What are /r/leveldesign's favorite Products & Services?

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Yes and No.

Height itself gives some inherent advantages, such as increased view and increased time for enemies to gain close-range access to you. However, disadvantages like exposure, threat from long-range attacks (like snipers), and severity of fall damage penalty compared to other forms of damage could make a high area unappealing. This doesn't quite answer whether or not players "naturally gravitate" toward higher ground, but players naturally do things as a summary, snap judgment of a list of pros and cons for making a decision. In many games, higher ground does not provide significant disadvantages, so players are often drawn to higher ground.

You also have to look at the intent of the player. If they are of the exploratory or aggressive mindset, they will tend to be drawn toward higher ground. If they seek safety, community, or comfort, they will gravitate toward a more recessed, cozy area. To borrow from architecture, the concept of the sunken living room https://www.tumblr.com/tagged/sunken-living-room demonstrates this.

> did you have the ability to simulate combat with any AI or a character model you could walk through the map with?

Yeah there's a bunch of AI stuff you can either make or buy, and since I usually deal with ai that is already made for me with work, I just bought a pack: https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/fps-starter-kit

$500 for 1 month. That includes X4 weekly 1 and a half hour long skype sessions.

The website has a lot of additional information on whats included, and what you can expect to get out of it.

https://thementorcollective.com/ The gumroad page for purchasing info: https://gumroad.com/thementorcollective

You can get a good idea from hammering the right words into google image search. Bonus points for entering actual Japanese, e.g. using http://jisho.org/

As for what the right words are, well, we'll find out as you go I guess? Obligatory Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_architecture

It's of course more professional to actually go and see some places, but I can't tell what kind of effort you intend to put in?

Lego has a free program called LDD

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Alternatively there is a fan made one called Stud.io that has more features and is more up to date. I think it is also backed by Lego now, idk I don't use it but I know a bunch of people who do

Welcome! I recommend a lot World Of Level Design if you don't know him, for me, with the Twitter hashtag (#LevelDesign) site for this, even he has a book

Some of my favorites:

• 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School
• Blink: the Power of Thinking Without Thinking
• The Design of Everyday Things
• Understanding Comics
• Architecture: Form, Space, and Order

I'd recommend this massively:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Game-Design-Vocabulary-Foundational-Principles-x/dp/0321886925/

It's really clear and helps you understand what you are using the levels for.

I'm about half way through this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Level-Design-Concept-Theory-Practice/dp/1568813384/

It's good so far.

I've bought this one : https://www.amazon.com/Architectural-Approach-Level-Design/dp/1466585412/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1482021984&sr=1-2&keywords=level+design

I'm a beginner too, and this book is really complete. I think it's a must read.