level designing, where do I start?

Game Engine Game Engine Support and Discussion
1

hi everyone
i’m new to the forum, so if this is in the wrong section, can you please let me know? thanks :slight_smile:
well, like the title says, i’m working on a game and I’ve started designing one of the levels. i have the drawings and concept done and i know basically what its going to look like, but whenever i try to model it out, it just don’t work out. I’ve tried sculpting it and modeling it in edit mode but i just can’t get it to work out the way i want. i also intend to export it into the UDK game engine when i’m done so is there anything that you guys are aware of that i may need to do so it works effectively (or what format i have to export it as)?
thanks in advance

2

Not entirely related to Blender, but you might pick a few things up here.
http://www.worldofleveldesign.com/articles.php

It also has a number of UDK tutorials (mentioned because you plan on using that as your engine rather than the BGE).

3

Start with the level layout as boxes, just plain boxes. Then start detailing the largest most visible object, and continue on from there to the smallest object. The idea is that you focus on the big important things first, and you feel like you’re actually making progress as well, and you have a better idea of which item to tackle next.

Makes for good protoyping as well.

4

Making levels is a hard process. One that very few people here have got sorted. So take all the advice with a pinch of salt.

  • Most people these days want to make outdoor levels. Most engines provide their own terrain editor. Use it.
  • Only import into the engine objects (like buildings).

If you are going to make levels completely in blender:

  • Get a proper heightmap tool. I can recommend terrescultor pro (free), but watch the polycount of the models it generates.
  • Then place cubes to represent what you want and where you want it. Things like buildings.
  • Then model the buildings.

If you are doing an indoor map, then none of that applies, and …

  • Start with a cube, and extrude it into the basic shape of the level you wish to make.
  • Once you have the outline, start adding detail. Walls and stairs are a good place to start.
  • Then refine the detail again, with placables etc.
5

thanks heaps everyone! it is an outdoor map, a village in a swampy area to be more exact and I’ve made a start and am happy with how it looks so far.

6

Oh, an outdoor map, a village…and maybe a little bit of “radiosity”?
“Radiosity”?..what the heck:
http://otothecleaner.free.fr/tutorials/LevelDesign2/level1/level2-1.html
Bye

7

Thanks for the tut!