My GDC talk on Dishonored 2’s holistic level design

Very interesting and useful video, thank you!

I spent a lot of time with a notebook solving the Jindosh Lock without even walking into other parts of the level. And then, after unlocking it, I proceeded to walk around the level and get other solutions as well, in part for completion and and but also becaus the idea of ignoring content so many people worked so hard to make.

Super helpful, especially when attempting to apply these ideas to my current school project.

fantastic video. would really love to see more breakdowns of levels from other games or even more dishonored level break downs.

Man, I want you to know that the Dishonored Series has one of the best level design ever made. I’ve played each one of them a hundred times and I can’t get bored yet. Well done! I just want you to know that you guys made a piece of art.

We don't deserve you Steve

There is no such thing as an immersive Sim stop it

30 minutes gone in an instant : great video !

Very cool video, thank you! I want to ask, what high school education you had when you employed to arkane? I have heard, that some people couldn't get a vise there because of education.

Awesome talk, awesome video. Thank you so much, Steve!

Thanks for revisiting this talk in a new format Steve. Nice one!

Yet another excellent video with a good mix of theory and examples. I first came across Understanding Comics at university whilst studying film and it's a great book. The Dishonored series is one of my favorites. I would love to see more breakdowns on different levels in that series or other games in general.

Great video (though i'll admit that your weird pronunciation of "linear" kept jumping out at me ;) )

What a wealth of info. Interesting and well presented, why doesn’t this have more views???

wow this was a smart video.
got me excited to make some better levels.
great work
<3

Excellent stuff, thank you. Love the mccloud comic book mention at the end. I keep an extra copy of that book around to give to people who haven’t yet read it!

Loved the video and how you treat these concepts, thank you for your work ❤

Thank you for an excellent, insightful video!

This is no doubt one of the best talks on level design (and game design in general) that I've ever watched. Thank you so much for your work!

Such a well done video 👏

Very good content, thank you. Have been making games for 7 years and still feel I know very litte.

It is interesting how many modern big releases suffer from weak intentionality but not all break immersion, recent Assassin's Creed games and the original Layers of Fear had a lot of issues with example 1 and 2, as a result they don't really feel all that polished to play despite being very polished visually. Dark Souls on the other hand suffer from all 3 examples, but at least for Dark Souls 1 many players really immersed themselves into the game world and feel the loneliness the devs are trying to convey.

thx. I recently played the last of us part one and this idea of interactive narrative really kicked in this game.

While watching your videos I’ve realized why I dislike so many copy paste games that are out there. Y’all are truly masters of your craft and have made me appreciate games in a different way

Been getting into games like these recently, Gloomwood really got me thinking about level design more as it just feels so fluid and fun to play around with. So thankful for your content!

I just know that this video will get quoted one day in a future Hbomberguy video called “Dishonored 2 is great and here’s why”

even as a non dev i can appreciate all the work you have done

dishonored 2 has one of the best levels i've played

You know your game developers mean business when they start quoting Chekhov.

Im so happy i found your channel omg, what a fantastic video :)

You guys have made, in my humble opinion, one of the best, if not the best level design and time related gameplay mechanics. Not just the level design, the architectural design of Dunwall and Karnaca are superb. Many of us hate what Bethesda and Microsoft have done to you and I sincerely hope you guys get your rhythm back.