00:01how many guys have heard about my book
00:04before or books up Marcus yay my plant
00:07in the audience one morrow excellent two
00:11two plants in the audience excellent
00:13hold on a second there we go that's the
00:18whole talk we're done yeah we can go
00:24second one day I've gotta upgrade to
00:38come on up don't risk it don't risk it
00:42all right I'm not risking the remote
00:46no we're three minutes over up there we
00:59all right here we are excellent well
01:02thank you everybody for coming I know
01:04you had other alternatives so I
01:06appreciate you coming to see me my name
01:08is Scott Rogers we'll be talking about
01:09that in a second you are at the game
01:11Design Conference and you're here to see
01:13everything I learned about level design
01:15I learned it from Disneyland so before
01:18we can begin real quick this talk gets a
01:20little schizophrenic in the sense that I
01:22talk about guests which is Disney ease
01:24for people that come and visit our
01:27wonderful experiences and players which
01:30in terms of looking at things relating
01:34to Disneyland our guests our players if
01:36you want to boil it down so just so you
01:38know you don't have to wear the ears to
01:41play anything Disney related but it
01:42doesn't hurt alright so who the heck am
01:44i I'm Scott Rogers I have designed games
01:46for a very long time back in the old
01:4816-bit dark days and when I first
01:53started out well let me let me go end up
01:56where I am now I work for for 19 years
02:01in traditional console games so
02:03everything is kind of from a console
02:04game perspective so if I'm offending any
02:06serious game makers or indie game or
02:09mobile gamers just bear with me it still
02:10applies but now I work for Walt Disney
02:13Imagineering and here's what I do for a
02:15living I am a part-time hire so but as
02:19an imaginary I'm sorry there are three
02:21things I cannot do for you one is I
02:22can't give you free tickets the second
02:24is I can't hear your ideas for your
02:27awesome new attraction technically and
02:29three is I can't get rid of that
02:31attraction you hate so much at our parks
02:33so sorry about that but what I can do is
02:36give you a disclaimer that my talk and
02:38the things I am saying are my personal
02:41opinions only and not that of the Walt
02:43Disney Corporation so please keep that
02:44in mind on sube bosses okay here we go
02:47so way back in 1996 when I was making
02:50console gaming we're starting out as a
02:52game designer I had no clue what
02:54doing I had nowhere to start there were
02:56in schools there weren't books there
02:58weren't even blogs that I could go and
03:00learn how to make games but what I did
03:02have was an inspiration which was to be
03:05inspired by this and this is a fun map
03:07created by a Disney Imagineer named Sam
03:10McKim and Sam who's an awesome artist
03:13drew this really cool map essentially a
03:15cross view of the Pirates of the
03:17Caribbean attraction now how many of you
03:18guys have been to Disneyland there we go
03:20and so how many have been on Pirates of
03:22the Caribbean all right excellent
03:24attraction one of our better ones and so
03:27when I was looking at this fun view map
03:28that was in this guide that I got when I
03:30was the kid I noticed that there were
03:32some similarities between the path of
03:35the guests through the attraction and
03:37the paths that the player would take
03:40through a video game level so for
03:42example you can see this blue path is
03:44signifying the water and you would pass
03:46five Pirates kind of drowning this guy
03:48and and they're they're having theirs
03:51winches being bidded on their off screen
03:52there and inspired there's pirates
03:54shooting at each other and it kind of
03:56reminded me of the things that I would
03:57see in games right I would see
03:59characters shooting at the player trying
04:02to kill them and interesting environment
04:04and seeing some toys I mean on the game
04:07I was working on at the time is pac-man
04:21but essentially help kind of free my
04:24mind up to think about games as this
04:26experience that is not only storytelling
04:29but this sequence of mechanics or
04:31different experiences going on that the
04:34player would interact with it so I said
04:35I wonder what else between video game
04:39design and Disneyland are similar so I
04:41started doing my research by going to
04:43Disneyland and and I found out of course
04:46Disneyland was named after this guy so
04:49who is this guy of course he is Walt
04:51Disney the fellow who created is Neill
04:53and and well when I started to read
04:56about the creation of Disneyland and the
04:59steps that they took to get there to
05:01come up with the ideas of course wall
05:03coming from animation and from
05:05filmmaking story is king and that's
05:07still true to this day Walt Disney
05:09Imagineering is we always need to know
05:11what is the story right in the story is
05:13very important now you just heard an
05:15excellent talk by Cynthia hopefully you
05:16sent through it about story and how to
05:20I'm still loud though it's going to
05:22reverb okay all right and and so of
05:26course every story as you know has a
05:28beginning a middle and end right and
05:29what Walt Disney and the Imagineers
05:31would do is they have story sessions so
05:33they would sit down and they'd say all
05:34right what is our story and act out what
05:36the story of the of the attraction is
05:38and the experience that they want the
05:40people to have then they started talking
05:42about the theme so what kind of
05:44experience do we want our guests to have
05:47right and and what was a pretty moral
05:49guy so one of the things that he was
05:51interested in was with some sort of
05:52moral arc in the storytelling and
05:55everything had to have at least a little
05:57bit of a lesson right and so when you
05:59watch the classic cartoons that I'm
06:01talking the the features so the Peter
06:03Pan's and the snow whites and the
06:05Pinocchio's you start seeing these
06:07themes that are part of the story
06:09introduced into the attractions because
06:12the attractions eventually were these
06:14replicas of what was going on on the
06:16screen so we'll talk a little bit more
06:18about things like moral arc but what do
06:20we want the player to learn out of this
06:21what do we want what kind of emotion do
06:23we want them to feel what do we want
06:25them to learn or what kind of activity
06:27do we want them to do right because
06:28we're building a theme-park world and
06:30just like we're building a game there's
06:31activities as well things that you'll
06:33interact with in things that you'll do
06:35then pre-visualization is very important
06:38because the Walt Disney Imagineers are
06:40all very artistic folk and there's
06:42painters and sculptors and so what the
06:44Imagineers would do is they would build
06:45models of their attractions before they
06:48would make them they do concept art of
06:50course like we do in video games and my
06:53one of my favorite stories is how they
06:54built the scale model of the Pirates of
06:56the Caribbean attraction and what would
06:58ride through on a wheelchair to kind of
07:01see where things happen in perspective
07:03of the guests so as the guest was going
07:07through let's say the burning City
07:08what would sit in his chair and kind of
07:10go okay they can see that what's the
07:12first view we get that's going to give
07:13us the maximum impact and what's the
07:15what kind of experiences are going in
07:17the past by and what's going to grab
07:18their attention and so even from this
07:20micro level this little miniature he was
07:23able to start being able to tell what
07:25the end experience was going to be like
07:27essentially he was simulating a camera
07:29like we would in a video game right and
07:31then the other strategy that was really
07:33useful was starting from the top down so
07:36Walt would think first about the world
07:38excuse me the world and he would work
07:40his way down so just like we do in video
07:43games we go from the game world down to
07:47the level to the individual experience
07:49or interactions Disneyland is built in
07:52the word the whole world down to a land
07:54and down to an attraction and
07:55attractions like the individual
07:57experience are the activities that the
07:59player is doing right and when what
08:00would always talk about Disneyland he
08:02would always say well I don't quite know
08:04what's in it but it's surrounded by a
08:06train right because he loved trains
08:08growing up and he had a scale model of a
08:10train in his backyard and he knew that
08:14whatever he wanted to make had to have a
08:17so he immediately set up a criteria for
08:20himself to limit himself down and say no
08:22matter what we build we still have to be
08:24able to have a train go around it so
08:25it's actually a really good learning
08:28lesson to work with a little bit of
08:30limitations right so that way you're
08:32starting from a point sign right well
