LogInLevel Designer Max Pears joins 80 Level's 10th anniversary celebration, diving into his artistic journey and sharing a heartwarming moment he views as the highlight of his career.
Intro
Great to be chatting with you again. I have been contracting around the industry for the last four years, which has been an incredible experience. Learning from amazing teams and being able to design for such incredible games, the most recent project being Mafia Old Country (can't say more than that, just excited for the game). I have also joined the incredible team of People Can Fly as a Lead Level Designer, which is a great opportunity and a fantastic experience working with all the talent in the studio.
The Artistic Journey
Not sure many would look at my blockout cubes and call them artistic, I am glad that being able to take these cubes and make a memorable experience is something I am truly proud of.
I have always been interested in games, but I will always remember watching my dad and uncle playing Metal Gear Solid as a child, and it just blew my mind. It was the first boss battle with Grey Fox, nothing could be cooler than a robot ninja.
As for level design in particular, it wasn't until I was about 16/17 that I watched the behind-the-scenes on the Uncharted development and saw them interviewing LDs, realising that's the path for me. What has been great for me is being able to give back to the Level Design community, I recently created a Level Design Kit to help others make incredible work.
Thoughts on the Gaming Industry
When I started in the industry making mobile games, I remember us including 3D in the title because back then, it was impressive to be able to do that on your phone. Now, you can play Call of Duty, Fortnite, and PS2 classics all on your phone. Seeing how much the mobile market has grown has blown me away. There are other amazing things, but just funny looking back on what I made for mobile vs. the incredible work of other great devs now.
Sadly, we are in a strange period for this industry, with layoffs happening left and right and developers losing their jobs. Not many developers feel safe, and many affected still struggle with finding a job. To me, that is the worst challenge I have seen in my time in the industry.
Max's Career Highlight
There have been some incredible moments I have personally experienced, and I appreciate them all. Still, the most personal one for me was very early in my career, me and some mates had made an AR game called Pygmy Panic for mobile and tablets.
It projected an island, and players would have to move their phones to stop the Brutes from stealing the Pygmy. Very unique game, we presented it at a conference, and a grandfather and granddaughter tested it out. After she tested it out and loved it, the grandfather came over to me and asked when the game would release, because he hadn't seen her interact this way before because she was autistic. Seeing this moment between those two was the best feeling, and to know a game I made did that. Best feeling and one I don't think will ever be replaced.
Conclusion
I wish everyone security in their career, so that we can all keep making and sharing inspiring work, and I am very proud to be part of this community. Thanks to 80 Level for all your hard work over the decade and here's to another great 10 years!