How to show your level design portfolio work (and more)

Here's my second Level Design Questions video, where I answer 5 more questions about how to approach portfolio work, and talk about how my HL2 level helped get me my first 4 AAA jobs in the industry (including working on Dishonored 2).
If you like this video, please consider helping me make more (and join our Discord community!) by supporting my Patreon: www.patreon.com/stevelee_gamedev
00:00 - Intro
00:07 - Question 1: What is the best way to show my work?
01:14 - Question 2: Are group projects better than solo ones?
02:14 - Question 3: How many portfolio pieces do I need?
03:07 - Question 4: How do I show my soft skills?
03:39 - Question 5: Isn't Half Life 2 too old to be relevent in a portfolio?
This video is a follow up to the previous 5 questions video, which is here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fYqcmmetqs2Vabs
And this is all part of my Talking About Level Design video series, which I've collected into this playlist: kzbin.info/aero/PLbBhMQ8qnVWPV2XqMt3m57zQKXp-V2jS9
Discord server: discord.gg/geFkdZW5vp
My twitter: essell2
#leveldesign

[@hakametal]

You're gonna help so many up and coming designers. Well done mate!

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Hope so - cheers :)

[@TheRawrster]

Hey, I'm a Level Designer who has been in the industry for 9 years and I've done a good bit of hiring during that time. I'd like to add on to the Group vs. Solo topic a bit, if I may. One reason I like seeing a group project in a portfolio is it shows me you have experience working with a team. Working effectively in a team environment is a core component to being successful in the industry, so having a clear example of this is great. You definitely need to be sure you clearly define the work you did on the project, but I'd also recommend spending a bit of time discussing some examples of cross-discipline collaboration within the project. Beyond displaying your experience working with the team, this also provides me a clear hook for exploring your team dynamics further in a phone or onsite interview.

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Hey, yeah in hindsight I forgot to say that showing a project or two where you've worked in a team is (naturally) a plus :) I suppose I was focused on emphasising how the depth and quality of the level design work done is the priority, and group projects aren't a great excuse for a lack of it. As I mentioned, group projects at universities are super common now - almost a given - and in my opinion the distinguishing factor when it comes to LD job applications and interviews is whether or not there's actually any substantial and relevent level design work on show (because to be honest, this isn't always the case). Cheers for your input though, I agree!

[@Gjbjdxvh]

Incredibly valuable tips, thank you! This will go a long way helping me reach my goals

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Great to hear, hope so! :)

[@NeoDrood-s6w]

Love your video, they are helping me so much. Thank very much Steve!

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Great to hear, cheers :)

[@WeinerChange]

Source 2 is almost out (now for VR), so Source is definitely not outdated :) Great video and very nicely said!

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Cheers :)

[@SimonHalliday001]

Excite! :)

[@peacemaster8117]

"Source 2 is almost out" We've been saying that for ages. Has Valve mentioned the Source 2 SDK recently? It feels like it's one of the projects that got put on a shelf while Valve learns how to deal with lockdown. The Alyx SDK really is incredible, using Hammer 2 is such a refreshing experience. IMO it blows original VHE out of the goddamn water. Still, without the Source 2 SDK it's not good for much besides making VR levels and SFM2 sets...

[@kriszenn1125]

@@peacemaster8117 I imagine Valve takes a lot of work to create this new engine, so I give then benefit of the doubt.

[@galev3955]

Exactly the kind of advice I was looking for. Thank you!

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Great to hear, you're welcome :)

[@alexanderr7812]

Thank you so much, Steve!

[@stevelee_gamedev]

You’re welcome! 👍

[@okie1630]

Love the hand as I saw these examples before. Steve, your hand presence is like a great actor presence in a movie - I would play the next game your are working on, just because you worked on it, meaning I will get a high quality interactive environment. Just saying.

