Streamlined Level Design

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COPYRIGHT INFO:
Copyright 2009. Alex Galuzin and World of Level Design.
All contents copyright C 2008-2009 by Alex Galuzin and World of

Level Design. All rights reserved. No part of this document or the
related files may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any
means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without
the prior written permission of the publisher.
Limit of Liability and Disclaimer of Warranty:

The publisher has used its best efforts in preparing this book, and the
information provided herein is provided "as is." World of Level Design
and Alex Galuzin makes no representation or warranties with respect
to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and
specifically disclaims any implied warranties of merchantability or
fitness for any particular purpose and shall in no event be liable for
any loss of profit or any other commercial damage, including but not
limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
Trademarks:
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trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of their
respective holders. They are used throughout this book in an editorial
fashion only. In addition, terms suspected of being trademarks,
registered trademarks, or service marks have been appropriately
capitalized, although World of Level Design and Alex Galuzin cannot
attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book
should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark,
registered trademark, or service mark. World of Level Design and
Alex Galuzin is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned
in this book.
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TABLE OF CONTENT
About Alex Galuzin
Introduction
Section 1: Mindset
1.1 Managing Yourself

1.2 Focus
1.3 Developing Your Focus
1.4 Habits are Destiny
Section 2: Level Design Productivity
2.1 Developing a Mapping Habit

2.2 30-Day; Daily Mapping Ritual
2.3 Setting Deadlines
2.4 60-60-30
2.5 Relax and Rest
Section 3: Part Time Level Design
3.1 Part Time Level Design

3.2 Mapping Workflow
3.3 Final Thoughts
*This book also includes a ‘Part Time Level Design: 56/84 Hours’ pdf worksheets.
Separate file.
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ABOUT ALEX GALUZIN:
My name is Alex Galuzin. I am 29 years old as of 2009 and with a
B.F.A. in Computer Animation from Ringling College of Art and
Design.
In June of 2008 I created a map for Unreal 3 DM-IceyApex and along

the way I took screenshots of my progress. I posted the workflow on
AlexGaluzin.com and received a lot of positive feedback. I really had
fun documenting my process and shortly few months later I decided
to dedicate a whole website to my learning process and my
experience in level design and 3d art and environments.
Thus, World of Level Design was born.
I love creating worlds and environments. It is my passion. I love

environments and level design. I hope you become inspired by my
website, this e-book and the information to create interactive, open
ended worlds.
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, send me an

email.
I am going to teach, inspire and create environments until there is no

more games and Internet; or me whichever comes first.
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You can contact me at:
alexgaluzin@yahoo.com
alex@worldofleveldesign.com
Follow me on twitter:
www.twitter.com/AlexGaluzin
My Websites:
www.AlexGaluzin.com
&
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INTRODUCTION:
Over last 4 years I have gotten pretty good at time management and
productivity. During my sophomore year at college I was able to be a
full time student at Ringling, hold a part time job while getting ready
to compete in a mixed martial arts tournament.
I was able to pass all of my classes with As and Bs, win my first
professional MMA fight in a KO highlight fashion and eventually start
freelancing as a web designer.
Now I am not telling this to impress you. I am telling you this

because I want to let you to know what is possible and how to use
the time you are given in a fullest and most productive way.
It’s completely possible to have a life and work a full-time job while
learning new skill and working on personal projects.
My problem in the past has always been time management and

finishing what I started. I had ideas all over the place and new ones
always popped into my mind as fast as I could think. Implementing
those ideas was often easy too but then within few days of a new
idea I would often have another one and I would begin the process
all over again.
Have you ever had this happen to you?
I would get excited about this new idea, leaving the “old” one in the
pursuit of a new one. If I did stick out for longer then a week with a
good idea I would eventually stray to another project or get bored
with the idea.
Basically I ended up never completing much of anything.
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If you know what I am talking about, I know how you feel. I have
been there and it is not a fun place to come from. Nothing gets done
and all you see is your own potential but never developing it.
Often times I would have an ongoing folder of projects, just sitting

there, waiting for me to finish. All were good ideas but I lacked few
fundamental things.
I lacked the principles of productivity and time management.
It took me couple of years to narrow down key fundamental things in

how to begin and finish what I start.
I also want to tell you that it is more important to finish what you
start, even if its not as good as you wanted it to be.
How awesome would it be when you are posting screenshots of a

new 3d art project or a new level you just worked hard for last few
weeks on the forums and getting awesome feedback on it. The
feeling and the momentum you gain from completing a project is far
greater then anything else.
One half decent map or model completed is far better then 10 maps
and models that are almost perfect but that will never see the light of
day.
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WHY THIS BOOK?
Being frustrated with my lack of results and initiative to finish I set
out to learn as much as I could about time management and
productivity.
Some of the techniques I will describe to you came from business

and management field; many came from sports and are being used
by top athletes.
Also a lot of this book came from last 5 years of managing and
balancing my own life.
Trial and error.
But you don’t have to figure this out on your own. It’s all here.
What you will learn in this book:
Following through on personal and professional projects starts

with your mindset.
Time management vs. Self-management. What is the difference

and which one to use.
Beginning to monitor yourself on how you spend your time.
One single key aspect to being productive you must know.
Two key aspects of focus and why it is important to productivity
Recognizing two things that kill your productivity and avoiding

