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Just what are you looking at here:

This is a gallery of Maya viewport screen grabs of some of the levels I have worked on*. I took these grabs from Maya because this is how these levels look in the game. All lighting is vertex only. There are no shadow maps, and only diffuse textures. All featured levels are well under 100K polys, with many as low as 40K. Most Levels shown were completed in 3 weeks.

The aspects of Level Design that I enjoy:

Depending on the type of game being made, the level design and mission progression can be one of the most important aspects of the project's design, right up there with player mechanics. Getting the prototype of a level running in the game engine for the first time, walking/driving/flying around for the first time in that newborn level is extremely exciting. Sometimes the very first rev is a blast, and others, well, at least it looked good on paper. Game-play is by far the most rewarding part of level building. Fun is fun. Either something is fun, or it isn't. Artistic styles and asthetics are a different story. I've always felt that it is much easier to please the Game Designer than it is the Art Director.

Another fun part of Level Design is the level specific animations, particle effects, and destruction sequences or end events. These kind of things really bring a level to life. Many triggered animations, may need several revisions so prefer not bother the character animators unless I don't have the time. I really love destructions. Making an end event that looks great, but is completed in a second is challanging, but I would love to do some more really grand, multi-stage destruction sequences.

*For the levels featured to the left, I was responible for all render terrain, population, BSP collision, UVs, and early texture work. Most of the diffuse maps were re-worked by our texture artists. In many cases, final lighting was tweaked by the Art Director. Gold-ready game art is a collaborative effort at Smart Bomb, and I cannot take full credit for it.