Tim Gerritsen stopped in on December 23rd to give some helpful tips and information on game development. Some of the topics he discussed are summarized below.

1. Flow/Progression: How am I getting through the world? Navigation through the world such as rooms, stairs, corridors, bridges. Ability to accumulate data where people are dying to find what makes that area interesting and how people follow routes. Finding out how much health they have at certain points and how far into the level they die.

2. Aesthetics: Deals with visuals. How beautiful does your level look when it opens? Thinking about how objects would be structured in that world and how they would be interacted with. Makes the environment feel real and creates a more interesting effect.

3. Lighting: One of the most important aspects in game design. Great lighting can help to save a bad level. Think about pre-baking lighting so that it isn’t dynamic but saves frame rates. Limit dynamic lights because they strain the computer. Think about light sources, outdoor light and light that bleed into the area. Lights should have realistic reasoning for being located where they are.

4. Tactical Space: Providing cover and routes that give tactical ability. Changes the flow and adds better interaction with the player. Don’t take shortcuts. Verticality should be limited due to controller and player usability.

5. Realism: Create an area that seems realistic to the player so that it pulls them into the game.

6. Dynamism: Dynamic events happening in the level such as wind, rain, birds, weather.