Drawing Maps for Video Games

Hi.

I'm not sure about the exakt drawings you are describing but I know there is a position in the games industry called "level designer" that does pretty much what you are describing.

A level designer could be making a map for a RTS like Starcraft 2 or designing a new instance in a MMORPG like WoW (only blizzard games popping up in my head lol) or maybe even designing general areas as towns etc as you are describing.

I have no personal experience of this but i guess you could google to find out more or check out wikipedia .

I'm also pretty sure I've seen people have maps they've made in their portfoilios so that also suggest it is something of interest.

BR / AS.

Moving this to Breaking In.

1. I was wondering if it's worth drawing maps of dungeons, towns, environments, etc when trying to look for work
2. in the gaming industry?
3. In addition to the layout of the area I will draw or right down enemy locations, treasures, any hazards. In towns it'll be npcs, shops, houses, inns, etc. I've only been drawing in pencil so far. If it is something I could consider doing then what software would I need to learn?

1. Ordinarily I'd say "it's worth it if you enjoy doing it, and read FAQ 66 (go back out to the forum and look for Getting Started at upper right)." But in this case, the answer is "not exactly, no." As another person said above, what you're talking about is essentially level design. But today you need to do level design in 3D. So read FAQ 69 (go back out to the forum and look for Getting Started at upper right). Doing early work on paper is just a start; then you have to take the paper design and translate it into a playable map.

2. The gaming industry is in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and Macau. They don't need level designers in that industry.

3. You need a 4-year college degree and you need to become expert at the use of 3D packages like 3DS Max. You could start using level editing tools in PC games that come with editing tools. There's a partial list in FAQ 56 (go back out to the forum and look for Getting Started at upper right).

Did you guys move the link? I don't see a Getting Started link at the forum page. I did find a Get Started link on the home page, but it didn't have any FAQs. One of the links said that content was lost during the downtime.

You don't see the Getting Started block?
Back out on the Breaking In forum page (hit the Back button of your browser just ONCE, not twice), look at upper right. It's under the Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and newsfeed buttons.
The FAQs link is in the Getting Started block. I just checked, and they work.
If you don't see any of that stuff, I'll report a problem to the webmasters.