them.
Top 5 things to help you develop focus.
What are habits? Why they are important?
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How to develop a level design habit.
Why being specific and knowing the outcome you want are
important
Importance of setting your own self-imposed deadlines
Utilizing 60-60-30 principle of Level Design
Why spending time away from the computer and recharging is

important.
How you can use Part Time Level Design and create a map, a
model or learn a new skill set in 30 days
Know level design workflow
This book will explain in step-by-step process how to start a project,

work through it, and still be excited when you are halfway done and
push on for next few days and weeks and see it to completion.
It is not hard to finish maps, but if you don’t know what it takes to
finish, the specific steps and the mindset that it takes to finish it then
it is often hard enough job to keep going.
I will give you the step-by-step process and key ingredients and
mindsets to pretty much transforming your personal work. They
worked for me and I know they will work for you.
It does require one thing, and it is faith, a belief in yourself that you
will see your project completed.
The change will not come overnight. It is a day-by-day progress.
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We will go through the mindset of what it takes to think and do in
order to plan and execute plan for your project.
From beginning to end we will focus on key essential tasks and

release a new map or a new modeled.
I also can tell you that if you have a full time job or 2 jobs, you can
still work hard and using the techniques I describe to finish advanced
level designs and models. It will not require you to be a top modeler,
but you may become one in the process.
Matter of fact, you will be able to perform at a higher productivity

level then most people.
All I can tell you is this. I completely changed my life by following

these things.
Also this is just the beginning. I truly want you to succeed and get
everything that I learned and found useful.
What I am saying is, I was a kid in my early 20’s with all the
aspiration and all the great ideas. But all my thinking and aspirations
were nothing until I could create and put my thoughts into a form for
others to experience, thus being a level design or an environment.
Don’t hold your ideas inside just as ideas. Create them and let others
see the creative potential in you. Which exists in us all.
I want to thank you for the purchase of this book.
You are about to find out some of the most productive techniques
that most don’t know about.
LETS BEGIN
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1.1 MANAGING YOURSELF
Tony Schwartz, one of the greatest productivity gurus said that,
“It is not about managing your time, it is about managing

yourself.”
Time management has gotten popular lately and yet most don’t quiet
know how to manage that time. My first encounter into time-
management came from a book I picked up in the architecture
section. It was 2004 and the book was called “Time Management for
Architects and Designers” by Thorbjoern Mann.
I read the book once and was so fascinated that after I was done I
flipped it back to the beginning and read it again. From that point on
I began to look at my life and how I spend each in a new light.
One thing I come to realize over last few years is this;
Time will go at the same speed and pace as it has

before and always will for everyone. We all have the
same hours in a week. It’s all about how you decide
to spend them.
When people say, “I wish I had more time”, or “I don’t have the
time”, all of these are excuses. All of us are given the same amount
of time as everyone else.
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Michelangelo or Da Vinci didn’t have 48-hour days, neither does
Trump or Bill Gates. Yet these men are/were capable to accomplish a
lot more then most people.
Some excel while others make excuses. Some use this so called
limitation to their benefit others use it as a way to procrastinate.
So forget about the notion “I don’t have time”. If it is important,

then you will make time for it.
Time is fixed. You can’t expand it. You can’t save it or use it later.
What you are given is what you have. That is it.
What we need to learn is to begin to understand ourselves. Begin to

understand how we can manage ourselves better.
Begin to look at how you spend your time:
What time do you wake up?
Do you tend to get involved in activities that will not bring you
anything in a long run?
How much time do you spend watching TV?
How much time to do you spend surfing the Internet with no

purpose?
It is ok to watch TV once in a while, but it should be to relax, to

recharge and to rejuvenate. Not to kill time.
First thing is to begin objectively watching yourself how you spend

your day-to-day activities? What do you do every hour of the day? Do
you invest your time into new activities and projects or do you just
spend and waste it with no benefit at the end?
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Get a notepad for yourself and begin jotting down what you do from
the moment you wake up to the moment you go to bed.
Also, as you write down your activities, write one or two words how
you are feeling and what you are thinking about when you are
writing this down.
As you begin to notice how you spend your day, your mind will begin
to make a conscious shift. You will begin to slowly notice that it is not
how you really want to spend the time. You will begin to feel
discomfort and slowly and automatically you will begin to make small
shifts in your daily activities.
But, we don’t want to make slow shifts. We want to use the

momentum gained here and begin to implement it as fast as
possible.
Begin to implement weekly and daily goals.
First thing to becoming highly productive is this:
FOCUS
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1.2 FOCUS
Focus is how much of attention you are able to give to a certain task.
Focus is ultimately two things.
One is your attention.
Two is your time.
How much of attention is dedicated to your level design? How fully

engaged are you in that task? And, how long can you stay engaged
in that task?
How much of undivided attention can you dedicate yourself to a

specific task and how long can you hold that undivided attention
without any disruptions.
If you are able to focus on a single task for

a specific amount of time, you will begin to
be more productive.
Now, that last sentence is extremely important.
If you can focus on a single task and work through for a specific
amount of time you can be further then most people.
One task. One high value task. Such as level design, modeling, etc.
No multi-tasking whatsoever.
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Working on for a specific amount of time. Usually 45-60 minutes.
Those 45-60 minutes you stay highly focused on that task.
Multi-tasking is death of productivity. Somehow, somewhere along

