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World of Level Design Newsletter #1. Latest updates on World of Level Design.

In this edition we'll talk about few updates and announcements, upcoming challenges, upcoming tutorials, and members work.

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND UPDATES:

Level Design Challenges:
The popular 11-Day Level Design Challenge will be the next challenge on World of Level Design. The details will be revealed at the time when the challenge goes live. Stay tuned for that!

Upcoming WoLD Tutorials:
I've been working on various tutorial series. You will be able to learn and create along side from start to finish the following.

They include:

• L4D2 Campaign Series tutorials. How to build a campaign for L4D2 from start to finish.
• UDK Environment Series. How to create a fully detailed environment using UDK. This will include custom content.
• Maya Modeling. Basics and modeling environments. This will be along side UDK Environment Series. You will learn how to use Maya to model environment assets and export/import them into UDK.

WoLD Premium Content:

UDK© 11 Day Level Design has been released. It covers how to create a full playable map from start to finish using UDK. Great way to get ready for the upcoming 11-Day Level Design Challenge.

I'm also working on more high-quality premium content, which I cannot reveal just yet. It will take your level design and environment creation to a new level.

WoLD Forums Update:

Making the community experience better, WoLD forums now have a few additional features.

Topic Icons allow you easier browse through the forums.

Gratitude mod has been added. You can now thank members for their useful posts. Under each profile, a counter has been added to keep track of all thank you.

I've also been experimenting with adding mini live chat to the forums. It is being tested right now. You'll be able to chat with other forum members in real time.

WoLD MEMBERS WORK:

WarrenM

One of our newest members, WarrenM has shown he can produce high-quality environments in the Hammer engine. He has started a small survival level for Left 4 Dead 2, which he's using to grasp the basics of designing levels for the game.

The level is an old bus terminal that was converted from an old barn. The survivors have to survive as long as they can. WarrenM doesn't know if the level will be released, as he doesn't intend to complete the level since it is being used as a learning exercise. But the work is nonetheless, very inspiring.

He has also created a building from a reference photo.

The reference image was taken from the following site: http://www.agilitynut.com/deco/1.html

As an exercise in scale taking a reference image of a structure and then replicating it in a game editor is a good way to improve as a Level Designer.

Billiz: Flamingo Holocaust

L4D2 Campaign being developed by Billiz. The high-quality of work he produces is seen in the following screenshots.

The campaign is set in Miami and will feature many custom textures. Head over to the WoLD forums and visit the Work-in-Progress section to check out Billiz's progress.

NexusDog and KeithGarry: Ballroom Blitz

Nexusdog and KeithGarry have been collaborating on a project together. Working in a Team Fortress 2 map.

Smog: Museum Project

Smog has been working on a side project, The Museum. It's an environment that players can explore at their leisure and is set in a museum. The exhibits are experiments in level design. This project allows him to have a go at making things he wouldn't necessarily make in a normal map.

The Museum itself isn't huge and holds only nine exhibits but it will be fun to explore. Smog hope to make some exhibits interactive. There will also be a Gallery in the museum with paintings of some of World of Level Design's members work. With permission of course.

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