Online guides to level design.

As I begin creating the level I look to Youtube guides to see how best to start as I kind of just stared at the big grid with a confused look on my face I found this guide very helpful as a starting point, the simple beginning is what I need to get me started.

I have gone a bit rusty with Maya, I had a bit of a moment with it after BA5, So I felt as though I needed to do some practise with it before starting on such a big project as this!

I also checked on Wikipedia to see what level design fully entails. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Level_design

"Level design, Environment Design or game mapping is a discipline of game development involving creation of video game levels—locales, stages, or missions.This is commonly done using a level editor, a game development software designed for building levels; however, some games feature built-in level editing tools. Level design is both an artistic and technical process.

Level design for each individual level in a modern game typically starts with concept art, sketches, renderings, and physical models. Once completed, these concepts transform into extensive documentation, environment modelling, and the placing of game specific entities (actors), usually with the aid of a level editor.

A level editor may be distributed as a complete stand-alone package, at times, rivalling commercial 3D modelling software.There are various steps involved in laying out a map and these steps may vary dramatically across the many different game genres that exist today.

General steps include:

• Laying out the large-scale features of the map, such as hills, cities, rooms, tunnels, etc., for players and enemies to move around in.
• Determining environmental conditions and "ground rules" such as day/night, weather, scoring systems, allowable weapons or game-play types, time limits, and starting resources.
• Specifying certain regions where certain game-play activities or behaviours occur, such as resource harvesting, base building, water travelling, etc.;
• Specifying non-static parts of a level, such as doors, keys and buttons with associated mechanisms, teleporters, hidden passageways, etc.
• Specifying locations of various entities, such as player units, enemies, monster spawn points, ladders, coins, resource nodes, weapons, save points, etc.
• Specifying the start and exit locations for one or more players;
• Adding aesthetic details such as level-specific graphic textures, sounds, animation, lighting and music;
• Introducing scripted event locations, where certain actions by the player can trigger specified changes;
• Placing path-finding nodes that non-player characters take as they walk around, the actions they will take in response to specific triggers, and any dialogue they might have with the player.

Cut scenes may be triggered by events in a level, but require distinctly different skills, and may be created by a different person or team.

The Level Design Process may be iterated several times before achieving the desired outcome.

Level designers and/or concept artists may also be required to provide a pre-rendered map of the level (or entire game world) for the player"

I would really love to continue with level design, it seems like something fun to do!