the way it became ‘cool’, normal to be multi-tasking as you work.
Multi-tasking is a single worst thing we do when we work. Our focus
gets spread across multiple activities and we aren’t able to complete
any of them.
There is so much distraction in the world today that to focus on

something for longer then 10-15 minutes is getting harder and
harder. With one click of a mouse you are able to navigate to another
page, check your email, watch you tube video while drinking coffee,
texting to a friend and watching TV.
It’s ridiculous the amount of information we have to deal with on

daily basis.
Your mind requires 10-15 minutes to get into the optimal

performance state. If you multi-tasking, then you can never get your
mind into that state, thus not being as productive. Sure you get some
work done, but we aren’t looking to get some work done. We are
looking to create amazing art, models and levels.
From the time when you are working on your passion, your high-
activity, your life goals, your level designs; you must begin to
eliminate the following:
Distractions/Interruptions
Multitasking.
Lets talk about how to develop that mental focus to be fully engaged
in your work.
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1.3 DEVELOPING YOUR FOCUS
Developing your focus is just like working out and making your
muscles stronger. It takes consistent practice. One week you can
start with high concentrated focus for 15minutes then begin upping it
to 30, then 45 and 60 minutes. Ideally you want to work your way up
to 90-120 minutes of highly intense focused work.
First thing about not being able to focus is distractions.
You want to work on a specific task without any distractions. I will go

further into this later by talking about 60-60-30 rule.
But for now:
Set up a time that you will spend on a particular task. So lets say you
are building a new map. If you feel that your attention and focus are
not your strong points yet. If you never done anything like this
before then set aside 15 minutes. Start small, manageable and
successful. You may want to do 30 minutes or 60 minutes. Begin at a
number you can immerse yourself for that time.
Get a simple timer that you can set for chosen amount. Timer should
be able to count down and let you know when time is up. Set up the
timer and begin working for those 15 minutes, or more.
Begin working by unplugging Internet, silencing or turning off your

phone and closing all browsers.
Setting up a timer done two things. One it makes you focus on the
task and not worry about the time or how long you need to work for.
Two, you know that you will be done when the timer goes off, so you
don’t have to check your clock to see what time you have left. The
timer will tell you.
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Be aware where your distractions are coming from. Sometimes it is
your co-workers, or email or facebook or anything else that takes the
present moment you are in and draws your attention away from it.
As I am writing this book, I have a clock timer next to me ticking

away. I am in the zone. I am typing away. I am aware what goes on
around me, but I am immersed in typing.
I have Armin Van Burren, my favorite trance DJ playing in my

headphones. Music is a great way to eliminate all other distractions
and noise from outside.
If you have a tendency to keep refreshing websites, forums or

facebook then you might unplug the Internet when you are working
until the timer goes off. After, you may take a break and surf the
web.
FIVE THINGS TO HELP YOU FOCUS:

1. Get a timer.
As I mentioned before, a timer is a great tool that will help you
stay on track for specific amount of time. I bought mine in the
cooking section at Target for about $4.
2. Pick a time to work without distractions.

15 minutes or 60 minutes. This will depend on your level of
focus at the time. You may want to start with 15 minutes, or
you may want to start at 60 minutes. Pick something that you
will work through that entire time without any disruptions,
distractions or multi-tasking.
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3. Eliminate Distractions.
Unplug the Internet. Close your windows. Close the door to
your room or an office. Put your headphones on. People tend
to not disturb you when you have headphones on or they do it
less.
4. Music.
For others music is a distractions for me it is a blessing. So it
will depend on who you are. In my case music puts me in the
zone. Pick your music wisely. The music you listen to greatly
affects your mood. I love trance. High fast beats and high
tempo, that’s what works for me. Pick what works for you.
5. Focus. Focus is a muscle, and you will have to train it

everyday. The more you work and focus, better your output
and productivity will be.
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1.4 HABITS ARE DESTINY
We are creatures of habit. What we did yesterday is what we are
most likely to do today.
If we have to think about doing something for long we won’t do it for

very long. That statement is the key here. Understand that if you
have to constantly remind yourself to do something, you will not do
that for very long.
So how do we change that?
Only key we have is to make it automatic.
Make your activities that will bring you results into

habits.
Create your key activities into a habit or rituals. Make them

automatic. Just like driving a car. It is challenging at first and you will
be extremely conscious of everything you do. Although desired
outcome is a lot more pleasing so we know if we can get through the
learning stages then the prize is worth the discomfort you
experience.
Make it automatic. Everything you do now on daily basis was

produced by a habit. Something you began to do daily and eventually
it became a part of a ritual. For example the way you drive to work is
usually the same way every time. The way you make yourself a cup
of tea, you probably do it in a specific way, specific steps.
I learned to develop a success ritual from business guru, Eben

