Dustin Browder got started by making a Starcraft mod for Westwood, you know.
By Alex Walker on August 28, 2014 at 8:30 am
To finish off my contribution for the day, here's a nice little story from up north. Students attending Queensland's University of Technology (QUT) have the option of taking a Games Level Design course, a unit that focuses on the theory and practicality of modern game design. As part of the unit, students are required to cover the flow, mechanics, plot elements, principles and effects that go into the production of a level. At the end of it all, everybody splits off into teams and makes a level of their own. And to do it all, they use the StarCraft 2 map editor.
Battle.net has been running a three part series with the teams, talking about their experience as designers, the challenges they faced and the principles behind their maps. All three teams ended up publishing their maps on the StarCraft 2 Arcade, with Enslaved, a tower defence cross with mini-games that reminds me an awful lot of Skibi's Castle; Lord of War, where players sells units to rival factions for profit while keeping enough behind to defend against waves of Zerg; and Sileo, a top-down shmup centered around an abandoned spaceship.
Given that all three teams had no prior experience using the editor beforehand, their efforts are remarkably impressive. I've been slowly getting back into Starcraft 2 after a long hiatus – hit me up for team games! – so I'll definitely make sure to check these out over the weekend. That aside, it's wonderful to see Blizzard collaborating with the university to help potential future developers get started.
It's also really positive to see an editor that powerful – remember, somebody made a fully fledged MMO within StarCraft 2 – be so easy to use. I'm thinking of getting into the level making business, although not for Starcraft specifically. Any inspiration is good inspiration, though.
Image courtesy of Blizzard
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