Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Narcamah Design Images

Level Design

Narcamah Hotel UDK Level After 24 Hours

Progress has been slow lately due to family commitments but here is my latest progress with the level. As you can see, I am now starting to texture the map and add bits of detail. It is a slow process and I am trying to use my own textures which may not be the most pretty and efficient but it at least gives me a bit more control over what things will look like.

The key things I have learnt from this stage of the level is how to bring in my own textures and create basic materials from them. I also learnt how to use the materials and manipulate them so that they are aligned, scaled and tiled as and when needed.

Two cool features that I have dabbled with are the Terrain tool and the Foliage tool. I've not really delved into the foliage so much just yet but the terrain tool, you can clearly see the results of the terrain background.

And finally, the dominant light source has been a real key thing to learn. Creating the sky as you see it in the game and the bright sunlight is also something that I enjoyed learning about. It was a UDK update that brought the idea to me as when you first launch UDK now, it gives you an example sky to play about with as a starting template.

The sky, the outer walls, the fencing, the tree and the terrain all make the outside look like we are getting somewhere in terms of completion. The inside is another story however and that is going to be my next challenge in progressing the level.

Stay tuned, I am now making pretty slow progress but I will update you on how I am getting on when I can.

Narcamah Hotel Level Design

This article describes my progress through my first UDK built level design. It based on a hotel that I stayed in for a while and during my stay, I took notes, sketches, pictures and videos of the building to remind myself later on the layout of the building. It is quite a complex building comprising of a Public Bar, Private Bar, Restaurant and Hotel / Motel. I wanted to recreate the building in full 3D when I got my hands on UDK and I am using it as my leverage to gain experience and knowledge of how to design a complex level in UDK.

Some screenies can be found here, including my original sketches of the building

I haven't included the original footage or pictures of the building as I don't feel this would be fair to the owners of the building without permission.

After I had taken pictures of the corridors and rooms of the building, I started with a paper design. I then moved the design over to UDK and beginning with BSP Brushes. As I was new to UDK and it had been a long time since I had attempted to make a level again, I started out by trying to gauge some scale in the development tool. To do this, I created a wall with a doorway. I then built the map and looked at the door in the game to make note of the size of it. Once I had an idea of scale, I then began working on the rear, outer staircase of the building. It was tricky at first but by the time I had finished the staircase, I was already becoming used to the UDK.

I then systematically built each room on the lower floor, ensuring that the scale was correct after each room. I constantly referred back to my footage and sketches as to the layout and look of the building. The video footage was especially useful in recreating the level on the screen.

After 6 hours of work, I made this YouTube video to refer back to. It shows that most of the lower level is now complete but the kitchen area is still to be built on the west wing.

Here is the 6 Hours Video:

Since the last video, I have now completed the ground floor including kitchen area and laundry room. I have also incorporated a staircase leading up to the upper floor. This was very tricky to complete as it didn't fit at first. I found that I had not left enough room to put in the staircase. I used a mix of Linear and Curved staircases to achieve the end result and after a lot of fiddling around, I have managed to make them all fit nicely into place like I wanted them to originally.

On the upper floor, I have completed the majority of the layout. All I have to do now is get to work on the roofing. I will be making the roof a mix of hip, gable and pyramid roofing. I have shown an example of how I am starting off the sloping of the walls on the South East side of the building. Using Geometry mode, I have lowered one side of the walls to accomodate the new roof.

14 Hours Video

Continuing from my previous video, here is an update on the progress of the level after approx 19 hours of work.

I have now completed the bulk of the building including the roofing area. I achieved the roofing with quite a bit of ease by utilising the geometry mode. I simply laid out a flat roof, split it in two and dragged the middle of the roof join up. UDK took care of the rest.

I have also added some windows to the building, particularly on the upper floor as you will see. The balconies now have a nice look out which you can also jump through as a quick exit to the ground floor.

19 Hours Video

Level Design: CNT Office

This is the first ever map that I made using Qoole for Quake 2. I made it back in 1997 and did not make many maps since then until I restarted designing levels in 2011.

It was a great learning process and it has given me a good, strong head start in getting used to tools such as UDK and Hammer as they share the same BSP basic principles. I have learnt some lessons in brush manipulation, CSG additive and subtractive aspects as well as lighting techniques.

Here are some screen shots of the level:

CNT Office Map Tour on Videogamesclub.co.uk

And if you would like to try it first hand, why not download the BSP for yourself and place it in your Quake2/baseq2/maps folder?

CNT Office Map BSP File (2.3mb Compressed Zip file)

Assignment 3: Torchwood Level Design

I designed this level to be the tutorial part of my Torchwood game. It is based in Cardiff Bay where the Torchwood Hub is situated (until it was stolen!).

It has 3 objectives to familiarise the player with the controls and surroundings as well as set the flow of the game. You can find the documentation below.

Cardiff Bay Location Pictures:

Dusk View of Exhibition Front and Plass Ivor Novello Statue - Rift Manipulator

Overall View of the Plass and Surrounds Overall View - Google Maps

Pierhead Building Plass - Gives a good idea of scale

Plass Light Towers by Night

Plass view - Wide angle Plass view of the Pierhead Building

Water Tower & Exhibition Centre

Here is the first draft drawing of the level:

Draft 1: Torchwood Training Ground Level 1

I then moved on to Google Sketchup to make a mock model of the level. The good thing about Google Sketchup is that it gives a very good indication of size because it allows the real buildings to be drafted in to the level.

The Crater - Tutorial Level, Torchwood

Download the Google Sketchup File: hubcrater.skp (14mb)

My Statement

For me, games are not just for playing, they are an early iteration of what they could be. I enjoy thinking of new ways to excite and motivate the player. My goal is to give players an experience they have never experienced before and push the boundaries of existing limitations into the next generation of gaming

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Video Games Club UK

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