Pagan. I have successfully structured habits around most things in
my life; including working out, homework, and level design and
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creating artwork. Developing a ritual is what Eben Pagan calls this
new habit development. You must develop a ritual routine, ritual
habit that you do every day that will make a new activity into a habit.
We will go more in depth in section two when we will talk about

developing a level design habit.
You want to develop certain automatic habits in your life. We will

train ourselves to do that. You want to do things automatic where
you don’t have to think about them.
Acquiring a new habit must be done daily over a period of time. It

has been studying that to get rid of an old habit or to acquire a new
habit takes 21 days. We will focus on 30 days, as mentioned in the
famous book “Greatest Salesman in the World”.
Those 9 extra days just makes sure you follow through. It makes it
one month which is easier to remember. 30-day trial. Something you
will do for 30 days straight without missing a day. After those 30
days it will become automatic.
So in the next section I will go into detail on how to develop your

habits of success and highly productive work ethic.
SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS.
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2.1 DEVELOPING A MAPPING HABIT
Habit is an automatic pattern of behavior or an established custom;
may be inherited or acquired through frequent repetition.
The repetition is the key. Acquired through frequent repetition.
Are you current habits benefiting you?
Are your current habits moving you toward what you want or are
they moving you away from what you want.
So the key principal in life is develop enough successful habits in your

life that move you automatically towards what you want and away
from what you don’t want.
Effortless success.
You’ll do a lot of work upfront acquiring those habits, but then

success comes automatically.
So how do we apply this to our work, our environments and level

design?
Simple.
We want to develop a mapping habit. Single key to high productivity

and producing results is developing a level design habit.
There is a reason that most goals and New Year resolutions don’t
stick is because we haven’t defined a systematic daily ritual and
made it into a habit.
How do we develop these habits? Practice. Daily systematic practice

until it becomes automatic where you don’t even think about it.
The key to developing a habit in your daily life is 30-day trial.
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It takes 21 days to acquire a new habit and/or to get rid of a
previous one.
Acquiring a new habit it needs to be done for at least 21 days at a

specific time of day every day.
Do you want to start working out everyday? Then you would pick a
time you would work out and do that every single day for next 30
days. Want to create maps on consistent basis? Develop a consistent
level design habit in the next 30 days and all else will take care of
itself.
Reason I say 30 is it is easier to remember and the extra 9 days

makes sure your habits stick.
If you want to get rid of a bad habit you currently have then there
are a few guidelines for that. You cannot get rid of a habit without
replacing that habit with another one. So quitting cold turkey is
extremely hard to do.
You can do it but the chances of success are extremely low. That is
why replacing a bad habit with a new one at the same time is the
key. So lets say you want to stop browsing the Internet when you
should be working. By saying I am not going to browse the Internet
when I need to be working is a good start but you need to be
extremely specific and replace what you will do when you don’t go on
the Internet.
If you want to acquire a good habit to have in your life, you don’t
necessarily have to look to replace a bad one. You can just acquire a
new productive habit.
Saying something along the lines, “When I feel like browsing or I am

browsing the Internet or the forums I will open up my level editor
instead and get 30 minutes or 60 minutes of uninterrupted level
designing done.”
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BE SPECIFIC.
Set a specific task to do when you get the urge to waste time.
Here is an exercise:
Look at some habits you want to change. Write them down.

Then next to them write down the new habit you want to
acquire in place.
Or if you just want to acquire a new habit. Write that one habit
down on a piece of paper. The act of writing it down is very
important.
You want to develop only 1 habit at a time. Full focus. Don’t

spread yourself too think across many. In the end it’s unlikely
to work.
One habit for next 30 days.
30 DAYS. 1 HABIT.
I am not saying you can’t develop multiple habits at a time, but

again. Success. Set yourself up to win. Use the strengths to help you.
Simple thing that helped me to stick and acquire a new habit is

setting up a project to do that will probably take 30 days to
complete.
Project could be designing and creating a map, or a fully modeled,

textured and lit environment. Whatever it is, you could begin working
on that project and in the same time be working on a daily creation,
designing habit.
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Before moving on to the next section spend a bit of time and decide
on what you want to work on. Get an idea for a map or an
environment-modeling project. Something you would want to create
and focus on for next 30 days.
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2.2 30-DAY, DAILY MAPPING RITUAL
Lets go into detail and develop a daily mapping ritual.
Begin by creating a project for yourself. Decide what you want to

create for the next 30 days.
Map? Model an environment? Program? Texture? Learn Maya?
Key to setting a project and sticking with it is two things.
One: you must be extremely specific of what you want to

accomplish
And
Two know what outcome you want from that project.
Lets use creating a custom map.
SPECIFIC:
What exactly are you going to work on? Do you want to create a
map? Modeling an environment? What game, what engine? Is it
going to be a deathmatch, capture the flag, hostage rescue etc.
Be extremely specific in what you are going to create. It can change

after the fact. You want to be flexible throughout the production
process. But at the planning stages be specific as possible. You must
see your map already created.
I came up with Level Design Creation Guideline. LDCG is a set of

