3D Level designing

[Vorax]

I thought some people might find my latest blog entry useful. It's on 3D level design and illustrates the 6 key steps involved for creating one the levels in my game.

If you don't know anything about 3D design and your curious, or if you are wondering how other people approach it, it might be useful.

Entry is here: 3D Level Construction in 6 Steps (http://www.voraxgames.com/community/blogs/dut/archive/2006/02/04/124.aspx)

Feedback welcome.

- Vorax

[tentons]

Nice writeup. Thanks for sharing. Looks like quite a few indies are moving into 3d.

[Vorax]

Over the coming years, as reasonable 3D hardware becomes standard with every PC, it will be getting more prevelant. Though, 2D games will not go away anytime soon (nor should they), because the problem with 3D from a design percpective is the additional costs it incurrs due to extended development times. Almost everything takes longer - level design, programming, testing, and art assets. It's alot of work, but as you tighten up your processes it's not so bad.

[Sysiphus]

I somewhat think very low pol art is less time consuming to make(than a full graphics loaded 2d game of today's shareware world) for the artist, but again, it depends on the game genre and concept. As it will ask for smaller or bigger number of graphics...

I personally would like if it'd be at least as demanded as 2d, pixel art. I do all , but low pol can be fastest. I guess it will depend on the evolution of end user machines statistics, as allways..

[Vorax]

Doing very low poly can be pretty cool when done right, but it tends to have a narrow range as far as what type of games it looks right in because they tend to look cutsie. I agree though that it's actually less work artisticly then a good 2D game.

[turbo]

Very nice and useful writeup. :)

So far, my level work has entailed building a very specific custom terrain and populating it.
One day when I have more time (lmao) I will definitely try this approach.

From my perspective,tho..
- having been a 2d artist all my life and only switching to 3d a few years ago I cannot agree that 3d is ever any easier and neither does low poly really have to be cutsie.. but then maybe I'm more of a med/low poly with an evil to my fantasy side.. :cool: :) (buahahahaha!)

- cheers for pushing on and sticking to your goals!
(finding a mate who shares your passion for creativity and development is not such an impossible thing and most rewarding) :)

[Vorax]

Thanks Turbo. I'm glad you found it useful :)

[princec]

I wish I could get it together and do some tutorials on this and that, I'm just so bone-idle :( That's a nice page you've got there and I'd be proper proud of it.

Cas :)

[Sysiphus]

hey! It's done with Blender! hadn't noticed. Nice thing. I use blender often.

[Vorax]

Thanks Cas.

@Turbo: I forgot to mention that I whole heartily agree that 3D takes alot more work then 2D in general, I was only thinking of the most basic, very low poly work - pretty much a pyramid and a block to represent trees kinda low poly.

[Robert Cummings]

Must take a long time to make the levels?

[Vorax]

Ya, it takes a while. That one was pretty typical. It took about 30 hours from sketch to finshed.

[joe]

Don't know if it's working, but wouldn't it be easier to write an level editor tool with predefinied objects that you can put together easily with the mouse?

Yes, I know it's a lot of work, but imagine how much work it can save you in the end, or how many more levels you can create in the same time?

[Vorax]

Don't know if it's working, but wouldn't it be easier to write an level editor tool with predefinied objects that you can put together easily with the mouse?

Yes, I know it's a lot of work, but imagine how much work it can save you in the end, or how many more levels you can create in the same time?

There are games like Hamster Ball where this would be the best way to go. It's a 3D world with consistent geometric symetry. If that fits your 3D game, your in luck. That's not the norm in most 3D games though. If you are aiming for environments closer to the real world, diversity becomes a requirement. Usually, there are some assets that can be reused (like the Cauldron in this example, or some textures), but beyond using modeling tools like Max or Blender, there isn't really any more automation that can be done.

Here's an example of what I mean:

Cape Sphere (http://www.voraxgames.com/screenshots/capesphere.jpg)

Snow Where (http://www.voraxgames.com/screenshots/SnowWhere.jpg)

Critical Eyes (http://www.voraxgames.com/steps/finished.jpg)

These three screen shots are all from Kumari, they are all entirely different and their geometry is diverse. There isn't any level editor that could be built (beyond a modeling tool) that could do that much geometric and visual diversity.

[joe]

Ah, okay, I see. Because you are doing a very unusual 3D Game (ev'ry Puzzle Game in 3D is unusual ;-) ) I thought it might be possible. I'm very curious about your game - how it feels and plays! Some games like worms or lemmings didn't work for me anymore when they jumped into the 3rd dimension :-)

[Vorax]

Nice to see that it peaks peoples curiosity. If you do want to try it out (or others reading here), the beta hasn't started yet, and I haven't closed the list. If you want in on it, send an email to beta@voraxgames.com and you'll be added to the list.