Tomorrow I start training one of the interns we received from the NEXT Level Design competition at Ubisoft Toronto.
To be more specific, I'm a 'buddy' responsible for introducing the intern to the project, training them in their role and showing them how to implement their designs into the engine. It's the first time I've ever officially trained someone while working in game development. It's been making me reflect on my first year at Ubisoft.
I wasn't sure exactly what being a Level Designer at Ubisoft meant. I've found that the role of a LD can be many different things depending on the project and team. In school projects and game jams, being the level designer also necessitated me to act in other roles as well to get the game finished. When I was working at Longbow Games (indie studio in Toronto), being a level designer meant creating levels from concept to complete polish. I also picked up a few other non-LD tasks approaching the release on May 25, 2018.
But what a LD means at Longbow is 2-3 different positions at Ubisoft. Being a level designer at Ubisoft Toronto means concept, design, implementation (including scripting). Things like swapping greyblock with art assets + environment art treatment, and lighting aren't technically a part of our role. We can share ideas and intentions but for the most part, we work as a team of specialized positions for seeing through the creation of environments.
I like working like this because I get feedback from a variety of people with different professional perspectives (art, lighting, technical design, narrative, QC...) early on. I can share my idea, we have a discussion, I walk out with ideaUltra2000. We have a lot of people who have very different experiences that brought them to the team. I appreciate being able to focus on core level design but have been finding some people on the team who enjoy sharing knowledge on how to do non-LD tasks. Having these skills helps me understand the roles of my coworkers better, be able to help out different teams that are busy, explain the why's to other LDs, and work on prototypes.
Working at Ubisoft has been fulfilling creatively as a level designer and leaves room for personal growth. I'm encouraged to learn, try new things, and share my thoughts and ideas.
Over the past year I've learned a lot, have had my work showcased 4 times, represented my studio at a competition event I previously was competing in, have unofficially (and tomorrow, officially) trained new LDs and an intern, and have made some very strong friendships.
I plan to continue to grow with my team and make GOOD games! :)