How much of level design's best practices are specific to a particular genre or presentation style, and how well do level design skills transfer between different formats?

That's the question game designer Lisa Brown sought to explore and help answer at GDC 2017, in an intriguing talk about how she applied 3D level design skills she'd honed at Insomniac Games to her work as a level designer on Heart Machine's 2D game Hyper Light Drifter. 

It was packed with practical takeaways and peppered with interesting examples of how Brown was (and wasn't) able to translate her experience designing spaces in big, open 3D games like Sunset Overdrive into 2D and apply it to Drifter.

Her talk was well worth watching, even if you're not a level designer by trade, and now you can do so completely free via the official GDC Vault YouTube channel!

About the GDC Vault

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its new YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC, GDC Europe, and GDC Next already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.

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