08:33it's not going to be we're not building
08:34a whole country we're not building a
08:36whole world we're living within this
08:37let's see what we can make
08:39so when Walt and the Imagineers started
08:41thinking about what is going to live
08:42into this land well went with his
08:45interests and so being obviously
08:48interested in things that aren't
08:50necessarily pertaining to the industry
08:53that you work in so for example even
08:54though Walt loved filmmaking he loved
08:56history and he loved futurism he loved
08:59thinking about what the future is going
09:00to be like and he had a great fondness
09:02for his hometown of Marceline Missouri
09:04and his childhood that he had where he
09:06was raised below on a farm with all
09:07these animals and so he his story was
09:10well I want to reflect all these things
09:12that I'm interested in and I want to get
09:14other people excited about him as well
09:15and this is the true when you're
09:18thinking about your own game right it's
09:19we're all nerds to some capacity we all
09:22have swum in the same waters right we
09:24all love video games and we all love
09:26Star Wars and we all love comic books
09:28but if we all made the same thing you
09:31know based on these comics and video
09:32games and movies we would just be
09:34playing the same game over and over
09:36again it so the real innovation comes
09:37when you bring the things that you're
09:39personally interested in alright this is
09:40the the true life adventure stuff with
09:43Walt they gave us adventure land because
09:44he was interested in the natural world
09:47and all the interesting things to be
09:48found there so the first thing when you
09:52enter Disneyland you're handed a map and
09:54a map is very important because not only
09:56does it help you understand the whole
09:58scope of the world but it starts giving
10:01you destinations you can start thinking
10:02about all right well what lives in this
10:04world and where can I go and
10:06what how do I get there and and building
10:09a path a clear path for the player just
10:11like in Disneyland it's very important
10:13in videogames and in level design and so
10:16at Disneyland there are three types of
10:18paths okay actually that's the world map
10:21sorry to jump ahead the world map you
10:24know as we know in video games it's a
10:26very common trope right so as you look
10:28at you you start wondering about the
10:29mysterious place as you go I wonder
10:31what's on that mysterious island with
10:33the Diamonds or the little mountains
10:35around it or what's going to happen here
10:36at those hills with the low eyes on it
10:38or what are those strange what's going
10:40on in that force right so it starts
10:41peeking the players curiosity so another
10:44strategy that Disneyland uses that we
10:46can use in games our posters and so once
10:49you get that map and you look at that
10:50map it sorry wow there's a lot of
10:52choices here for me to choose from
10:54I wonder well you know let's see what
10:56what what the next thing brings right
10:59and so as you go through the tunnels
11:00that lead into Main Street you see
11:02several attraction posters and the
11:04attraction posters work like travel
11:06posters in the sense that they say
11:07alright we've looked at the map there's
11:09a lot of options you might not know
11:10which ones to pick but here are some
11:12interesting things that you might want
11:14to do you might want to fly a rocket in
11:16outer space or you might want to ride a
11:17bobsled down a mountain or you might
11:19want to experience the danger of being
11:22in Africa or you might want to go to a
11:25place where there's ghosts or giant
11:27octopus or flying pirate ship or
11:28whatever right and they're treating
11:30because they're treating them like
11:31travel posters if any of you have seen
11:33kind of the the old travel posters
11:35particularly the ones that are from the
11:38I must say about the 30s that got people
11:40interested in visiting all the natural
11:42wonders like Yosemite and the Grand
11:44Canyon that these posters are based on
11:46that style and so as you look at these
11:48posters you're like well not only are
11:50these really a lot of diverse and cool
11:51things for me to do around Disneyland
11:53but there's also things that might be a
11:55little dangerous right or a little
11:57thrilling and so it starts peeking the
11:59players interest in and foreshadowing
12:01all these different things that they
12:02could experience along the way through
12:04the level or through the world now in
12:06video games there aren't too many uses
12:09really good one is in Bioshock right
12:11when you first show up in the underwater
12:14city you see all these posters
12:16advertising all the different abilities
12:17that you can get and they you know this
12:19one says you know my dad can throw
12:21lightning out of his hands and and this
12:23one allows me to shoot bees and things
12:25like that and so you started looking at
12:27these posters and even though you have
12:28no context of what these ultimately mean
12:30until later on in the game you get you
12:33go oh yes I remember the throwing
12:35lightning that was like that poster I
12:36saw earlier so the player is able to
12:38make these connections between a little
12:40bit of foreshadowing in the game versus
12:42what's going to come later on now they
12:45don't have to be traditional maps or
12:47posters they can be things that reveal
12:50information to the player as they go so
12:52for example in Mortal Kombat that screen
12:54starts with most of those boxes locked
12:56up and as you go there's a pleasure for
13:00the player to start to opening up these
13:01boxes and going well I feel like I'm
13:04I feel like I'm making progress because
13:06I can see how many that opened up and
13:09how many I have to go and so this
13:11becomes a little bit more of an
13:12interactive map right it shows them or
13:14like in ghosts and goblins where the
13:15little Arthur character kind of moves
13:18along that crude little map showing all
13:20right here's the graveyard and now we
13:21are in the city and now we're in the
13:23catacombs and as you go you get this
13:24sense of progression but you also
13:26because of the way that it's laid out
13:28you get a preview right so even if
13:30you're in the graveyard on the first
13:31level you could look ahead and say oh
13:33what's that very strange pink building
13:35up coming up right I wonder what's in
13:36there and piques your curiosity now an
13:40element that taking from the map to the
13:43world are a device that while Disney
13:47invented is called a weenie and a weenie
13:50is a object that is prominently placed
13:53in the world that attracts the player's
13:54eye and it kind of wets their appetites
13:57for what's coming on up in the in the
14:00rest environment so when you go around
14:03learn that or see that there are a lot
14:04of weenies to help guide the guests the
14:06player around the park and this is very
14:08very intentional and so also it provides
14:12some very pretty pictures so go online
14:14and look how many pictures are of this
14:16sleeping beauty castle right is a very
14:17popular thing to take a picture of but
14:20it also is this moment you can just kind
14:21of stop and how often do we actually get
14:23to see a real castle in Southern
14:25California so you can kind of stopping
14:26oh that's that's pretty cool it's pretty
14:27novel right so looking at how we knees
14:31work and guide the player around the
14:33world so the major weenie in the park of
14:36course is the Disneyland castle it's in
14:38the hub it's a central location of the
14:39park and as the player moves down or the
14:42guest moves down main street towards the
14:44castle but if you remember and your
14:46trips to Disneyland main street is just
14:48a straight shot the castle is always
14:50there saying come on keep going keep
14:52going here's your here's your first
14:54destination when you reach the hub which
14:56is the center of the park you'll find
14:58that three new wienies are revealed to
15:00the player and so as you kind of get
15:02past the buildings you look and you go
15:04up there's an entrance to Adventureland
15:06and there's an entrance to Frontierland
15:08and there's an interest of Tomorrowland
15:10these are some new objectives so you can
15:12look and go well maybe I want to not go
15:13to the castle right now maybe I want to
15:15go to this space area over here it's a
15:17lot more interesting to me and then once
15:19you get past those thresholds new
15:21wienies open up so in Adventureland it's
15:23big thunder mountain
15:24it's the rivers of America and
15:26Adventureland it's the Tarzan treehouse
15:31it's the the monstro the whale that's in
15:37it's the Matterhorn and it's it used to
15:39be the Astro orbiter but they move that
15:42to the front of the park now they've got
15:44the orbiter on which still lives where
15:46the old rocket jets used to be and Space
15:48Mountain so as you're as you're pulled
15:50through the world and it keeps going and