[@stevelee_gamedev]

That's lovely to hear, thanks. Not sure what you mean by my hand / hand presence, though? :)

[@okie1630]

@@stevelee_gamedev "hand presence" - I meant like a presence of an actor in a movie - so ppl are going to watch the movie just because some star plays the role, like a Vin Diesel. English is not my first language, but I hope that I could make an analogy between "presence of an actor in a movie" and "presence of a hand/artist in a work". Sometimes, people go after particular singer - and listen to whatever that singer sings - because they love "the hand" or "the style". Thanks again for the great video - and the great channel! Subbed, and also it is a joy to learn from your videos!

[@FBNL]

Great video, very useful info and well-edited, thanks for the upload :)

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Cheers, glad to hear it's useful :)

[@markgregory2746]

Useful content as always Steve, thanks.

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Cheers Mark :)

[@MrPlEsEn13]

Thank you Steve!)

[@stevelee_gamedev]

You're welcome :)

[@lightningparadox]

4:38. Can you please explain how the test would be? The duration, the length of the level and do they provide you with assets/props or you need to make them on your own? Great vids btw! The previous one where you explained about your hl2 project was inspiring, Thanks!

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Funny you should ask - my most popular video is a 27 minute deep dive into the test and the level I made for it :) Don't expect their level design test to be the same now, though! I checked with them to make sure that it wasn't, and that they were ok with me talking about what I did. Anyway, here's the link, hope you enjoy: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bpSolJaQeLWUo6M

[@lightningparadox]

@@stevelee_gamedev thanks i'll check that out

[@nilsmuller-cleve6769]

Great video like the previous ones. As a follow up question on the quality over quantity issue: What do you think about showcasing my best level and at the end have a list with a single screenshot and video link of other relevant projects (of cause only the ones that are actually good) to show that I can ship several levels in good quality?

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Thanks Nils, glad you liked the video. Re: showcasing your levels, screenshots next to video links sound good to me, although embedding the videos would be even better (so that they can be viewed quickly without leaving the page)!

[@aleksiyapetrova5881]

Hello! I am about to make my first portfolio and I stumble across your videos. I fell in love with Level Design around the beginning of this year. I am in university right now with game design and engineering major. I am planning to find an internship around fall and I am preparing for it with my resume and portfolio. However there is one thing that bugs me and I am not sure how to solve. I have so much passion for level design, however I don't have it for anything specific. I did a 2D platforming game and a 3D horror game and I felt the same for both - excited. I just love creating the game world no matter what it is. What I am trying to say is that I don't know how to decide what I want to focus on. Do you have any advices? How can I pick a genre?

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Hey Alexia - sorry for the slow reply. It's hard for me to give advice on this kind of thing with certainty, because it will very much depend on your situation. I would say though, that you should factor in the kind of jobs that you think you're most likely to be applying to. Do you think 2D platforming games or 3D horror games could be more relevent to the kind of jobs and studios that you expect to be applying to? If you're not sure yet, now would be a great time to start doing the research :) Hope this helps.

[@Slimek]

great stuff! what did you study at uni? could you show the hl2 map you made for arkane?

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Hey, cheers. I studied Game Design at Teesside Uni in England - and yeah I’ve been thinking of making a video about the HL2 map I made for the Arkane test, further down the line 👍

[@stevelee_gamedev]

UPDATE: I made this 27 minute video about the level I made for Arkane, here :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/bpSolJaQeLWUo6M

[@neverpresent]

Great video! Do you have any examples of portfolios that looks good in your opinion?

[@stevelee_gamedev]

Hmm not off the top of my head, but generally I like the ones that are simple and clear, with short pages showing 2 or 3 level projects that are actually playable. For each project, a short (2-5 minute) gameplay video, and a succinctly written description of the project and the thought that went into it, is great. The main things to remember is that levels should be playable, ideally tested and iterated on, and that the people reading all these portfolios often don't have much time, so keeping things informative but brief is good. Hope this helps, glad you liked the video, and sorry for the slow reply!

[@IstyManame]

Thats alright with me because i'm transitioning from mid programmer position, but what about ppl who only did level design, so they don't have the knowledge of CREATING and programming the game mechanics? I thought their job is 1)Create the environment 2)Implement other ppls interactive objects into the level