Level Design and Software Development/Engineering
- Thread starter Aquadango
- Start date
nitewalker
L2: Junior Member
- Aug 5, 2014
- 64
- 141
software development is generally the development of software itself, not what you make using the software. if you wrote an essay in microsoft word, it wouldnt be considered software development just because microsoft word is a piece of software. likewise making maps using hammer editor wouldnt be considered software development.
depends on your approach, is a map software? yes, yes it is. But it's also much more than that. Here's a collection of random thoughts.
-Generally, software, is more about processing information, dealing with content in various ways. To me, a map happens to be both software and content at the same time.
-A level's scripting is definitely a piece of software (getting the obvious out of the way).
-There's a branch in software development called "User Experience design" (UX). Level design shares a lot of skillsets with user experience design, the line between the two sometimes blurs in my mind because I tend to use the same notions in both areas. In either field, you're directing the user to help them do what they're looking to do.
-Generally, software development comes with what we call "use cases". which boils down to a set of steps that the user is going to take to perform a given task. A map is very similar in that it provides many different tools for the player to complete a given objective. How the player uses the map is a use case in itself.
-The development methods that you see in mapping are development methods that you'll often see in software. The iterative process and our bug tracking is definitely something that is very analogous to software development. As modders however, we're definitely not as mature in our methodologies when compared to modern day software development so that's a thing to keep in mind.
-At the end of the day, level design and software development are both forms of problem solving. that much I know.
-Generally, software, is more about processing information, dealing with content in various ways. To me, a map happens to be both software and content at the same time.
-A level's scripting is definitely a piece of software (getting the obvious out of the way).
-There's a branch in software development called "User Experience design" (UX). Level design shares a lot of skillsets with user experience design, the line between the two sometimes blurs in my mind because I tend to use the same notions in both areas. In either field, you're directing the user to help them do what they're looking to do.
-Generally, software development comes with what we call "use cases". which boils down to a set of steps that the user is going to take to perform a given task. A map is very similar in that it provides many different tools for the player to complete a given objective. How the player uses the map is a use case in itself.
-The development methods that you see in mapping are development methods that you'll often see in software. The iterative process and our bug tracking is definitely something that is very analogous to software development. As modders however, we're definitely not as mature in our methodologies when compared to modern day software development so that's a thing to keep in mind.
-At the end of the day, level design and software development are both forms of problem solving. that much I know.
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