15:52compounding as you go you're constantly
15:53being pulled by these new things ago
15:55what's that over there let me go see
15:57what this is oh what's that over there
15:58until you finally essentially run out of
16:00space and hit the edge of the train
16:01right and in games you can use the
16:04wienies not just for it as the
16:06navigation points and these points of
16:08interest but you can use it for
16:10so in God of War we had us a bit where
16:14Kratos comes into Athens and Ares is
16:18there throwing fireballs down at the
16:20city now we could have had the level
16:22have it were you walking through and
16:24fireballs are exploding and people are
16:26running all over the place in this chaos
16:27but without this one shot with this
16:29weenie of Ares you wouldn't get the
16:31context you want to understand what's
16:33going on in the level versus what's
16:35going on in this story so you can use
16:37this as a way to tell some narrative and
16:39particularly in areas where there's kind
16:41of big things going on if you want to
16:43tell big stories or kind of convey scope
16:46stopping and have hiding these moments
16:48where you look and go wow that's a
16:49really cool animation of this guy
16:51throwing fireballs I'm going to stop and
16:53look at it for a second okay I'm back
16:54into the energy also what you want to do
16:58even though the wienies themselves are
17:00really useful navigation points you can
17:02do other tricks to kind of draw the
17:04players attention towards it because in
17:06a game there's a lot more freedom of
17:08movement and freedom of camera and it
17:09might be easy easy for the player to
17:11miss seeing these things so you can do a
17:13lot of tricks to help draw the players I
17:15write using getting the player up on to
17:18higher elevation and so they can get a
17:21better view of directing their line of
17:23sight by using geometry like just like
17:25in Disneyland that we need for the
17:27Sleeping Beauty Castle every all the
17:29other weenies are obscured by the
17:30buildings on Main Street so if you can
17:33see past them you'd have all these other
17:34distractions but because Main Street is
17:36just high enough you only have that
17:38central location to keep your focus on
17:40until we're ready to say all right now
17:42let's open up your field of view and
17:44look at all these other options it's
17:46also good for backtracking because the
17:48player tends to get turned around when
17:49you backtrack in a 3d game and so when
17:52they look at oh I'm back at the at the
17:54Astra Jets again that must mean I'm at
17:57Tomorrowland hmm if I turn myself this
17:59way I remember there was Adventure land
18:01behind me oh there it is alright I can
18:02start moving in that direction even if
18:04it's subconscious it's still good for
18:06those bits of information to be there
18:08for the player so to address that point
18:12of getting turned around I thought a
18:13really nice weenie was found in the
18:15Force Unleashed game where star killer
18:18was on his way to a tower that was
18:21blasting us like a force shield I think
18:24or signal up to the outer space and he
18:26had to go blow it up and so when you
18:28first came across it you would see this
18:30big tower with this energy kind of
18:32studio like right that's why I need to
18:33go now over the course of the game the
18:36pack got very twisty and so you kind of
18:38move around and you kill stormtroopers
18:39and you find some sub objectives to bust
18:42open doors and and kill the power source
18:45and by the end of that level I was kind
18:48of turned around but fortunately
18:49fortunately that we D was there so I
18:51could turn a goal yeah there's that
18:53Tower with that big shaft of light
18:54that's where I still need to go so it's
18:56this really useful tool to help the
18:58player orient themselves because in a
19:00game you want to have lots of
19:01interesting little experiences right you
19:03want to don't want it to just be alright
19:04let me just walk from one big thing to
19:06the next so use those we needs to help
19:08support the rest of the world and the
19:09activities that are going on okay so the
19:12path is very important as well as much
19:15as the as the wienies and in Disneyland
19:18there's a very deliberate path for the
19:20player or the guests to travel upon
19:22there's three different types the first
19:25is a very obvious path and this is the
19:27main route that you walk your way around
19:29the park and and if you look at the way
19:33even that the floor is tiled in
19:35Disneyland generally smooth path things
19:38are places that we want you to travel so
19:41the next time you're in Disneyland look
19:42at the the way the floor is laid out and
19:44anything that looks kind of like a nice
19:46smooth path here we go I'm going to go
19:48this way and I'm going to it's going to
19:49lead me around and eventually get me to
19:50to critter country where I realize I've
19:52made a horrible mistake and I need to
19:53turn around and go back but at this
19:56point once you've gone to Disneyland
19:58once or a few times you start realizing
20:00that there are all these neat little
20:02secret paths right there's little pass
20:04around the castle they get into frontier
20:06land and and quick little oh no you know
20:08let's let's instead of going to the
20:10Matterhorn through the castle and around
20:12the mad tea-party into the Matterhorn
20:14let's just take this little side path
20:16cut by and as a result it makes you feel
20:19smarter right as a as a guest at
20:21Disneyland you're like oh I really know
20:23my way around here right I know all
20:24these little shortcuts so that way we're
20:26not spending so much time running around
20:28trying to figure out where we're going
20:29we can just cut to the chase to get to
20:32now once a player his Godin or guest has
20:35gotten to this point they might realize
20:38oh man I need to get from Main Street to
20:40toontown that's a really long way to go
20:42so what we've provided of course is an
20:44expedient path it's this path that is
20:46very quick allows the guests to get from
20:49one place so they're very fast but there
20:51are less choices along the way so with
20:52the regular path and with the seeker
20:54paths there's lots of little options for
20:56them to navigate their way around the
20:58expedient path cuts it down you only
21:00have four choices right you have the
21:02Main Street you have normal insane you
21:04have toontown and you have Tomorrowland
21:07and so that way you can think about your
21:09knowledge of the world that you already
21:10have and you go look what's the fastest
21:12way to get to the Matterhorn is it
21:14faster for us to take the train around a
21:16toon town and then backtrack or is it
21:18faster for us to get off on Tomorrowland
21:20and go that way and the answer is to our
21:22on but that said it once again it makes
21:25the player smart but it also makes them
21:27realize hey there's lots of ways to get
21:29around and and a nice side effect is it
21:31allows you to kind of sit back in and
21:33take in the whole world and a game that
21:35does this really great of course is
21:37world Warcraft right when you first
21:38start playing you're slogging it around
21:40on foot you're kind of down and
21:42everything you're you know you're not
21:43quite sure where you need to go
21:44everything's kind of a bit of a maze but
21:46as you level up you could you know go
21:48move faster you can get a mount or
21:49something like that and and you take
21:52shortcuts right you kind of run over the
21:53mountaintops rather than you know
21:55winding here you're like oh I know that
21:57cave I was looking for is just right
21:58over this mountain I'm going to kind of
22:00you know jump my way up the mountain to
22:02get back down to it and then of course
22:04once you get to a higher level of
22:05knowledge and a higher level of
22:06experience you have your wait amounts
22:08that you can then just kind of fly from
22:09point to point and there's there's other
22:11systems the terrain system and things
22:13like that so there's all these ways that
22:15once you become more familiar
22:16the world it keeps you from getting
22:17bored with navigating because now you're
22:20like oh I know the fastest way to get
22:21there it makes you feel smarter as a
22:23player and it saves your time too
22:25we don't want to waste your time so also
22:28with another important thing to learn
22:29about paths is you can do some
22:31storytelling and some themeing with just
22:34the way you lay out your path so for
22:35example Adventureland is based on a very
22:38you know it's the it's the sub African
22:40continent and it's you know a densely
22:42populated town where all these bazaars
22:45are and if you you know if you walk your
22:47way through Adventureland it's this very
22:49narrow path but with a lot of things
22:51going on it may it's a very crowded
22:53feeling environment but that's
22:54intentional because they wanted it to
