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Session Name:

Level Design Workshop: Adding Life to your Level

Overview:

Games offer new worlds to players for them to explore and interact with. A game's world is a set and the player is the lead actor--as amazing as starring in a one-person show might be, a world that surrounds the player with life can be far more immediate and engrossing. Environmental storytelling does a great job of hinting at lives past, but AI actors with systemic behaviors are the key to demonstrating the life of a level right in front of the player. The presence that these performers and their interactions lend to the experience help the player to believe in the world itself. The talk will look at the systems driving Elizabeth, BioShock Infinite's companion character, and the "living world" of Mafia III, relating lessons learned during development and giving guidelines for bringing a level and its occupants to life.

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  • GDC 2016
  • Seth Rosen
  • Hangar 13
  • free content
  • Design
  • Design