering Up
       2. “Love Thy Player”
       3. Seriously. “Love Thy Player.”
       4. More Wealth Than You Can Imagine!
          1. High Score
          2. Achievements
          3. Money! Money! Money!
          4. Souvenirs
       5. Bonus Section about Bonus Features
       6. How to Win at Losing
   16. Level 14: Multiplayer—The More the Merrier
       1. How Many Is the Right Number?
       2. MMORPGS, or Hell Is Other People
       3. Designing Multiplayer Levels
          1. Planning Your Level
          2. Mapping Your Level
          3. Building Your Level
          4. The Dirty Half Dozen
   17. Level 15: Everybody Wins: Monetization
       1. Cashing In
       2. Money Is the Root of Something Something
   18. Level 16: Some Notes on Music
       1. I Know It When I Hear It
       2. Music with Style
       3. And the Beat Goes On. . .
       4. Sounds Like a Game to Me
   19. Level 17: Cutscenes, or No One’s Gonna Watch ‘Em Anyway
       1. A Cut Above
       2. How to Write a Screenplay in Eight Easy Steps
       3. Finding Your Voice
   20. Level 18: And Now the Hard Part
       1. No One Cares About Your Stupid Little World
       2. Who’s Paying?
       3. Video Games Is a Haaaard Business
          1. When Reality Gets in the Way
          2. Emergent, Vertical, or Horizontal?
       4. What to Do for an Encore?
   21. Continue?
       1. Time to Level Up!
   22. BONUS LEVEL 1: The One-Sheet Sample
   23. BONUS LEVEL 2: The Ten-Page Design Document.Sample
   24. BONUS LEVEL 3: Game Design Document Template
   25. BONUS LEVEL 4: The Medium-Sized List of.Story.Genres
   26. BONUS LEVEL 5: Game Genres
   27. BONUS LEVEL 6: The Big List of Environments
   28. BONUS LEVEL 7: Mechanics and Hazards
   29. BONUS LEVEL 8: Enemy Design Template
   30. BONUS LEVEL 9: Boss Design Template
   31. BONUS LEVEL 10: High-Concept Pitch Presentation
   32. BONUS LEVEL 11: Achievement Unlocked: Exactly Like Making Chili
   33. About the Author