Dutch Games Industry
Reinout Ruland
I describe Level Design as a mixture of Architecture and Behavioral Psychology.
We build the physical space the game takes place in, but we also plan out what actions we'd like players to take inside of it, and how we can subconsciously motivate them to act the way we want them to.
Our average day will have a mixture of:
- Whiteboxing, crafting the physical space the game content takes place in
- Scripting, using simplified (visual) programming to facilitate the behavior we'd like players to experience.
- Communication, this can be anything from meetings, to writing documents, to updating task estimates and priorities.
Game Industry Professional
"If you are stuck on a layout, I bet you are not using references correctly!"
Senior Level Designer at Electric Square.
About Reinout
📍 Brighton, United Kingdom
Reinout Ruland is Senior Level Designer at Electric Square, worked on Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six, Delta Force and State of Decay.
He describes Level Design as a mixture of Architecture and Behavioral Psychology. Level designers build the physical space the game takes place in, but also plan out what actions you’d like players to take inside of it, and how you can subconsciously motivate them to act the way you want them to.
His average day will have a mixture of:
Senior Level Designer at Electric Square.
Reinout's Expertise
- I am very good at all three Core Level Design skills, Whiteboxing, Scripting and Communication.
- But I am most often praised for my communication skills. I can teach you how to deal with feedback so that it becomes less about failure and more about problem solving.
- I can teach you how to find the medium most suitable to present your ideas and have others understand them.
- I can also show you how I whitebox my levels, why gameplay context is king and why I vastly prefer kit pieces over other whitebox methods.
- Or I can show you how I script new gameplay and how I like to organize my logic depending on the toolset I'm in.
Topics for Discussion
Personal development
Improving professional skills
Leadership
Career advice
Making connections
Game design
Level Design
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