13pm
Water Chip? Been There, Done That
Bethesda's team is big enough to post 'Inside the Vault' features every week. Today it is Jeff Browne, level designer, who's been interviewed. No Fallout questions 'inside the vault'.
<blockquote>What’s your job at Bethesda?
I am a level designer and currently working on Fallout 3. My job consists of coming up with ideas for layouts based on quest designs, designer feedback, and what I think would be fun. Then I block them out in the editor and write up a quick level design document (LDD) for each layout. In the LDD, I explain the basic flow, mood, atmosphere, and gameplay I want to have in the level. Throughout the course of the project, the level continuously changes based on feedback from leads, level designers, QA, peer reviews, etc. In the end, I hope to have a level that is interesting, fun, and memorable.
What other games have you worked on?
I joined the team near the end of Oblivion and worked on a handful of dungeons for the game, either coming up with new layouts, or making previous dungeons more fun and exciting. For DLC, I worked on the Fighter’s Stronghold, teamed up with Joel Burgess on Mehrunes Razor, and did a level (Fort Bulwork I believe) for Knights of the Nine. Then I worked on Shivering Isles and now Fallout 3.
Before Bethesda, I was the game designer and one of the level designers for Eclipse, of total conversion of Half-Life 2.
What would you say is your personal favorite game of all time?
I have personal favorites based mostly on nostalgia (King’s Quest VI, Everquest, CoD), but my favorite of all time is probably Planetside. I joined Planetside well after the introduction of BFRs, but I still think it’s a game that has the most exciting and tactical gameplay around. Its learning curve is a little steep, but once you get over it, a whole other world of gameplay opens up. It’s one of those games that excel on memorable moments. You get through playing a session of Planetside and you can talk with someone for a long time about the crazy experiences you had — well after you finished playing. Many games have moments, but making them memorable post-game is difficult to achieve (especially in a Multiplayer game). Games like CoD (which I enjoy) have in-game moments, but try talking to someone after playing a session of an FPS like CoD and Unreal and you’ll have a difficult time coming up with memorable moments like you would after playing Planetside. To this day I can still recall, with vivid detail, experiences I had while playing Planetside.
What games are you looking forward to?
Planetside 2 - come on, someone in the industry has got to make it!</blockquote>Link: Inside the Vault - Jeff Browne
<blockquote>What’s your job at Bethesda?
I am a level designer and currently working on Fallout 3. My job consists of coming up with ideas for layouts based on quest designs, designer feedback, and what I think would be fun. Then I block them out in the editor and write up a quick level design document (LDD) for each layout. In the LDD, I explain the basic flow, mood, atmosphere, and gameplay I want to have in the level. Throughout the course of the project, the level continuously changes based on feedback from leads, level designers, QA, peer reviews, etc. In the end, I hope to have a level that is interesting, fun, and memorable.
What other games have you worked on?
I joined the team near the end of Oblivion and worked on a handful of dungeons for the game, either coming up with new layouts, or making previous dungeons more fun and exciting. For DLC, I worked on the Fighter’s Stronghold, teamed up with Joel Burgess on Mehrunes Razor, and did a level (Fort Bulwork I believe) for Knights of the Nine. Then I worked on Shivering Isles and now Fallout 3.
Before Bethesda, I was the game designer and one of the level designers for Eclipse, of total conversion of Half-Life 2.
What would you say is your personal favorite game of all time?
I have personal favorites based mostly on nostalgia (King’s Quest VI, Everquest, CoD), but my favorite of all time is probably Planetside. I joined Planetside well after the introduction of BFRs, but I still think it’s a game that has the most exciting and tactical gameplay around. Its learning curve is a little steep, but once you get over it, a whole other world of gameplay opens up. It’s one of those games that excel on memorable moments. You get through playing a session of Planetside and you can talk with someone for a long time about the crazy experiences you had — well after you finished playing. Many games have moments, but making them memorable post-game is difficult to achieve (especially in a Multiplayer game). Games like CoD (which I enjoy) have in-game moments, but try talking to someone after playing a session of an FPS like CoD and Unreal and you’ll have a difficult time coming up with memorable moments like you would after playing Planetside. To this day I can still recall, with vivid detail, experiences I had while playing Planetside.
What games are you looking forward to?
Planetside 2 - come on, someone in the industry has got to make it!</blockquote>Link: Inside the Vault - Jeff Browne
