noveltyhero Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 Hey guys, Any level designers within the community? Professional or hobbyists (like me) Personally, I've done some work in Google Sketchup (made my school), Unreal Engine (yes the original, I was about 8 when I found it and it absolutely blew my mind!), some other 2D games (1994 old school side scrollers!) but my biggest feat was this (unfinished) huge island made within the Creation Engine (Skyrim) So, what is your work and what do you absolutely love about level design? For me it is making unique places, every place I make has some depth to it, it has a meaning. If you spend 10 minutes more in that level you will learn more about the world, the objective and even your limitations. By next year January I am hoping to buy a UEgine 4 License for nextgenz! ^^ (so far been working only with stuff compatible with integrated) Show me work please, no judging! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taiiat Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 (edited) Level Design is... an experience. the freedom to create something out of other stuff. like lego's, but better. creating scenes with as much for the eyes to look at as i can cram in there... is a beautiful thing. which for me, includes fussing over the smallest details. i've spent hours on single walls before, getting the textures and lighting to look just right. because if Textures are clipping into each other, or if something is aligned wrong, some people will notice it and it'll ruin the view for them. and that's no good. and i also love me some variety, so every area must have a variety of environments. some areas will be bright and cheerful, others will be dim and mysterious, and some even lit so dimly that you can just barely see where you're going. i'mma stop talking before i spend hours writing a single post. Edited October 4, 2014 by taiiat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[DE]Grzegorz Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 (edited) I've been fooling around with quite a few SDKs (CryEngine, Unreal, Source, Unity), I suck at projects that can't be done within an hour or so. So far I can tell that I'm much better at finding faults than creating something on my own. Whoever is the lead mapper at DE, you are leaving giant holes EVERYWHERE. Edited October 4, 2014 by Mofixil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taiiat Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 you are leaving giant holes EVERYWHERE. you notice them too? *crying laughter* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noveltyhero Posted October 4, 2014 Author Share Posted October 4, 2014 Level Design is... an experience. the freedom to create something out of other stuff. like lego's, but better. creating scenes with as much for the eyes to look at as i can cram in there... is a beautiful thing. which for me, includes fussing over the smallest details. i've spent hours on single walls before, getting the textures and lighting to look just right. because if Textures are clipping into each other, or if something is aligned wrong, some people will notice it and it'll ruin the view for them. and that's no good. and i also love me some variety, so every area must have a variety of environments. some areas will be bright and cheerful, others will be dim and mysterious, and some even lit so dimly that you can just barely see where you're going. i'mma stop talking before i spend hours writing a single post. OMG, I hate that so much XD First time I made a dungeon I was like "ok so far so perf..." NO...long story short: had to redo the whole thing after 6 hours of work XD Great times, level design as a job I couldn't do but as a hobby it is magnificent ^^ One thing I love doing is making certain areas a complete mystery, so that if you paid attention say 20m ago, you would know vaguely what to do but if you didn't...tough luck :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lukap99 Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 I haven't level designed so far, but I feel like I can get into it.So far I've only made 1 house in google sketchup, and it was quite a project, even though it ended up looking a bit bland.Any free software that I can use to start this potential new hobby? Also, don't tell RhinoKarp, but I think the forest levels are quite boring Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[DE]Grzegorz Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 (edited) you notice them too? *crying laughter* Some of these make me wonder how the hell that level passed QA. Ceres makes me cry. Edited October 4, 2014 by Mofixil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaugahn Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 Some of these make me wonder how the hell that level passed QA. The outdoor sets are the biggest offenders. Some of the level edges on Phobos are just ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noveltyhero Posted October 4, 2014 Author Share Posted October 4, 2014 I haven't level designed so far, but I feel like I can get into it. So far I've only made 1 house in google sketchup, and it was quite a project, even though it ended up looking a bit bland. Any free software that I can use to start this potential new hobby? Also, don't tell RhinoKarp, but I think the forest levels are quite boring The forest levels are great... Anywho, great free software? Maybe, do you own Skyrim on PC? Do you own UT GOTY on PC? (comes with SDK), any Valve game comes with Hammer World Editor (painful, painful software...) If not and you are student: check out Autodesk's software (free to students) OR: just buy a license for CryEngine or