22:56feel like this very crowded bazaar in
22:58Africa and that area and there's really
23:01only two ways you can go through
23:02Adventureland right there's just you go
23:04around either one of those those
23:06planters and that's it but it but it
23:08gives you that feeling of you know hey
23:09there's a look at all these things going
23:11on there's there's all types of
23:12attractions calling my attention all
23:14types of stores sometimes there's music
23:16out there or characters and that and it
23:17so it really captures that feeling of
23:19what it's like to be in this kind of
23:21bizarre environment now Frontierland on
23:24the other hand is the Wild West and the
23:25Wild West is the big expanse right it's
23:28the area that we're going to move into
23:29and all this great space and so advent a
23:33frontier land does the same thing it
23:34gives you this feeling of freedom right
23:36so when you enter the gate at
23:37Adventureland you're actually met with a
23:39much wider path than you are an
23:41adventurer unified Tyrael that you're
23:43met with a wider path then you are in
23:45adventure land and you can you know you
23:47can walk down the middle and the weedy
23:48is the rivers of America so there's
23:50really once again only one place to get
23:52to but you can go this way you can go
23:54you can walk down the little wooden
23:56fronts of the stores to feel like a
23:58cowboy you know there's there's a
24:00multitude of ways to go and it gives you
24:02that illusion of hey I can go anywhere I
24:05there's really only one place you can
24:06still go and that's to the end of
24:08frontier land but it gives that fosters
24:10that illusion of freedom of movement now
24:12New Orleans square by comparison is all
24:15about mystery and all about exploration
24:18and the path the regular path of you
24:20look at Nolan's square most people will
24:22go well you're just going to go around
24:23it because all the good stuff the
24:25Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain all
24:27the weenies are calling me around the
24:29river of America but what we want you to
24:31do is imagine yours is we want you to
24:33take your time and explore and kind of
24:35discover all the cool things so we want
24:36you to go into this little back path
24:38that we create a nice little beckoning
24:39environment and when you get back there
24:41you realize hey there's a lot a lot of
24:43places that I can go there's little
24:44stores and little restaurants and each
24:46one of these X's represents some sort of
24:48experience that you can have whether
24:49it's music or food or shopping
24:51experience or stuff like that and so you
24:53really feel like you've discovered this
24:55little treasure this little gem that
24:57hidden within it are all these neat
24:59little things to find and then of course
25:01we also make it a little interesting on
25:03the way out we give you lots of multiple
25:05paths to explore so that we spend a
25:06little time in there and you kind of
25:08eventually meander your way out here
25:09like oh yeah back to the Haunted Mansion
25:11back to Splash Mountain so another
25:14important tool to use when you're
25:16building your paths is lighting and
25:18lighting you Disneyland uses lighting
25:21maybe better than just about any place I
25:24know on earth it's they're very clever
25:26the Imagineers are always thinking about
25:28all aspects sound and textures and
25:32smells but the lighting is a special
25:35tool that we have at our control and in
25:38your game level of course you want to
25:41use lighting to guide the player along
25:43and so let me show you just a real
25:45clever trick that happens at Disneyland
25:47is if you're in the park and you're in
25:49the park during the fireworks and once
25:52the fireworks are over
25:54Disneyland's message to the guests is
25:56okay the days over the fireworks are
25:58done please leave and what happens is
26:01they leave the lights low inmates tree
26:03because this is the area where most
26:04people congregate to watch the fireworks
26:07and they leave the castle on because we
26:09still want you to have that weenie we
26:10still want you to have that
26:11allegation for you because we're still
26:13open a few more hours in the evening
26:15right but what we do instead is we turn
26:17on all the lights on Main Street and our
26:19message to you is okay please leave this
26:21is where you want to go people are drawn
26:23towards light right if they see absence
26:25of light they will avoid it but if they
26:27see a lot of light they will say oh this
26:29is where I need to go I need to leave
26:31now and the same thing happens in games
26:33right how many of you familiar with the
26:35squint test that the naughty guy thought
26:37guys do right which is look at this
26:39image of Crash Bandicoot now squint your
26:41eyes down and what's the brightest thing
26:43that you see on that screen hide you see
26:48the Apple sort Alec all right now what
26:51you see it well other than the mango is
26:53the path right because the designer
26:56wants you to go that way now granted
26:58it's a linear path and there isn't
26:59anywhere to go but they've used this
27:01idea moving forward into more complex
27:03things so even in uncharted which gives
27:05you a greater range of freedom of
27:07movement they lift the path in a way
27:10that it's still the brightest thing on
27:12the screen so make sure that the player
27:14knows where they have to go there's
27:15nothing worse than being in a game
27:17getting to a point of going I have no
27:18idea where to go next nothing is guiding
27:20me there and light is a really great way
27:22to help guide the player along and
27:24relatively easy to get into the game
27:26alright so the levels themselves you're
27:30thinking about level design and you're
27:31thinking about what you want the player
27:33to be doing during these levels and I
27:35fan based on the level design or the the
27:38experiences at Disneyland I think that
27:41there's four goals for the player that
27:44map very well into video games the first
27:46is the escape survive and that's kind of
27:49our this is what most video game levels
27:51are there you know get out alive we
27:53don't get killed by ghosts don't get
27:55blown up by the Death Star things like
27:56that the second one is exploration you
27:58know find these more and you know Zelda
28:00games and and things like that were
28:02you're given this beautiful big world
28:04and you're trying to just explore it and
28:06enjoy it and there's lots of activities
28:08for you to do you know like Tom Sawyer's
28:11as treehouse even though it's a single
28:13linear path there's still lots of little
28:14stops along the way they can make and
28:16discover you never know any of that
28:17stuff existed unless you took the time
28:19to climb the tree now another area that
28:22we don't do as well in video games is
28:24education and you can still tell you can
28:28still educate a player about things
28:31under the disguise of level design so
28:34for example one of my favorite ones is
28:36in the Force Unleashed where the
28:38character is in the TIE fighter factory
28:40and the TIE fighter Factory it answers
28:43this question that maybe nobody ever
28:44thought to ask which was how our TIE
28:46fighters made right and so this whole
28:48level teaches you how to fighters are
28:50made even though it has no bearing on
28:52the game it's just making this very
28:53interesting environment and when you
28:55come out of it you have a little bit of
28:57a greater understanding now the last one
28:59is the moral lesson we talked a little
29:01bit about that and these are the
29:03attractions that have like I said they
29:06were directly translated in from the the
29:10animated feature that they're based on
29:11so with mr. toad it's you know don't
29:14drive fast or you'll go to hell
29:15Pinocchio's is don't get into trouble
29:17you know skip school you'll get into
29:19trouble and in Pirates of the Caribbean
29:20is dead men tell no tell right and I
29:23thought about this and I was like well
29:24this is this really valid is this is
29:26this a really you know am i saying
29:28something outrageous here and you know
29:30that it shows up in games right and I'm
29:32not just talking about the year at the
29:34end of the game are you good or bad but
29:36these are choices along the way that
29:38kind of influenced the level design as
29:40much as the gameplay that's found in
29:42them so for example my example of the
29:46parts of the Caribbean we're going to
29:47not be talking about the Johnny Depp
29:49version because it throws a little bit
29:51of a monkey wrench into it but we'll be
29:53talking about the classic version so
29:55structuring the Pirates of the Caribbean
29:57as if it were an escaped Explorer type
29:59story you Walt Disney when he would talk
30:02about the parts of the Caribbean said
30:03you go over the waterfall into the time
30:05of the Pirates and then you go through
30:07some caves and you discover the the
30:08Pirates were there and they found this
