Unit 70/76: 3D Environments and Level Design for Computer Games

These two units were linked together to create a level for our overarching game project for the year.

I first started by prototyping the level layout I wanted.

I decided upon an arena battle for the boss, with a dungeon section leading up to it. To increase the play time from start to end, I created a map with folded paths which made the effective distance much further.

I started with a basic rough drawing of the proposed layout.



I then began refining the map, first by drawing it out more solidly as below:



Then, by giving it scale, to make it more easily translated into Unreal Engine, I divided the map up equally into a grid and place the walls and rooms int this area.



I used a version of this equally split map to create the first in-engine blockout of my map, using the texture as the floor as a guide and placing the walls where they appeared on the map.



For some of the rooms, I wanted a lock-in mechanic, until some sort of task was completed. For this I created a Blueprint Door, with triggers for entering the room.



After some refinement, I added some materials to the Blockout to get a feel for the final look, as well as some basic placeholder torch lights.



For the second half of this unit, it dealt with using the Landscape tools available in Unreal.

For my first foray into this, I decided to create a landscape as the central arena for my arena, like a gladiatorial combat area.

I used the Unreal Landscape Sculpting tools for this first landscape, as it was a small area and I wanted more control over how it looked.



I used a subtle 'noise' effect to give random-ness and made it so that it looked like the sand gathered in the corners by building up the height.



Then I added some grass meshes to give a sort-of dune effect to the area.



For the larger external landscape, I used an external program to create a heightmap.

I first tried WorldMachine, but I found the heightmaps too low resolution.



So I tried a program called Scape instead, which has similar controls to the Unreal editor, but with much more advanced sculpting and noise simulation.



And the heightmap transferred to in-game: