Level Design advice.

[candlejack131]

The name basically says it all. I am working on a custom story that takes place in both the wilderness and indoors and was wondering if there was anything i could add to either to make them better. In this thread basically post what you think makes either level better.

[FlawlessHappiness]

Lighting!!!

Every time i play someones custom story, i begin judging the lighting! Make it realistic!
You can find different threads about realistic lighting.

Also make differences. It gets boring if it's the same wall you see over and over. Play with welders and broken walls. Remember turning grid off is your friend. Not your enemy

[candlejack131]

So how would you light an outside area that takes place at night if you were working on one? this is a genuine question out of curiosity

[Rapture]

Depends on the lighting (Moon or no moon -- I would also suggest getting a high-res, beautiful looking Skybox.)



But you would want to start off with a Boxlight encompassing your entire area.



After your done with the environment and props, you should start adding in the Spotlights and Point Lights.



If you have Shadows Enabled for Spotlight's, don't have them to far away because the shadows get more and more blocky the farther the light is away.

So it's tricky getting the right combination of Lights without suffering Fps.

[candlejack131]

So if its night time there should be a box light covering the entire map?

---

What would you like to see "inside" as well what type of furniture

[Rapture]

Well in any outdoor environment should have a boxlight due to the size, and *cough* somewhat limiting engine.

[candlejack131]

And how much suspense do you think needs to be built for a monster to spawn?

[Damascus Rose]

Nights should have a faint blueish light made with a boxlight to simulate the moon. And of course get a nighttime skybox. Turn grid snapping on when placing walls and structures and furniture, turn it off when adding specific rotations and details (normally for smaller entities, but it depends what you are trying to achieve.) Remember to add particle effects (like dust in windows, fog in some areas), billboards when necessary (windows), and decals to your environments. They really make the environment look at lot better. It will take a while until you get good at adding these artistically, don't just stick them all over the place and expect it to look good. Also turn off the alpha for most point lights, and box lights. To be honest I'm not entirely sure what alpha is, but I think it enables certain effects on the lights which will just lag the game when they aren't being used.

Don't jam a bunch of monsters everywhere, it will get annoying. For each monster should be unique and scary. Create environments where the player may think a monster may spawn- and leave it that way, then when you add an encounter it will be scarier.

[Adny]

And how much suspense do you think needs to be built for a monster to spawn?

3 distant sounds, 2 glimpses of the monster, 1 encounter. 3-2-1 Plan™.*

* = Trademarked by "AR Studios Inc. Incorporated with Friends Studios After Dark Inc.", any unlawful use will result in a brutal whipping with a whip made up entirely of Traggey's beautiful hair and some rocks I found outside.


Honestly, there's no real systematic way of doing it. It depends on the atmosphere of the level you want to introduce it in. If it's a calm quiet level, some additional build up would be necessary as opposed to a dark and terrifying level.

[GoranGaming]

Lighting!!!

Every time i play someones custom story, i begin judging the lighting! Make it realistic!
You can find different threads about realistic lighting.

Also make differences. It gets boring if it's the same wall you see over and over. Play with welders and broken walls. Remember turning grid off is your friend. Not your enemy

The grid is your friend when you want to build walls, etc. But when you want to make details, always turn of the grid. (Not in special cases)