30:10and they're all dead and then you move
30:12out into the city and the city is being
30:14attacked by the Pirates and then you
30:16escape the burning city and you go back
30:18up the waterfall and yea we've escaped
30:19we survived right and that's like a
30:21typical video game level right you go
30:22through the Pirates they try to kill you
30:24yeah I'm done with the level move on but
30:26really I maintain that the story is more
30:29of a moral one so when you're about to
30:32go over that waterfall there's a skull
30:33and the skull says you know dead men
30:35tell no tales right and in the original
30:37version of the attraction the there was
30:40a voiceover that was cut because
30:41unfortunately was too long and and
30:43people weren't hearing all of it as the
30:45boat went through but they would tell
30:47these little vignettes about the dead
30:48pirates and so one of them would say oh
30:50I left it after gold and this is where
30:53it got me it was the guy on the big pile
30:54of treasure or I lusted after women and
30:57drinking this is where it got me and a
30:59voice would cut it and say dead men tell
31:01no tales she said she was like shut up
31:04let them learn on their own right and so
31:06then you'd get into the city and you'd
31:08see the Pirates actively engaging in
31:10these acts of piracy right and the
31:12second half of the living pirates
31:14section is showing the wages of their
31:16sin right this is what happens to you
31:18when you loot and sack and chase women
31:21around you end up in the mud with the
31:23pigs and you end up in jail and you end
31:25up in these situations where you're
31:26shooting at each other and eventually
31:27those parts are going to blow each other
31:29up right and as you go back up the
31:31waterfall once again the voice kicks in
31:33and says dead men tell no tales or
31:35another way of saying it is there but
31:38for the grace of God go I write is that
31:40you don't engage in piracy now granted
31:43it's a it's a how many of you guys are
31:45going to run out and become pirates once
31:46you've ridden at exactly than me - when
31:48I was going to go but but not very many
31:50of us are going to run out become
31:51pirates when we grow up right but it was
31:53saying look there's we're trying to tell
31:55you a moral story that these pirates
31:57were not good guys even though it might
32:00or we're making them look you know cool
32:03there they really were bad guys right
32:05and the reason why I maintain that this
32:07is the ultimate goal for the Pirates of
32:09the Caribbean is when we had a chance to
32:11actually redo the attractions from start
32:13in Paris because Florida was just let's
32:16just rebuild all this passed away let's
32:18rebuild what we have in Disneyland but
32:20when we got to Euro Disney we had this
32:22opportunity to say you know what let's
32:23rebuild this attraction from the ground
32:25up and I don't have any of you been on
32:26the Pirates in Euro Disney Land it's
32:29it's actually a radically different
32:30attraction than it is in in Japan and in
32:33Florida and in Anaheim and so the way
32:36the story is told there is you actually
32:38you actually go up a waterfall and you
32:40hear the dead men tell no tales and then
32:42you see the act of piracy and then you
32:44see the wages of sin and then you see
32:46then they've all died these horrible
32:48deaths and then you go back down and out
32:50you go and that's the end of the
32:51attraction and so it really ramps home
32:54this story of this is a moral lesson for
32:57you to take away with you and and once
33:00again a game that that does this is
33:03Bioshock where Bioshock has the for
33:06example the opening level or the early
33:08level of the Medical Center and you go
33:10into the Medical Center and as you go
33:11you hear these audio tapes that you hear
33:14testimonials of people saying oh I I
33:16wanted to look more beautiful I wanted
33:17to be perfect and and you realize that
33:19what's really going on is in these
33:22people's vain attempts to become perfect
33:24humans they're turning themselves in the
33:26monsters and by the end of the
33:28experience when you finally get to the
33:29doctor it's his Horror Show right
33:31there's there's bodies all over the
33:33place and it's this moral story of like
33:35don't don't tamper with nature right
33:37that's the whole story
33:38of this section of biomes shock is you
33:40know what's the ramifications of doing
33:42these things right nothing good is going
33:43to come about of this all right so let's
33:46slow down a little bit and wander our
33:49way back to Main Street and a lot of
33:50people think that Main Street is boring
33:53but I argue it is it because it serves
33:55some very important things the first is
33:57it tells the backstory of Walt Disney
33:58this is his childhood this is where he
34:00came from and and at the time in 1955
34:03when the park opened this was the
34:05history of a lot of the guesses
34:07alright this was meant to resonate with
34:09the parents or the grandparents that
34:11were bringing the kids to Disneyland for
34:14them to go yeah this is what it was like
34:15when I grew up right look there were gas
34:17lamps and there were these old
34:18horse-drawn carriages and I remember
34:21going to the theater when it was a
34:23nickel and you know you had to put up
34:24with all these stories for grandpa but
34:26but it was this way of nostalgia of old
34:28saying this is where I came from now
34:30we're going to go to where I eventually
34:32went from now it does make you wonder
34:34what if Disneyland were rebuilt today
34:36from the ground up would this be like
34:37the 80s would it be like Back to the
34:39Future 2 or something have you be pretty
34:41awesome actually alright so some lessons
34:44from Main Street the first is that not
34:45every ride has to be an e-ticket and any
34:47ticket is Disney terminology for the
34:49best the most expensive the most
34:51thrilling of the attractions but Main
34:53Street is some just some nice quiet
34:54things that you can kind of motor around
34:56and get you from here to there and Lego
34:59Batman for example they do the same
35:00thing alright you find these old
35:01motorcycles you can hop on you just
35:03drive around like an idiot it doesn't
35:05mean anything it doesn't advance the
35:06story but it's nice that it's there the
35:09second one is that there's always a
35:10place to sit right there's frequent
35:12checkpoints and I for personal
35:14experience I cannot stress this enough
35:15checkpoints are your friend right
35:17whether you're doing it as a as a
35:19pre-loaded autosave or it's a visible
35:22place that you go and check or look at
35:24the structure of Angry Birds right I
35:26mean each one of those level breaks
35:27essentially as a checkpoint a moment
35:29where you kind of stop and go you know
35:30what I I'm done waiting in line I'm at
35:33the ATM I can go get my money now I'll
35:35come back to the game later I have this
35:36little stopping point just make sure you
35:38build in frequent stopping points into
35:40your gameplay you know be kind to the
35:41player let them rest in final fantasy
35:45and I think that's what ia door
35:48but essentially there's this neat little
35:51minigame where you're kind of running
35:52your way to the Opera House and there's
35:54some kids playing jump rope and it's
35:58this if you can stop and just kind of
35:59watch them and talk to the kids and
36:01eventually they invite you to come in
36:03and jump it it's much like the the
36:05motorcycle that's in Lego but it's this
36:07nice little distraction that means
36:09nothing to the experience until later on
36:11the kids I think show up and and they
36:13can help you in some way but it's just
36:14this nice little moment where you can
36:16just kind of stop and enjoy the the
36:18ambience of the world so it's something
36:20that fits in I would totally expect to
36:22see kids playing jump rope in a little
36:23in a city but it's just a nice little
36:26place to stop unless you can do this
36:27with music you can do this with mini
36:29games you know stop it and you know some
36:32of the games that you can like a whole
36:33one-armed bandits when you're in a Vegas
36:35level or something like that
36:36it's these cute little distractions and
36:38then finally we talked a little bit
36:40about reorientation but what's most
36:42important about the hub which is of
36:44course the the main weeny right is at
36:46the top of the hub is this is this place
36:48of safety and I don't know about you but
36:50every time I'm in Disneyland and I kind
36:52of listen in on the guests and what
36:53they're saying once in a while here
36:55parents go alright if we ever get
36:56separated now granted in the age of
36:58mobile phones this is less of a case but
37:01back in when I was a kid back in the old
37:03days the hub was a place you would go to
37:06me right if we ever get lost meet in
37:07front of the castle meet in front of the
37:09hub right don't you know this is where
37:10we'll meet it so people feel safe to go