UEgine (I'm an unreal fan through and through though) they are quite cheap, like $6 or so a month to $12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taiiat Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 One thing I love doing is making certain areas a complete mystery, so that if you paid attention say 20m ago, you would know vaguely what to do but if you didn't...tough luck :P i usually prefer hiding things in plain sight. observant players will find those spots, but otherwise you'll walk right past them. Digital Extremes seems to often like doing this as well. l00t rooms in plain sight, but unless you're looking directly at them, you'd never know they're there. any Valve game comes with Hammer World Editor (painful, painful software...) every novice Level Designer needs to use Hammer. SO YOU KNOW OUR PAIN. and why good tools are so important. not that Hammer lacks features, but !)!)(*!(%^#&%*#^%& is it a pain to work with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lukap99 Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 The forest levels are great... Anywho, great free software? Maybe, do you own Skyrim on PC? Do you own UT GOTY on PC? (comes with SDK), any Valve game comes with Hammer World Editor (painful, painful software...) If not and you are student: check out Autodesk's software (free to students) OR: just buy a license for CryEngine or UEgine (I'm an unreal fan through and through though) they are quite cheap, like $6 or so a month to $12 Skyrim: Nope UT GOTY: Nope Volvo games: Portal 2 I guess I'll try hammer, although I fear that it might not be easy to get into. I think I'll hold off on CryEngine and Unreal until I'm confident enough though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taiiat Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 I guess I'll try hammer, although I fear that it might not be easy to get into. it's a great learning experience. Hammer does not hold your hand. period. it's very obscure. you'll spend a lot of hours reading and watching tutorials, and after realizing that it's obvious, now that you know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noveltyhero Posted October 4, 2014 Author Share Posted October 4, 2014 it's a great learning experience. Hammer does not hold your hand. period. it's very obscure. you'll spend a lot of hours reading and watching tutorials, and after realizing that it's obvious, now that you know. I found it completely fine except:optimizations and placements, seriously who thought that was a good idea? I ultimately respect all of those maps in the workshop XD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taiiat Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 -snip- eh, i find the menus and ways of creating different functions and other things that you'll want in your levels to be very archaic and not obvious. best example - creating useful Elevators.... involves NOT the obvious function for them, because the obvious function for that makes objects that either kill you on contact or have super unreliable physics. there's another function you're supposed to use for moving objects instead, but unless you know that, it's not obvious whatsoever. things like that are part of what can make Hammer just a pain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noveltyhero Posted October 5, 2014 Author Share Posted October 5, 2014 eh, i find the menus and ways of creating different functions and other things that you'll want in your levels to be very archaic and not obvious. best example - creating useful Elevators.... involves NOT the obvious function for them, because the obvious function for that makes objects that either kill you on contact or have super unreliable physics. there's another function you're supposed to use for moving objects instead, but unless you know that, it's not obvious whatsoever. things like that are part of what can make Hammer just a pain. Ohh god the good ol' "wtf killed me" XD Unreal had a similar problem, except it was with collision markers, i.e a model might have a slightly bigger collision off-set and so might a platform and whatnot (the trigger for it) and sometimes, only sometimes your character might be squashed by visibly nothing XD Here is to hoping Source 2 fixes everything wrong with Hammer World Editor! ^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Somedude1000 Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 I started using blender a few weeks back. Few days back I learnt how to properly create a room i can insert objects into. Right now im up to a room with a box and a chair of sorts. Still no idea how to make skins for stuff tho, everything is just matte coloured... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noveltyhero Posted October 5, 2014 Author Share Posted October 5, 2014 I started using blender a few weeks back. Few days back I learnt how to properly create a room i can insert objects into. Right now im up to a room with a box and a chair of sorts. Still no idea how to make skins for stuff tho, everything is just matte coloured... I don't know about Blender but in most software you generate a UV map for it and you can then extract it (or paint it in real-time within the 3D engine but that isn't too nice) so you can then work with it in other software like Photoshop. Just google the method for desired software and it should be fine :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taiiat Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 Here is to hoping Source 2 fixes everything wrong with Hammer World Editor! ^^ Gaben pls we're begging you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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