questions that get you into the direction of what your map going to
look like before it is created. It has been a great help in my
production process.
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I went ahead and included a pdf copy of it with this book.
Apart of being extremely specific about what you want to create you
should know what your outcome you want to achieve with your map.
OUTCOME:
What do you want to learn? What to do you want to get out of the
project? Why? What will it bring you? Is it for a portfolio? Will your
creation be for a contest? Tutorial? Etc.
Knowing the outcome you want to achieve will shape many decisions
you will face in the production process. It is extremely important to
make decisions when you are facing many design choices and avoid
indecisions.
Knowing your outcome you are after makes difficult design choices
disappear.
Spend some time on being specific what you want to create and
what is your outcome.
PLAN:
After you have written out the specifics of your map, went through
LDCG and defined the outcome you are after, it is time to design and
plan out the process.
This is a very important step. First you want to set a deadline. I will
talk about setting deadlines in the next section. We know the
deadline date; it is 30 days from now.
So lets say it is April 1st now and your deadline is April 30th.
Now in your notebook write out week 1, week 2, week 3 and week 4.
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For each week, divide it into 7 days. Write out day1, day2, day 3 and
so on for each line in your notebook.
Next step will not be set in stone but only a guidelines and
milestones to aim for.
For each week write out what design production process you will
focus on.
It is a basic run down of how I plan out the project. I am very

flexible when certain things don’t match up and I vary my process
greatly but I aim to him those important dates. You still want to aim
to hit those weekly deadlines to make sure you finish by the deadline
you set for yourself.
After the plan has been set, decide on the times through out the day
you will begin to work on your map. Everyday for at least 1-2 hours.
This is where the rubber hits the road. After all the planning is done
it is time to put the previous principles to work.
Remember, focus, no interruptions etc.
Its time to begin as working on this every single day for next 30
days, and looking at what you need to accomplish each and single
day to meet those weekly deadlines and eventually release and
complete a map in 30 days.
Thus acquiring a mapping habit in the process.
Lets talk about setting deadlines and why it is important.
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2.3 SETTING DEADLINES
Setting a deadline is single most important limitation that you should
do. Let me talk about setting boundaries and finish lines for yourself.
You want to set limits and deadlines and boundaries on your

projects. You will never get anything done if you don’t set a deadline
or your deadline is “It will be done, when it’s done”. This is a wrong
approach and a sure way of never having your project see the light
of day.
If you are working at a studio or a school project your deadlines are

pretty much set in stone. You have to deliver on that date regardless
of what happens. There are no alternatives. Sometimes it gets
pushed back but it is unlikely.
Use the deadline to your advantage. The results are more important
then being late and being perfect.
Deadline implies results. A date you set for yourself or others set for
you where some type of a result and/or outcome is going to be
delivered.
Setting a deadline is important. Especially if you are working on a

personal project. I would go as far as to say that you should never
work on a project or a goal where there is no clear time you want to
get it done by.
If you don’t have a day you want to be finished, it is safe to say that
it may never get done.
When I did my 11-day personal mapping challenge, I created a

schedule and a day of outcome for release of my map. If I hadn’t
done so it would have taken me longer to get the map done.
Knowing my previous experience of not finishing maps, the chances
of it getting finished were going to be slim. So setting up a deadline
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was important for me then creating a map that was perfect and with
no due date.
So that is the first thing you should consider when working on a new
project. When do you expect it be done with it? If you are new to a
project and you have no idea how long something will take because
of your lack of skill or experience in a particular area.
Just guess.
Setting a deadline that can be moved back if needed to be is more

important then having no destination date to reach.
Setting a deadline for yourself creates few things.
One it forces you to manage your time and be smart with your time.
You now have to plan your project out and be able to be flexible with
what you are doing. It creates a good kind of stress. What Tim
Ferriss calls eustress.
“Eustress can be defined as a pleasant or curative

stress. We can't always avoid stress, in fact,
sometimes we don't want to. Often, it is controlled
stress that gives us our competitive edge in
performance related activities like athletics, giving
a speech, or acting.”
Another thing that a deadline does for you is it makes you produce
results, instead of being busy and active. You have to continuously
move forward and produce visible and measurable results.
Something that you can look back at the end of the day and see how
close you are to your release date and schedule. At the end of each
day there has to be progress made.
It limits your tasks and makes you focus on what’s important and
what will produce results. You will focus on the essential tasks to get
the outcome you are after.
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Honestly, at the end of the day no one cares if you spend all day
creating a perfect sidewalk with cracks or a tree that has perfect
transparency and normal map, while using z-brush and Maya at the
same time.
What players care about is can they download the map and play it.
Right now.
If not now, when?
Think of it this way. How happy would it make you if a game studio
releases screenshots after screenshots and videos of an amazing new
first-person shooter? But they have no idea if and when it’s going to
be released. There is no deadline, no schedule. They are just working
on it making it perfect as it can be.
Chances are that game will never be released.
Parkinson’s’ Law. This law describes, “Work expands to fill

the time available for its completion.”
Meaning that if you give yourself one month to complete a map that
takes a week. You will fill that whole month with activities of creating
a map that could actually take a lot less. Thus creating stress and
complexity.
Opposite is true. Give yourself a half the time of what it actually

takes to complete a map and you will focus on finishing it within that
allotted time.
11-day mapping challenge was Parkinson’s Law in effect. I gave

myself 11 days and I filled those 11 days with work to get a map
done doing the best I can.
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Set a deadline for your current map or your current project you are
working on if you haven’t yet. Create a schedule either daily or
weekly that you can refer back to and see how far and how fast you
are moving towards your goal. Just as we did last section.
Keep working on it every day.
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2.4 60-60-30 PRINCIPLE
I’ve talk about this principle on my blog before and I got this idea
from Eben Pagan. It is extremely important approach to productivity.
What 60-60-30 stands for is time chunks of highly focused work. It
also has a name of timeboxing.
60 minutes, 60 minutes and 30 minutes.
It is a principle that you work for 60-minute chunks twice before

taking a 30-minute break.
My main problem over last few years has been a lack of focus. I
wanted to be good at everything. Jack of all trades and a master of
none.
FOCUS ON WHAT YOU WANT TO BE GREAT AT.
60-60-30.
What is 60-60-30 rule?
60-60-30 stands for time; time chunks. 60 minutes, 60 minutes and