37:13back to this spot of course Main Street
37:16has lots of nook and crannies and and I
37:19always say that even at the end of any
37:21alley you should always have a trash can
37:23whether there's a cat or a zombie or
37:25whatever and it is a treasure and it's
37:27totally up to you but creating little
37:29fingers of little distractions even if
37:31you have a completely linear path like
37:33Main Street is just this straight shot
37:35but there's still these tiny little
37:37fingers that you can wander down and go
37:38oh what's over here oh there's a funny
37:40sound effect oh what's over here there's
37:41a neat piece of art those never
37:43underestimate the importance of making
37:45that those fingers making a world feel
37:47even more like a real place and you can
37:49hide to pull stuff in there as well all
37:51right speaking of hiding stuff a really
37:52good utilization of this is
37:55pirates lair now Tom Sawyer's Island got
37:57a refit in the early 2000s and made it
38:00all pirate themed but there's still some
38:01cool stuff in it so for example on
38:05pirate Solaris Tom Sawyer's Island it
38:07which is Tom Sawyer's treehouse and Tom
38:09Sawyer's treehouse is this place where
38:10kids can go and run and climb and all
38:12that and one time my kids were there and
38:14they came running back down and like dad
38:16dad we've got to go find the treasure
38:17like what the heck you talking about
38:19what treasure and they're like oh inside
38:21Tom Torres treehouse theirs is Matt and
38:23so I fit myself and kind of squeezed
38:25through and got up to the map and looked
38:27and went oh yeah son of a gun there's a
38:29treasure map up here all right let's go
38:30find the treasure and so we looked at
38:32using the map and you know kind of
38:33looking at going all right it's all the
38:34way back here somewhere
38:35we meandered our way and sure enough
38:37that we found the essentially x marks
38:40the spot and we were rewarded with this
38:42nice pile of fake treasure and we would
38:45have never known about this spot because
38:46it's kind of off the beaten path and it
38:48wasn't at the particularly at the end of
38:50a directed trail yet you wouldn't have
38:52stumbled on it very easily but because
38:55this treasure map in the house pointed
38:57it to us it became a destination and so
38:59is this nice reward we're rewarded for
39:01the fact that we took the time to look
39:02for this another way they do that is if
39:05you can list some small children to be
39:07your slaves you can have them push this
39:09and there's a treasure chest suspended
39:11by these cables and not only to get the
39:14treasure but you get the surprise if the
39:15Pirates say give me back my treasure
39:17right so sometimes the rewards don't
39:19have to be monetary or a new sword or
39:21something to advance the the gameplay it
39:24could just be something fun all right
39:26well when you're thinking about your
39:28level you want to think about what lives
39:30in your level and Disneyland does a
39:31great job of populating their levels so
39:33for example if I say western town all
39:36the things that you expect to find in a
39:38Western down like a water you know horse
39:41trough and a wagon and a wooden Indian
39:43and even those old video games standbys
39:45crates and barrels you know can all be
39:48found in this level right or in this
39:50environment but what's nice about Disney
39:53is not only do we do what's expected but
39:55we turn it on its head so in toontown
39:57which is one of the other lands we have
40:00the same things that you would find in a
40:03place like frontier land so we still
40:04have the water fountains and we solve
40:06the wagons and we still even have the
40:08crates and barrels right but they're
40:10themed to this environment so when
40:12you're building your level obviously a
40:13good exercise is there okay what kind of
40:16place of my making and then make a big
40:17list of all the things you would expect
40:19to find and then start turning them in
40:21the gameplay right because in toontown
40:23for example those crates they're not
40:26just there for decoration if you pull
40:27them open they make funny sounds or if
40:29you push on the plunger in front of the
40:31dynamite factory if you get you know
40:33whatever the hex number of times it
40:35takes the plunge it you'll get rewarded
40:37with a crack all the fireworks and a
40:39little light show and stuff like that so
40:40it's not just important to have these
40:42things in the world to help make it feel
40:44like a real place but giving them some
40:46sort of level of function as well at
40:48worth to surprise the player are really
40:50good and of course reusing assets right
40:54is very important is something that we
40:55as video game developers of master we're
40:58really good at taking a generic object
41:00and reusing it over and over again right
41:02look think about power-ups think about
41:03breakable crates or exploding barrels
41:05and but Disneyland came up with a first
41:07man we had our generic trash gun and did
41:10you know that that trash can was
41:12designed by Walt Disney himself he
41:14actually trashcans up until that point
41:16at open tops and he's like I don't want
41:18a park with trash just out in the open
41:21so he designed this top to it and and
41:24that's where we get the closed top trash
41:26cans from Walt Disney himself and of
41:28course you can look at these trash cans
41:30and figure out what Lander it's so
41:31they've become an oriented they
41:32chemically become like this mini we D
41:34like a cocktail meeting that you can I
41:37look at it go the tray
41:38can looks like jumbo stuff I must be an
41:40adventure line even if your nose is down
41:42in your device but hopefully you're not
41:44doing that when you're in design all
41:45right okay another storytelling
41:48technique you could do with your level
41:49is what I call illusion or narrative and
41:50this is storytelling
41:53economic storytelling and so a really
41:56good example this is found in the Peter
41:57Pan flight attraction which is in it
42:00you're in a pirate ship you're flying
42:02over Neverland you're flying over London
42:03and you eventually get to a point where
42:06Peter Pan is fighting Captain Hook and
42:08the path of the the vehicle goes like
42:10this it travels over the bow of the ship
42:12and and back around the ship in and out
42:14and what's really cool is they tell this
42:17very short story within this very
42:19compact bit of space so as you first
42:21approach you see Peter Pan fighting
42:23Captain Hook and as you literally go
42:26around the corner and go around the sail
42:28you see the second half of the story you
42:30see Peter Pan standing at the back of
42:32the ship he's one he you know
42:34everybody's happy wendy is free the Lost
42:36Boys are free they're no longer tied up
42:37and you see Captain Hook's standing on
42:39the crocodile and it's showing this
42:41cause and effect but it's they're not
42:43using there's not like nobody's moving
42:45like nobody had to move they just use
42:47two statues they just did it merely by
42:50the fact of knowing where the player was
42:52going to be and setting up this
42:53situation to make sure that you're
42:55looking at the right thing right and so
42:57of course you have to be careful when
42:58you're setting up these scenarios
42:59because backtracking might screw it up
43:02how many of you guys seen the YouTube
43:03video of the Watson that follows you
43:06around right in the Sherlock Holmes game
43:08go look for that one it's really funny
43:09right but that's an example of somebody
43:11not thinking about their their scripting
43:14the the character do what they needed to
43:16do there they obviously did test it
43:17enough for something or just nobody
43:19cared I guess but but the way that you
43:21can do it in games right is like in
43:23Medal of Honor it's pretty dark but
43:25there's a there's a sergeant there and
43:27he says all right soldier we're going to
43:28go in and we're going to smash those
43:30Nazis we're going to go
43:31this Houston and get them all meet you
43:32on the other side don't get a move and
43:35you go through and you shoot Nazis and
43:37you have a good time and then when you
43:38get to the back you stand in there at
43:40the exit he's like good job we kill
43:41those Nazis right on let's keep going
43:43and if you were to pull that map up and
43:45look at a top view there's a little dude
43:47standing at the front door and there's
43:49another dude standing at the back door
43:51right and it's they didn't animate
43:52anything they didn't have a motion path
43:54they have to animate any walk cycle any
43:56of those time-consuming things they just
43:58put two guys in there with just enough
43:59animation too so the idea that the
44:01Sargent was at the beginning and at the
44:03end and so these are really good tricks
44:05that that way you you know the animation
44:07is time intensive and and voiceover it
44:09takes time again I write that stuff and
44:11have them recorded and so be smart use
44:13it wherever you can get away with using
44:14things efficiently go ahead and do that
44:17all right another thing you can do to
44:19help your level along is to add danger
44:21now Disneyland is all about cheating
44:24death right most of our attractions are
44:26about putting you in some sort of
44:27dangerous scenario and then having you
44:29survive it in some capacity and just
44:32like at Disneyland and just like when
44:34people ride rollercoasters they want to
44:35feel like they're in danger but in
44:37reality they know they're safe right and
44:39so you you know you just you if you set
44:42up these environments that look like
44:45their trouble so you know narrow bridges
44:47work really well right as people kind of
44:49have to walk their way across them or
44:51environments with fires going on or some
44:54other natural disaster some other seeds
44:56going on or skeletons right if you lay
44:59skeletons and a sign that says keep out
45:01you know you'll get eaten by a dragon
45:02people are going to be like alright well
45:04I'm going to be a little more careful
45:06here because something bad is going to
45:08happen I've got to be careful and and
45:10people like that little thrill that they
45:11get for feeling like they might be in
45:13danger even if they are by the way a
45:16quick question anyone know how many
45:17Disneyland attractions feature skeletons
45:20or skulls I will answer that one later
45:23anyway so a really good example is the
45:26Lord of the Rings two towers where you
45:27start the game and you're in the middle
45:30there's lava pouring and it arrows
45:31flying through the air and orcs are
45:33screaming and yelling but if you think
45:35about the game and if you stop and put
45:36down your controller you're really only
45:38fighting one or two orcs it's the fact
45:40that they made this whole world so
45:42engaging and so active and so lively and
45:44feel like you're in danger but in
45:46reality you're just doing some basic
45:48training right and so whatever you can
45:50do to kind of hide in the excitement and
45:51hide an intention will grab your players
45:53attention all right now we're in the
45:56homestretch so we're going to look at
45:59one attraction in particular the Indiana
46:01Jones temple for bid and I and the
46:04brilliance of this attraction isn't even
46:06the attraction itself it's it's its line
46:08the line is so awesome it uses every
46:11single trick that I just talked about in
46:14it to create a very compelling
46:15experience even before you go on the
46:17ride so apologize for anyone who has not
46:20been on this attraction I highly
46:21recommend it so just like we're talking
46:25about with the danger right it does
46:26foreshadowing it it has statues of
46:29snakes all over the place and skulls
46:31carvings and danger signs and so as
46:35you're moving through the the queue
46:36people are going there's going to be
46:38something bad here and it involves
46:40snakes and I don't know what exactly it
46:42is but it's going to be trouble and so I
46:44don't know if any of you guys have ever
46:46attended like a haunted house you know
46:48in someone's garage or or something they
46:50do at a shopping mall like the
46:52anticipation of waiting in line before
46:55you get in the haunted house sometimes
46:56freaks people out more than when they
46:58actually get in the haunted house right
46:59and so you want to use that to your
47:01advantage when you're building your
47:02levels if you're going to build
47:03something scary you don't just throw
47:05them right into it right you build up to
47:07it you let them get scared first it's
47:09even better if you tell them that
47:11something scary is going to happen right
47:13if you if you want some really good
47:14examples of how to set up these kind of
47:17levels play any of the dead space game
47:18well not not the extraction but play the
47:21main two dead space games right because
47:22they do a great job of kind of building
47:24tension and having little false scares
47:26that get you going until you get to the
47:28big ones another thing that the Indiana
47:31Jones queue does really well is it uses
47:32its space right it allows
47:35elevation you kind of go back and forth
47:38there's misdirection you think you're
47:40going to be going into the temple and
47:42then the line moves back and so that way
47:44you're like oh I really want to get into
47:45that temple no I got to turn around and
47:48keep going this way oh now I'm going to
47:49get it I'm not doing all right now we're
47:51going up the path and that's another
47:53cool psychological thing that you could
47:55use when you're building your level is
47:56elevation right if you go up people feel
47:59like they're getting somewhere if they
48:00go down they feel like they're going
48:02into danger and the suspense so even
48:04think about the way the player is moving
48:06up or down will help tell part of your
48:08story get them into the right move
48:10of course the inanity on subtraction has
48:12its share of weenies as you make your
48:14way through you look and you see the
48:16Tarzan treehouse and you see the Jungle
48:18Cruise they're like oh those are really
48:19cool places right I want to go to these
48:21and all maybe when we're done with this
48:23attraction we can go to this next one
48:25now there's storytelling of course all
48:27through the environment because when we
48:29build our experiences at Disneyland it's
48:31all about story first so we have to have
48:33a very compelling story and this one of
48:36course we know Indiana Jones and we know
48:38or at least we're familiar with it but
48:40maybe two people that don't know any
48:41Jones we need to educate them a little
48:43bit and let them know the kind of
48:44environments that Indy goes into with
48:46these traps and these these Indian gods
48:48and and you can see this point of with
48:50the snake wrapping the guy because bad
48:53things are going to happen and another
48:54cool thing is we originally had a puzzle
48:56in the queue of the Indiana Jones
48:57direction we had as Mara lush the
49:01language of Mara and we used to hand out
49:03the coder cards and so when you were
49:05waiting in it was a long way back in the
49:07opening day when the attraction first
49:08opened you had this decoder card so as
49:10you're standing there going on man I'm
49:12bored I'm waiting in line oh hey I'll
49:13try and decode this and see what it says
49:15and it usually would say stuff like
49:16beware of the IMR oh or watch out for
49:19snakes or make a TNT your service
49:23of course there's our friends the skulls
49:25right and spikes but we're also talking
49:27we're implying not only the danger but
49:30we're having it be interactive right so
49:32for I don't know any of you guys know
49:34that if you tug on the pole and the one
49:36that's kind of bent over there do you
49:38know that the roof comes down put the
49:39spikes on it and then there's also a
49:41rope that if you pull on it you can hear
49:43little archaeologists moan as his all
49:45his artifacts break and stuff like that
49:47so there's these fun little things that
49:49you know kind of like the rope skipping
49:50game right it was it doesn't need to be
49:52there we didn't need to build these
49:53things in but they're fun and so why not
49:55why not have them in there
49:56also check out the skull head implied in
49:59the Batcave right you can see the lights
50:01see the eyes and it kind of makes this
50:03skull and you only see it for a brief
50:05second but it gets you in the mood of
50:06I'm moving into danger now what's really
50:08cool about the Indiana Jones attraction
50:10is we have a tutorial level right we
50:12have a chamber where you go in there and
50:14Sawa and these panel from the movies
50:15says look I've invented this wonderful
50:17car and it uses seatbelts because
50:19remember it's 1934 and there's no seat
50:22belts back then and so the audience is
50:24also part of they're also in 1934 so we
50:27have to teach them and what we're really
50:28teaching you is how to be safe and use
50:30the seat belt and get on quickly so then
50:32we can get the the car movie you can get
50:34off on your adventure there's also maps
50:37if you go around after you get through
50:39the solar room if you turn around
50:40there's an actual whole map of the
50:42attraction that shows all the all the
50:44dangers aren't things like that it's
50:45something no one ever sees because
50:47they're too busy concentrating if you
50:49stop and look these details are there to
50:51be found and then of course we're
50:53building your anticipation right we want
50:55to get to the attraction you go look I'm
50:57almost there I see the cards to write
50:58inside but no we have to make you go up
51:00some stairs and across this top and down
51:02some other scares so by the time you're
51:04at the card so feel like I cannot wait
51:07to you this is going to be the most
51:08awesome experience and of course it is
51:10alright and then of course when you're
51:12building your levels you want to
