Well now.. It has been a long long time since I have frequented these forums, but recently I have been hit with the itch to mess around again. As such, I have gone ahead and started work on what will hopefully become a dungeon area that I am calling The Hall of the Kings. I have completed the basic layout and am currently in the process of creating basic placeholder models for the various architectural aspects that I would like to add (Pillars, columns, rafters, arches, gates, etc..) so there isn't much to see, however here is the layout:




Regards,
Ayrus

makes me miss level design with good ol' wed geometry

ohhh, this is with wed? lol... i'd have to recode alot of things if i tried to use blocks... my game is model based

yep, its a lot of work to design with too. respect to ayrus for this design how long did that take?

I threw that together in about 30 minutes (Building in WED).. the trick is doing your homework in advance... if you don't, working in wed really can be a pain, especially when it comes to maintaining scale properly. Before I commit anything to wed when fooling around, I generally do a base sketch to create the levels general layout. Then I put that onto graph paper, using the grid to control scale. Once I have a scaled layout on graph paper, I'll pick out the main rooms that really need a lot of detail/focus, and I'll create a larger scale (Usually a 1:1 Ratio) version of that room, putting in all the details that I want. So, for the entire process so far, I have put in approx 4-5 hours on the level, most of which is on paper.

Depending on how far I take this design, I may end up upgrading my A6 COMM license to the A7 License, and at the same time flip to more up to date level design methods, but for now I like kickin it old school

Regards,
Ayrus

if this were made from models, i'd love to test it out in my shooter, ... oh well, right... it looks good tho

Well, I had a few more minutes to plug away at it, and I have begun to add models to the level. Right now the focus is on trying out different pillars and pillar combinations to see what it going to give the feel I want. Nothing textured yet unfortunately, but that will come in due time.

Awesome work, very tidy.
I just returned to Wed modelling in the last few days and its no easy task for me, even with all precautions taken and thats because I just used a model level to get the plan but forgot about old stuff like large walls seperating areas, none flag etc...
Its good to be reminided of the mportance of planning before building, would save a whole lot of grief.
...so respect! good work.

yes, good job. i create a lot of map entities in WED and fill them up with models for details like stairs, pillars, furniture, etc. the prefabs in WED are not that great so i end up having to use a model for levels with great detail. that also seems to keep building time a minimum. Good luck.

Well, I am in the process of converting the textures over from .dds right now, and have started to play with the lighting and have begun working on the finer details of the walls of the dungeon (Adding trim, alcoves, etc...), all untextured placeholder models still, kinda just messing around trying to figure out where lights will go and how they will work. Once I have that sorted, I'll go back and code the lights so that they don't have a fixed range, but instead have a variable range, slowing switching through those ranges, creating the torch light. One thing I am thinking for the latter stages of the level is to disable all the lights and make the torches interactive, so the player would have to turn them on. The purpose of this is two-fold... 1) When going down into a little used tomb, the player would need to bring their own light and light any torches along the way as they would not already be in use, and two, this would allow the player to know if they have been somewhere, if there is light, then the player must have been there to light the torch.

Anyways, an updated shot to show where torches/light sources will eventually end up.



Regards,
Ayrus