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maxpayne_88 -> RE: Mafia II (23/7/2008 10:31:00 AM)
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http://www.2kgames.com/mafia2/community_features.html
mafa2 ile ilgili yeni bir haber yayınlanmış.yapacağımız görevlerle ilgili sanırım.
GET TO KNOW YOUR DEV:
LUBOMIR DYKAST, LEAD MISSION DESIGNER
JULY 21, 2008
I have been writing with some of the 2K Czech development team over the past few weeks, asking them questions that Mafia II fans have emailed me. Today we debut the first chapter of "Get to Know Your Dev" with Lubomir Dykast, the Lead Mission Designer for 2K Czech.
- Elizabeth
As a lead mission designer, what is your mission at 2K Czech?
My main responsibility is to ensure that the final look of all the missions of Mafia 2 is as best as possible. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to stick to fixed regulations and, if possible, try to reach all the goals that have been set. In practice this means that I am primarily in charge of assigning tasks to each of the designers from my section, and I also need to make sure the first drafts they create can be used and look as best as possible. Naturally, I take care of what the missions should look like concerning both visual and gameplay aspects. In case any problems emerge, I try to resolve them immediately so that the time spent on production is as effectively used as possible and that the things do not have to be reworked several times. If something is unclear, I immediately go discuss it with my seniors, mainly with Pavel Brzák – the lead designer – and Petr Mikša – the game producer.
When you sit down to create a new mission for Mafia II, what are the first things that run through your head when designing that mission?
First, it is very important to create a list of actions and game mechanisms I would like to use in the given mission. It is crucial to count from the very beginning on using an interactive environment and consider the designed level a unique thing which should attract current modern players (create a diverse environment, try to have some dominant thing in each level, have an animated environment etc).
Next, I need to prepare references and materials in order to create game sketches; in this phase, it is necessary to collect as many photos and film clips as possible as references for the designed location. Then, I create a rough sketch, i.e. a very simple game map including only basic geometry; now, it is good to use art workers and their visions. The last thing to do is to produce a game 3D sketch, which is a rough model containing only a few textures, basic lighting, and several simple scripts necessary to test the primary gameplay. Now, from the perspective of design, the mission should be ready for graphic production. If all this passes through the process of approval, then the 3D sketch goes to the graphic team whose members then only deal with creation of graphics and do not have to invent the game, as it usual in other development teams.
Have you run into any situations in your career where you said to yourself “Mission Impossible”? If so, can you tell us a little about that situation?
As a game developer, I must admit I have to answer this question every single day. It is necessary to realize that even these days there are lots of things that cannot be processed the way we would like to do them in terms of technologies; physics of liquids is a good example. This issue may apply to individual locations and their launching on consoles (PS3, XBOX360), be it connected with the number of polygons in the view and connected FPS, then a number of lights per scene, size of textures and a collision scene etc.
Talking about any game that ****ave played in the past, has there been any mission you played and said, “WOW, that was a great mission from a design standpoint”?
This definitely happened to me after I finished the sniper mission in the last sequel of Call of Duty. I don’t get surprised very often, but I must admit that this game impressed me very much in terms of its design. The authors managed to implement most ideas and innovative features other games are not able to offer now. Almost perfect.
If you could give one piece of advice to aspiring mission designers out there…what would it be?
Don’t be afraid to create things on your own. If you think ****ave some potential, I would recommend that you start with game maps for games and modes with the help of free editors (UnrealEditor, Sandbox). To advanced ones, I would recommend Maya or 3DS Max, and if you succeed, then there is nothing to be afraid of. That’s the way I began.
What is your idea of the term “game”?
Lately, I have found out that each of us has a totally different idea of what game really is; some of us see only a box with a DVD in it, some see nice graphics, others see hours and hours of nights spent playing, lots of people find games relaxing, and some others can see never-ending work and T-shirts drenched in blood and sweat. However, it is also important to realize that it is never-ending fun, and that’s what it’s all about!
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