There are some difficulties in the production of large 3D game levels (or replicas, battlefields), mainly:
- Requires the production staff to have a good sense of space, including the overall layout, the proportional relationship between objects, the grasp of the bad words, not only affect the appearance, but also affect the player's experience;
- Level production is a relatively comprehensive work: the need for planning, fine art communication and coordination, and sometimes need to add some logic functions of the program. Foreigners have level designer, and the domestic designer is mainly responsible for writing documents, drawing graphic design drawings, which often appear back and forth rework. Especially in some PvP battlefield class copies of the production, play on the length of the route, some of the features of the location of the building and other requirements are very high, often need to constantly test, adjust to determine the final plan;
- High-quality level production costs are very high, a decent level of cost enough to buy a Mercedes-Benz should be no problem, but in the actual project, often see Mercedes-Benz, BMW is helpless discarded, like littering.
The above is only said the "production" link in the difficulties, not including the so-called level design: Play design, art concept design. In short, the level to do well, not easy.
Today, when you look at UE4 's sample, see a "leveldesign_workflow" example, very good, visual demonstration of the "Sun Temple" This demo scene of the "production" process. This level uses 4 iterations to achieve the final result. Such a workflow, especially for the establishment and verification of the level fast model, can reduce the risk of rework and waste. 1st Pass:prototype
In UE4, you can quickly establish the general layout of the level by using simple geometry such as geometry brush or simple cube or spahere. The spatial sense of the different regions, the proportional relation of the object, the basic illumination, should be built up, and if there are some game logic, it should be developed at this stage. The goal at this stage is to be playable, to be truly testable. After repeated testing, adjustment, in the aesthetic, the game after the clearance, then take the next step. 2nd pass:meshing
After the prototype, the art can be based on conceptual design and the proportions of the prototype to make models and stickers. Models, stickers are typically created in third-party software such as 3DS Max or Maya, and then imported into the engine and replaced in the level. Incidentally, the problem of mapping: the size of the model is also very important, when the foreigner to make the level, the accuracy of the map is very good: every square inch of how much cut image, are defined in the project specification. "There is a delicate vase on a rough ground," vs "a similarly rough vase on a rough ground", two contrasts, the former more damaging the player's sense of generation, the screen will appear very very "computer." 3rd pass:ligting
For the next generation, there is no light, no good play will come out. In this link, the light setting and post Process should be carefully adjusted to achieve the final result. With the overall scope of the building, you can also add some particle effects, such as the spark ignited on the torch and so on. 4th Pass:polish
Finally, polishing, adjusting, adding details, to create a specific atmosphere or life breath and so on.
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Next generation level production process: using Unreal Engine 4
