Howdy, Just thought I'd drop down a quick intro since I am the new guy and it seems that this is exactly the type of community that I was looking to get involved in. My names Dustin, I have been a fan of creative gaming for as long as I can remember and about 3 years ago I decided to swap my career goals from teaching to game design. Since then I have been putting out my feelers for insights in the industry and getting my hands into every cookie jar in reach. The goal of everything being a career in level and game design. Having said that I would like to thank the people at gamedev.net for having this forum and the supportive folks that post on it, after a few nights of reading, I am most impressed with the maturity of this crew and eagerly intend to contribute as much as I can. I work as a night shift hotel clerk as I attend college so I have plenty of time to do just that. Now that were past the intro, lets get started. I'm a noob, in all things gaming. I have a good idea of what goes on from position to position in the industry, but the hows and the whys are what I learn every day bit by bit. So anything that sounds uninformed or naive that I post is exactly that, uninformed and naive, but I pick up quick enough. I hope to pick up plenty here and offer as much as I can. Nice to meet everyone.

Welcome to the site Dustin. [smile]

If you're interested specifically in game and level design you might be interested in a series of features Gamasutra have been running recently, 'Gameplay Design Fundamentals'. You can find the second installment (includes a link back to the first) here. The site requires a free registration, but it's well worth it for the material posted regularly.