Quote: Are the curved levels you make are they the size length-wise of this Ark??? I'm very interested and curious if so. Take a walk length wise in the Ark and see if your curved surface levels are of this size?
Nope. The levels are not the SIZE of the arc, but they are a lot more detailed then the arc (more geometry, more models and more textures). I will give you a clue as to how we did it (and are doing it). This is not the only way, but it does work.
We create sections of the long area (a long, detailed hall, for example) and break it into pieces. Then we build the pieces as map entities. We create LODs for each of these sections. There will be three LOD versions for each section. The first LOD section is the most detailed in level geometry and textures. The second is sort of medium and the third is the highest level. The further away the section is from the player, the lowest detailed LOD map entity is loaded. With proper LOD planning the transitions are almost seamless. Using a technique like this can allow you to create very long and very detailed areas.
Secondly, just because the arc was huge (long) does not mean Noah did not make many compartments within it. It would only make sense structurally (as far as Noah building it) to do so and it would make sense from a gaming standpoint as well.
I hope this helps.
Professional 2D, 3D and Real-Time 3D Content Creation: HyperGraph Studios