51:14about interior and exterior spaces
51:16juxtaposing these two because if you're
51:19just going halt oh-oh-oh after a while
51:21it's going to feel repetitive but if you
51:24medium-sized room ha a big room it's
51:26going to give a better sense of place if
51:29you could try and make it feel like
51:30these rooms have purpose that's even
51:32better and that the little paths are
51:34connecting tissue but it also makes a
51:36place feel natural writing a a
51:37completely symmetrical environment just
51:39doesn't feel natural to the player and
51:42it gets repetitive right and then of
51:44course they use illusional narrative
51:45right Indiana Jones hanging from the
51:46rope come on handy come down and then
51:48you go literally go down a hill and
51:49around a corner and there is again safe
51:51and sound you know hey we want and we we
51:54didn't get squished by a giant ball by
51:56the way that thing that giant ball
51:57weighs like eight tons and you can hear
52:01it roll outside of the building so like
52:04every five minutes you hear this rumble
52:06of of the giant ball rolling it's it's
52:09pretty impressive and a little
52:10terrifying alright so we're done when
52:13we've won we've escaped the eye of Mara
52:15and we're on our way out and and so the
52:17message that's being given to the player
52:18is you're safe you've escaped
52:20congratulations so there's no scary
52:22imagery there are no snakes there are no
52:23skulls on spikes it's a nice clear Leela
52:26path right squint your eyes and look at
52:27that bottom image what do you see see
52:30the path right my favorite one is this
52:32is this just nice row of lights that say
52:34go out this way follow the lights out
52:37thanks for coming and so in summary you
52:39want to think of all these elements at
52:41Disneyland is used to build their level
52:43designs which is it's think about the
52:45story and your interests and you know
52:47what do you want the player to do and
52:49design your way down think about the
52:50world first and work your way down to
52:52the experiences use the environment to
52:53tell the story I think about the objects
52:55they're going to find using tricks like
52:57the Pathak techniques with the lighting
52:59and the illusional narrative train the
53:02player by having them do things rather
53:03than just experience or look at a
53:06encourage the player movement right you
53:08can use those maps and posters you
53:09wouldn't use we needs to help guide them
53:11around and any want to maximize the
53:14you want to make them feel safe or in
53:15danger depending on what you want for
53:17shadow all your cool stuff you know get
53:19they'll use those skeletons right oh by
53:21the way how many skeletons answers 12
53:25there are 12 dead at least 12 dead
53:28bodies of some sort in Disneyland
53:30actually there's a hundred and ninety
53:351994 skulls in that Indiana Jones room
53:39to commemorate the year that the
53:40attraction was open and there's one real
53:42skeleton in the Pirates of the Caribbean
53:44and if you talk to me afterwards I'll
53:46tell you where it is alright also if you
53:48like this talk I wrote a couple of books
53:50about game design plug in e plug they
53:52can be bought on Amazon com level up is
53:55all about game design swipe this is a
53:56new one that just came out about Dutch
53:58Street game design which is very
54:00different than regular game design as
54:01I'm sure many of you know so if you like
54:03books you like pictures and you like
54:05chili recipes I highly recommend these
54:07books alright so I'm done you can visit
54:09me on the interweb you can email me
54:11thank you very much for coming
54:19I almost forgot I have to take a picture
54:21of you guys the proof that you were
54:22actually here so everyone smile Freddie
54:26say cheese okay on a second you blink
54:31hold on one more time
54:32all right ready say cheese there we go
54:37thank you very much and thanks for
54:38coming any questions
54:45where's the real skeleton all right well
54:49it is technically after all right fair
54:52it is the skull head mounted to the bed
54:55board of the pirate captain in the
54:58Pirates of the Caribbean that is I
55:00believe the last real skull in the park
55:04they used to be all real and then I
55:06think it became illegal because we kept
55:10killing people to put them in pianos
55:11they can fall apart you know they smell
55:14bad anyone else anyone ready to go yes
55:18all the way in the back
55:32oh sorry hi so in Indiana Jones and a
55:37lot of attractions at Disneyland kids
55:40are the adults probably already have an
55:42idea their mind of right they know
55:44marriage so what are some design things
55:46that you've done as examples to make
55:48sure even like the kids you know have
55:50fun and I mean you've given some
55:51examples but I'm just curious like did
55:53you ever have any specific thought
55:55process processes about your like level
55:57designs and these attractions to make
55:59sure that everyone had a good time
56:00to teach them about the character and
56:03the stories or well in the case of the
56:06Indiana Jones attraction think of it
56:08this way right you see this name it says
56:10Indiana Jones and the Temple of the
56:12forbidden I right so you know that
56:14there's a dude named Indiana Jones and
56:16there's a temple of forbidden I right
56:18and so if you you know you walk up and
56:21you know well here's this temple I know
56:22I know that this is a temple and you
56:25start learning about the temple because
56:26that's the part you don't know about
56:27right you you might already know who
56:29Indiana Jones Jones is but you don't
56:31know what this forbidden is so that's
56:33the most important thing for us first to
56:35teach you but we have to take into
56:36account that you don't know who Indiana
56:38Jones's so as you go through the
56:40attraction particularly in the once you
56:42get to the Rotunda where the
56:44archaeological dig is going on and more
56:46importantly Saul as tutorial and and
56:49there's some other elements there's an
56:50office actually like a dig office that's
56:52where we start teaching you a little bit
56:55so if you watch the cycle and usually
56:57unless it's a pretty light day you see
56:59at least one cycle of the the training
57:02video it always says famed archaeologist
57:05in an agenda shows a little pitcher and
57:07now because Harrison Ford didn't
57:09actually film anything for the
57:11attraction we have like the standing guy
57:12kind of fallen his hat down and running
57:14in right but it shows you who this
57:16Indiana Jones dude is he wears a fedora
57:18he's got this this K this bomber jacket
57:21on and as you go past the dig office you
57:23see another fedora in there and there
57:28the cast members are dressed similarly
57:30to Indiana Jones they've got the fedora
57:31and the kind of the buff colored
57:33clothing so we're trying to teach you a
57:35little bit of of the fiction of the
57:38thing that you might not know going in
57:40and then of course when you get to the
57:42door the gates of doom or India's kind
57:44of holding the door back and going or
57:46you looked at the temple and when you
57:48see it you you kind of go okay well
57:50based on what I've seen in the video and
57:52what I've seen as I've worked my way
57:54around so that must be in a Jones right
57:56and so we we build the story in these
57:59little bits we can spool it out and and
58:00give you little bits of information and
58:03an interesting thing about the
58:04attractions in general is the
58:07attractions used to be more designed
58:10from a first person player point of view
58:11so in Fantasyland if any of you guys are
58:14old enough to remember before they
58:15change famous eland over in the early
58:1780s the attractions of mr. toad and Snow
58:22White and Peter Pan and Alice didn't
58:24have the main characters in the
58:26attraction and the reason for that was
58:28the designers of the attraction wanted
58:30it to be you being those characters so
58:33it's not Peter Pan flying
58:35it's Peter Pan's possessive flight it's
58:38Snow White scary adventure and so you
58:40are cast as Snow White or as Peter Pan
58:43and you're experiencing this from their
58:45point of view now the irony is over the
58:47years guests would say well where's
58:49Peter Pan he's not in the right here's
58:51Snow White she's not in the right and
58:53instead of having to go through all this
58:55rigmarole of explaining to the may you
58:57were supposed to be Peter bath we just
58:58added figures head so it's something
59:00that considered as well with your
59:01storytelling right make sure that you're
59:03you're providing the right information
59:04otherwise you're just going to make them
59:06a little confused great that's all we
59:10have time for but I'm sure you can come
59:12up afterwards and ask questions there's
59:14a break right now and if any of you guys
59:16have your copies of your books I'll be
59:18as well you brought oh thank you
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