101 Things I Learned in Architecture School

Been given a fantastic book to read called "101 Things I Learned in Architecture School" by Matthew Frederick. It's amazing how many parallels can be drawn between the worlds of building design and level design.

I'm in the early stages of writing an article on level design using architectural theory, so this book is very useful, but it also contains a number of more generic design guidelines that I thought I'd share here:

1. "The more specific a design idea is, the greater its appeal is likely to be."
Designing for everyone often results in a watered down, uninteresting design. Designing specfically for one person or group of people will make that group much more interested in it, and in turn may attract more attention.

2. "Any design decision should be justified in at least two ways."
Having a single reason for a design decision might not be enough. The more justifications you have for a mechanic or level design, the more solid it is likely to be.

3. "Draw Hierarchically."
Changing this to "Design Hierarchically" makes sense - start with broad brush strokes to define the design then burrow down into the details. If you start with the details, that particular section of the game might be amazing, but might not work well in the whole composition.

4. "An architect knows something about everything. An engineer knows everything about one thing."
This really does apply to game designers. Artists and coders are effectively like engineers - very specialised in their fields, where as designers need to have working knowledge of all areas.

5. "Good designers are fast on their feet".
Design changes over the course of the project. A designer that is open to change will be a better fit than one who steadfastly sticks to the original vision.

6. "A good designer isn't afraid to throw away a good idea."
Sometimes a great idea just isn't right for the current project., no matter how great it is. Save it for a later date if it's really that good, but don't try and shoehorn a mismatching idea into your game.

7. "Being process-orientated, not product-driven is the most important and difficult skill for a designer to develop."
Something we are really focusing on at Ninja Theory is process-driven design. And it really is reaping its rewards. Sometimes it is hard to trust in the process and see it through, but by doing so it really does make things easier in the long run.

8. "If you can't explain your ideas to your grandmother in terms she understands, you don't know your subject well enough."
All too often people use terminology that is overly complex and elaborate when it doesn't need to be. Sometimes this is masking a lack of understanding, or is used to purposely bamboozle or impress other people.

9. "An effective oral presentation of a studio project begins with the general and proceeds toward the specific."
Presenting the design to the team can be tricky. It's too easy to start with minute detail and bore your audience. This advice is really useful. Begin with the broad picture and narrow it down as you get further along.

10. "Design with models!"
We use Sketchup to create our level designs, and it really allows us to understand spatial relationships as we build and also forces to think more about how elements are interwoven.

11. "Limitations encourage creativity."
There are many limitations when designing computer games. Work with these limitations and see them as aids rather than obstacles. They give you a framework within which you can build rather than being free to do whatever you want, which is often overly daunting.