The Inside Crytek interview series over at MyCrysis has reached episode 9. Chris Kay is working at Crytek Frankfurt as a Level Designer. His current work consists of building missions for Crysis 2. Chris has a background on modding and making levels for games such as Counter-Strike.

Today sees another addition to our "Inside Crytek" series. This is a series of Q&A's with different members of the Crytek team, where they answer questions on all sorts of topics. These are not just ordinary interviews though. Once their intro has been posted you get the opportunity to ask them your questions!

This time we are speaking with Chris Kay.

What do you do at Crytek?

I’m a level designer here at Crytek and I’m working on Crysis 2.

Why did you want to work in the games industry and how did you get started? Do you have any tips for people wanting to get started in the industry?

It all started for me back with some classic strategy games like Starcraft and Age of Empires. My best friend and I (who taught me how to use level editors) would spend ages knocking together custom missions for those games. I suppose naturally I progressed to experimenting with Unreal Editor, slowly and surely making sense of what was then (and still is) pretty complicated stuff.

My first real custom level was built for Unreal Tournament. For me, at that stage it was about making something really epic, good looking and unique. I think this is the best approach – to make some levels for one of your favorite games rather than be educated in level design but lack passion for your work.

Jumping forward a number of years I came across Counter-Strike while at a LAN party, it’s pretty safe to say I fell in love with that game and I have it to thank for where I am today. It gave me endless opportunities to create new exciting levels and get involved in what was then, and could still be now the biggest custom level design community. The funny thing is, looking back now almost everyone who worked on some good custom Counter-Strike “maps” are now working in the games industry and doing what they love best.

After numerous Counter-Strike levels I moved into the modification scene. I did some levels for Digital Paintball, Specialists Mod and most recently Insurgency.

Why Crytek?

To cut a long story short; every game Crytek have made has been of top quality, I also knew quite a number of people working here and they really enjoyed it. One of my favorite level designers who worked on some legendary Counter-Strike maps is also my boss, so that in itself made the decision to work here a no-brainer.

What are the best and worst parts of your job?

The best part of my job is seeing your levels go from concept to final release; it’s also rewarding to see everyone else’s hard work come together into a single game experience. As a level designer you tend to have your finger in many pies!

The worst part is usually due to bugs, things not going as planned and changes that manage to creep into your level unexpectedly!

What are you working on at the minute?

Right now I’m working on missions for Crysis 2, I can’t say much more but it’s going to knock your socks off, for sure.

What types of games do you like, and what's your favorite game of all time?

I spend a lot of my time playing MMO games, FPS and RTS games. My favorite game would have to be split into the three categories above.

MMO - Everquest 2
FPS - Counter-Strike
RTS - Starcraft

What do you enjoy doing when you're not at work?

I’m a drummer and thankfully Crytek have a real nice drum kit setup, so after work hours I’ll do some practice. Some of the other guys here play guitar so we often jam together.

Fan Q&A

What do you focus on more, the width of gameplay (how open the space is) or the directness of the level, [or] other?

We think about both. When you present the opportunity for a player to “explore” an environment it’s very important that you make it clear how to progress. At some point it’s needed to control the experience and for this we take the player through a transition route. However, after such a linear section we intend to give the player the sense of freedom once again.

What consequences do you take from the level design of Crysis and the reaction of the fans (alien part too linear, etc.)?

Everybody here knows Crysis very well and looks closely at what made the first game work. Feedback from gamers is golden for us, and it’s what really matters at the end of the day.

What Counter-Strike maps have you made?

I worked on a selection of Counter-Strike levels, you can check them out at www.2d-chris.com.

I want to be a game designer and I don't know what should I go in "Computer Science" or "Graphic Design"? Please tell me.

You can find specific game design courses but I would still recommend learning by yourself though. There is a huge amount of useful information on the Internet these days. If you have to choose from Computer Science or Graphic Design the latter would be your best bet from my experience.

As a level designer, are you more respected than another part of the team (like writer or artwork etc.) or does everyone have an equal part?

Equal, we’re all in this together.

You can show us (photo) of your best work?

Sure, on my website ;)

How long from start to finish does it take to complete a level/map?

From concept to release on a single player game often 1-2 years. Multiplayer the cycle can be shorter.

How long did it take you to learn to use the editor for Crysis?

It took me about 2 months to get efficient with the tool.

What do you think is the best map/level built by a fan to date? "Please don't say all, be specific."

Volcano by Helder Pinto, interestingly he’s starting work here soon!

In Closing

A special thanks to Chris for taking the time to complete the Inside Crytek article and community answers, I’m sure they will be of great use too all the guys here. The next Inside Crytek article will be up soon and we'll be allowing you to ask even more questions to another member of the Crytek staff in a short while.

- MyCrysis Team

MyCrysis: Inside Crytek - Chris Kay - Level Designer
MyCrysis: Inside Crytek - Chris Kay - Community Answers!