30 minutes.
You work for 60 minutes, twice; and then you take a break for 30
minutes.
Let’s break this down even further. What 60 minutes stands for is 50
minutes of work on a single activity and 10 minute rest.
Work for 50 minutes. Rest for 10 minutes. Then do that again 50

minutes of highly focused work and 10 minute rest. Then you will
take a break for 30 minutes.
I want to emphasize that for 50 minutes of work, you only work on a

single activity, highly focused and an activity that will bring you the
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most results when it is done. For those 50 minutes you attach head
on the most important task on your list.
You want to work on the highest output activity that will bring you
results. Focus on the result and the outcome you want to achieve.
The key is single activity and focus.
Timer
Having a basic timer set for 50 minutes frees me from everything
around me and I can focus on what I am doing. I know once the
timer goes off I can take a break. I don’t need to spend time looking
at the clock. I can just focus and work.
50 minutes
Focus on a single activity. No distractions. No multi-tasking, no
checking emails or surfing the web or playing videogames or
refreshing the forums. You can do that when you have 10 minutes of
rest or when you take a break for 30 minutes.
10 minutes
Use this time to completely unplug from what you are doing. Step
away from the computer and go grab a snack, drink some water or
tea. Just relax for 10 minutes and don’t work. Rest. Set the timer for
10 minutes.
30minutes
30 minutes of break is when you grab a meal. It is recommended
that you should eat 5-6 small meals through out your day. When you
work in 60-60-30 chunks take breaks as instructed this allows you to
fuel your body and renew yourself at 30-minute breaks by grabbing a
meal.
You are what you eat and to function properly. Don’t starve yourself
and expect to operate at a optimal level. So during this 30-minute
break, completely disconnect from you work. Eat a meal. Relax and
renew. Stretch. No work at all.
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I have been implementing this over last few months and I find myself
working longer then 50 minutes. Once I get in the zone I continue
often to 90-120 minutes then take a break.
Also being focused and working on one thing at a time is very

liberating. At the end of the day I can look back and see actual
progress I made on my work. Done over a long period of time
working this way you are going to create some amazing work at a
level that hasn’t been done before.
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2.5 RELAX AND REST
This is an extremely important concept that most of us don’t do. We
have come to believe that if you are not working you are slacking off.
As human beings we are expected to produce and work every single
minute of every single day of our lives when we are at work and then
some.
When we take time off, that time off is usually spend thinking about
work. This usually doesn’t apply to hobby level designers, that is
because we tend to create maps as a way to unplug from the rest of
the world and focus on what we love.
Honor the natural system of your body and take breaks and
rejuvenate. It is extremely important to completely unplug from your
work every 90-120 minutes and do something else. Completely
switch gears. Socialize, go out, workout.
It is very important to rest. When working out and lifting weights we

don’t grow muscles when we workout, they grow when they are at
rest.
Also, make sure you get enough sleep.
I used to pull all-nighters all the time. I though I was being

productive but I was only staying busy, thinking I was productive.
Getting enough rest is crucial to your success and productivity.
Pay attention to your body and your mind. When you begin to drift
off from your work and not producing as much results or being as
much productive, then it is time to take a break. I highly recommend
walking away from computer screen for a bit and get out of the state
and zone you were for last couple of hours.
Also pay attention if you are being just busy or you are being
productive. There is a huge difference between the two. Being busy
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just doing some work may appear that you are actually working but
we all know that it is just an excuse. Often time’s people who work 9-
5 are just busy majority of the time. Because you can’t be highly
productive for those 8 hours straight. Its just not possible. You body
will shut down on you.
It is our goal to accomplish more with our time by working less.

More highly creative output for less amount of time so we can create
more.
Overview:
Get enough sleep. It all depends on your body how much you need.
Average is between 6-9 hours.
When you take a break from work, completely disconnect from that
work and don’t take it with you on your break.
Next section we will cover on becoming a Part Time Level Designer or

