Posts by Leigh

Back again!

I've still been practicing in UE4 and am getting into learning the blueprints system but I've also taken a short break from it and created a level in Far Cry 3.

Overall I’m pretty happy with it but as always a first level in any editor is never going to be as good as it could be due to learning the restrictions and quirks of the tools.

This map takes place on a small tropical island that has in recent years built a small helipad to have greater contact with the outside world. Now a large international company comes into conflict with a group of rebels from the islands only town as they attempt to take control of the natural resources of the island.

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The Rebels are held up in what used to be the islands church,with pews and other furniture quickly pushed out of the way to make room for a new command centre for the rebels.

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On the other side of the conflict the helipad and surrounding buildings make up the companies only safe ground, all flights off the island are cancelled, with the helicopter ready to go at any minute should reinforcements be required.

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For either side to truly own the island they will need to control all three major locations:

The Village:

A once small group of houses has become cramped over the years, forcing the wood and corrugated steel shacks to build closer together, and even on top of each other. Between the beach and the river it is only a matter of time before the local villagers will have to consider expanding into the jungle they cherish across the river.

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The Jungle:The natural heart of the island, known for it’s rough terrain and dangerous wildlife. The focal point of the fighting here has been focused around a small camping area.

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The Coastal Battery:

A ruin from the second World War, it hides the islands dark history and has been left almost untouched since it was bombed over 60 years ago.

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As I mentioned above, overall I’m happy with the map. Finally to finish off here are some bonus shots, including the almost mandatory hidden sunken submarine!

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For players that find themselves swimming aimlessly in the ocean, a small surprise!

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The rebels aren't always fighting, in their downtime they appear to enjoy relaxing on the beach.

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A small island hides a weapon not found anywhere else on the map, swimming is unadvisable because of the sharks!

Anyway yeah... that's it. Sorry it's a bit image heavy I got a bit carried away with my little story

As always feedback is more than welcome. I'm thinking of uploading it soon or at least creating a video to show it off a bit better.

Sorry for the double post but today I decided to work on the advice Chris gave and instead used assets from within one of the UE4 example projects. I'm pretty happy with what I achieved, any thoughts on these?

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It's probably a bit too bright in places, and for those wondering it's supposed to be glass at the end that looks out into space but I've not quite figured out how to make it look like space out there yet. I've got stars but for some reason it only looks dark until I hit play. Something to work out tomorrow I guess!

Hey Chris, thanks for the reply

It is definitely my goal to become a level designer now, although I'm sure it will take some time and I'm more than happy to put the work in.

I had originally thought that creating all the assets myself wasn't the best idea but wasn't really sure of the best way to get my hands on some good quality assets to use within UE4.

It's interesting what you say about what the purpose of the level is, I suppose for this one it was mostly about me learning the tools of UE4 and trying to stay close(ish) to a concept image but I think going forward I will definitely be looking more at the actual gameplay benefits of a level.

Is it worth me carrying on this piece for now then? Or should I get hunting for new assets and try something else?

Thanks again for the advice!

Hey Everyone,

I'm pretty much new to not only these forums but also Level Design, it's something I've always been interested in but never really took the time to learn when I was working in general Design. However after losing my job a short time ago and a lot of discussion with a Level Designer friend of mine I decided that this was probably as good a time as any to give it a try.

As such, I've been working on what is not only my first ever level in UE4 but my first level ever!

It's still heavily work in progress at the moment, I keep switching back and forth between 3D modeling props but not texturing many of them (I'm hardly a 3D artist sadly) and then just basic level geometry, materials and some basic lighting.

I'm working from a combination of these two concepts

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Although looking back on them now I probably should have chosen images with a little greater detail, as a lot of the props have been rough guesses at best.

Anyway, without further ado here is my level.

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As I'm using this level as a learning piece I've not followed the concepts 100%, I've also hand painted the wall, floor and the wood on the shelves and barrels (another first for me!)

Anyway, any feedback, general tips or advice would be very much appreciated.

Thanks!

I really like where this is going! Sorry for the lack of technical feedback here but I'm only just starting to use UE4 myself and am completely new to level design as well. I look forward to seeing how this ends up and equally to you potentially releasing it so I can tear it open and learn something from it.

Weirdly last night the last thing I watched was the Family Guy episode where everyone turns into Robin Williams when Peter touches them, and then I woke up to this news. I would never really say he was my favourite actor or comedian but he was a huge part of my childhood growing up with his movies.

R.I.P sir!

Quote from Jord

I'd imagine people are angry at Activision for using Kickstarter rather than their own funds, not the concept of kickstarter itself.

Yeah, Kickstarter was (originally at least) supposed to be about smaller and independent groups of people making something they wouldn't of been able to make without it.

Nothing is stopping Activision from making Sierra games again on their own, they just want to reduce the risk by not having to put much of their own money into it.

On the other hand, without Kickstarter they probably wouldn't of bothered to even try this so...