PTLD.
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3.1 PART-TIME LEVEL DESIGN
Part Time Level Design [PTLD] is the concept I came up with when
you have to work a full time job and it is your primary source of
income. Although you want to design levels on a side as freelance or
as a hobby.
I am going to cover how to structure your time and create

environments and level designs part time. Meaning if you have a full
time job, family, kids, school, thesis to work on, and just too much
on your plate you can still work on personal projects. You are still
able to create a map, model an environment, and learn a new
program or a skill while having a full plate.
You can have your cake and eat it too.
These principles of making your level design a part time hobby that
will make it look like you are spending all of your time on it.
The single key to achieving PTLD is this: Create a

ritual around blocked off daily time; specific amount
of time every single day of working on your map.
With everything we learned up to now you should be able to just pick

up and design a plan for yourself and structure it in a way to work on
a part time map.
Remember split it into weeks first. Then each week gets a deadline
assigned to it. Then those weeks get divided into days. Each day gets
a job that you should work on. A mini daily deadline.
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You need 20 hours in a week to dedicate to your map. 21 Hours to
be exact. So, how do you exactly go about acquiring these 21 hours
in your week to dedicate to level design?
1 hour in the morning, 1 hour at night and 1 hour in the middle of

the day.
One hour in the morning when you wake up and last

hour at night before you go to sleep. You wake up an
hour early and go to bed one hour later.
First and last hours of the day should be non-negotiable and you
should try to implement a success ritual, a habit structured around it.
Third hour in the middle of the day is highly recommended but even
if you only get to the first and last hour of each day, it is good
enough. You can spend an extra hour or two on the weekend.
Even if you only do one hour in the morning and an hour at night, it
would still be 14 hours of highly productive work per week. 56 hours
per month, which in 30 days you can create an amazing custom map
and release it while having other obligations.
Step one,
First thing you want to do is decide to wake up each day for next 30
days an hour earlier then you usually do and go to bed one hour
later. I don’t want to hear you saying I don’t have any time, because
if it is important to you then you will make time.
Best time to do so is before everyone else gets up. It is ultimately the

best time you can find in the whole day. Everyone is asleep. There
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are no phone calls, no friends or co-workers walking into your office
or room and bugging you. Everything is nice and quiet. It is the best
time to dedicate a chunk of an hour to work on your map. If you are
not a morning person you might want to develop into a habit of
becoming one. Give yourself 30 days to create a map following Part
Time Level Design principles. If it doesn’t work for you then change it
and modify it to your schedule. But give this a go first. I promise, you
will be surprised at the results.
I remember, in my early 20’s I was a night owl. I would stay up until

about 5 am sometimes 6am and then crash, as the sun would come
up. Then I would wake up around 3pm and repeat the cycle again.
Go to work at 5pm. Come back at midnight. Work. Rinse. Repeat.
Needless to say I had no life or passion.
I felt horrible. When I woke up I felt like crap. I didn’t feel motivated
and I didn’t want to work on anything. By the time I got off work at
midnight I would be drained emotionally from my shitty retail job.
Then usually around 3am or so I would feel the juices flowing and
then I would get maybe 1-2 hours of creative productive work in
before I would get tired. This was no way to live and create.
If you get your best work done at night then awesome. Another
solution to this is to work at nighttime. I just wanted to let you know
that what I thought worked for me actually didn’t and if you are so
called “night owl” but deep down you know you can be more
productive if you get up early then you can change that too.
It’s a matter of acquiring that habit. It will be challenging. Getting up

early is hard but you can do it. I promise, as much of a night owl as I
was I changed. It took some time. But I did it.
If I could do it, I know you can.
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Back to Part Time Level Design.
If you can dedicate 3 hours per day it is ideal. 21 hours per week and
in 30 days you will have 84 hours for one map. That is one highly
focused work, part time to create a great looking map.
All right, so you have decided that for next 30 days you will get up an
hour earlier and go to bed one hour later just to focus on creating a
new map. You also gave yourself an hour in the daytime but that
might only be on the weekends.
Fantastic.
Now I am going o give you a break down of week-by-week and hour-

by-hour of what you should focus on next 84 or 56 hours for the next
30 days. A guideline to follow.
I included with this book a ‘Part Time Level Design: 56/84 Hours’ pdf
worksheets.
Print it and keep it by your side for next month. Writing things in and
keeping up with the updates to know where you are. It will greatly
help you out.
Without going into details, because it will be beyond the scope of this
book and would need a book of its own, here is the workflow of
mapping. Also I described it fairly in detail of my free downloadable
e-book 11 Day Mapping. Which is included with this purchase.
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3.2 MAPPING WORKFLOW:
IDEA:
Inspiration strikes you in the middle of the night; or you watch a film
and you see something that gets the creative juices flowing within
you. Anything that you think would be cool to create as a level.
RESEARCH, REFERENCE, SKETCHES:

Always, always, always have reference before you begin to create
anything. The more reference you have the better your map will be,
the more real it will seem to others.
I often just use images.google.com, and flickr.com
Collect the images in the folder.
Also create a top down sketch, which is crucial in my opinion. And as

extra I love to create some concept art and inspiration paintings.
BLOCKING IN and MODELING FIRST PASS:

Blocking in your map as roughly as you can to test gameplay, scale,
timing and spacing
GAMEPLAY TEST:
Block in as fast and rough as you can so you can test gameplay. Load
up your map and play. See if its fun.
REFINMENT:
Fix any gameplay feedback you received and refine the blocking in
stages. Begin to model and assemble the rest of the environment.
Working the whole map and not doing any detail yet.
BLOCKING IN and MODELING PASS TWO, ADDING DETAILS

PASS:
Begin phase 2 of modeling by adding large details, props that are
important to cover, gameplay areas and those that make the location
come alive.
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TEXTURE FIRST PASS:
Texture the main areas. Base textures. See how the environment
works together as a whole. Stay away from decals and detailing
textures for now.
GAMEPLAY TEST AND REFINEMENT:

Another gameplay test.
DETAIL MODELING PASS:

Begin to detail your environments.
TEXTURE SECOND PASS:

Begin to refine textures and adding detail.
LIGHTING FIRST PASS:

Set up the master light or the key light. Get your key light as best as
you can without adding any other lights into the scene. If you get
this right, secondary lights will add to the map and make it shine.
They should support your key light.
GEOMETRY and MODELING DETAIL and FINAL PASS:

Final detail geometry pass. After this the environment should stand
on its own without you having to explain what the environment is. It
should read very clear the time, the setting, the theme etc.
TEXTURE FINAL PASS:

Detailing textures. Decals.
LIGHTING SECOND and FINAL PASS:

Adding secondary lights. Bounce light sources. Complimentary
lighting. Final light pass. This will take the longest. Lighting tends to
be a lot of tweaking to get it right.
SOUND:
Begin to add sound to support the atmosphere. Spend some time
here to make sure the sound is as high quality as the rest of the
map.
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POST PROCESSING:
Fog, depth of field or color correction etc.
TYING LOOSE ENDS:

Fix any obvious errors or things you have been ignoring.
CHECK AND FIX ANY OBVIOUS ERRORS:

Final pass to see if anything else needs fixing. Ask others to do the
same for you that haven’t seen or played your map yet.
BETA RELEASE:
Release a beta and prepare to take notes.
FEEDBACK and NOTES:

Collect all notes and decide what you will fix and what will be a
learning lesson for next time.
PREPARE FOR FINAL RELEASE AND FIX BETA RELEASE

NOTES:
Fix all the notes you decided to fix.
FINAL RELEASE
Done!
30-days.
From idea to a full map. Little bit at a time. 2 hours per day to be
exact.
“Success is my only motherfuckin option, failures not.” Eminem.
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3.3 FINAL THOUGHTS
You have reached the end of this book. There is a lot of info in here.
It will be hard to take in at first. It takes some time and it does
require certain lifestyle changes.
With all the changes I’ve made in my life, I haven’t regretted any of
them. I tried to put as much of information that I learned in last few
years into this book. I poured a lot of hear and soul in here.
Reworking and rewriting. Trying to make sure everything is clear and
understandable. If you had any confusion, no sweat. Email me and
let me know. I’ll try to explain it the best I can and fix the notes.
I hope you got a lot out of this book. I hope you are ready to
produce and create the best work you ever done.
Not everything in this book will work for you, but many things will.
Drop me an email, let me know how everything is going. What you

learned and if any new revelations you encountered. What worked
for you and what didn’t?
Thank you.
Alex G.
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You can contact me at:
alexgaluzin@yahoo.com
alex@worldofleveldesign.com
Follow me on twitter
www.twitter.com/AlexGaluzin
My Websites:
www.AlexGaluzin.com
&
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1.1 Managing Yourself

Section 2: Level Design Productivity

2.1 Developing a Mapping Habit

Section 3: Part Time Level Design

3.1 Part Time Level Design

In June of 2008 I created a map for Unreal 3 DM-IceyApex and along

Thus, World of Level Design was born.

I love creating worlds and environments. It is my passion. I love

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, send me an

I am going to teach, inspire and create environments until there is no

Now I am not telling this to impress you. I am telling you this

My problem in the past has always been time management and

Have you ever had this happen to you?

Basically I ended up never completing much of anything.

Often times I would have an ongoing folder of projects, just sitting

I lacked the principles of productivity and time management.

It took me couple of years to narrow down key fundamental things in

How awesome would it be when you are posting screenshots of a

Some of the techniques I will describe to you came from business

Trial and error.

What you will learn in this book:

Following through on personal and professional projects starts

Time management vs. Self-management. What is the difference

Beginning to monitor yourself on how you spend your time.

One single key aspect to being productive you must know.

Two key aspects of focus and why it is important to productivity

Recognizing two things that kill your productivity and avoiding

Top 5 things to help you develop focus.

What are habits? Why they are important?

Importance of setting your own self-imposed deadlines

Utilizing 60-60-30 principle of Level Design

Why spending time away from the computer and recharging is

Know level design workflow

This book will explain in step-by-step process how to start a project,

The change will not come overnight. It is a day-by-day progress.

From beginning to end we will focus on key essential tasks and

Matter of fact, you will be able to perform at a higher productivity

All I can tell you is this. I completely changed my life by following

I want to thank you for the purchase of this book.

“It is not about managing your time, it is about managing

One thing I come to realize over last few years is this;

Time will go at the same speed and pace as it has

So forget about the notion “I don’t have time”. If it is important,

What we need to learn is to begin to understand ourselves. Begin to

Begin to look at how you spend your time:

What time do you wake up?

How much time do you spend watching TV?

How much time to do you spend surfing the Internet with no

It is ok to watch TV once in a while, but it should be to relax, to

First thing is to begin objectively watching yourself how you spend

But, we don’t want to make slow shifts. We want to use the

Begin to implement weekly and daily goals.

First thing to becoming highly productive is this:

Focus is ultimately two things.

One is your attention.

Two is your time.

How much of attention is dedicated to your level design? How fully

How much of undivided attention can you dedicate yourself to a