Your thought about a good level editor

[-HP-]

How about a level editor in 3ds max? I have read an article about it. Artist know the ui of max, and there is the possibility (maxscript) to make your own custom tools for a better pipeline.

Somebody already tested a level editor in max?

Naughtly Dog (Uncharted) had something like that with Maya, as I remember...

Exactly, their editor is mainly for scripting.

They do things very differently at Naughty Dog, basically everyone is a designer there, including concept artists. They do a lot of paintovers of the level and the 3d artists just go in there and model on top.

I would love to try this methodology one day, as it requires VERY good communication from all the team, and it's probably a lot more interesting to work at, instead of the conventional "conveyor belt" method of making games.

[Steppenwolf]

Yea some studios use Maya. I'm not convinced if this is the ideal solution from a workflow perspective. It seemed to take a long time to create levels in the one studio where i have seen it and they had multiple designers on one map. I guess this can be dealt with by writing better plugins tho.

[-HP-]

Oh yeah, make no mistake, its a very time consuming workflow, but the good side of it is that you can hand craft every single corner of the map to cheer beauty.

Obviously, It's much faster to just use an editor and slap the level with lots of props and modular assets like most studios do.

It really depends on the project you're working on, if it's a linear platformer / shooter, or a open world game.

[Steppenwolf]

Yes for GTA type sandbox games this seems ideal since every corner has to look different and no single person could work on it alone aynway. For standard sized fps levels it seems a bit too tedious from my perspective.

[Rick_D]

max has a reference system that pulls in other max files, and you can update it whenever you want, I believe maya has this as well - multiple people can work on a single level, all referencing each other's files.

[Minos]

max has a reference system that pulls in other max files, and you can update it whenever you want, I believe maya has this as well - multiple people can work on a single level, all referencing each other's files.

Really? I always wondered if you could do that on Max How do you do it? XRefs?

[-HP-]

max has a reference system that pulls in other max files, and you can update it whenever you want, I believe maya has this as well - multiple people can work on a single level, all referencing each other's files.

Really? I always wondered if you could do that on Max How do you do it? XRefs?

I remember I used something like this when I was working on ArchViz, we called it Proxies. It was separate .MAX files that were called only when the render was rendering that specific area where the asset was being used. Can't remember if it was a VRay feature or Max feature tho, it was 4/5 years ago. Fuck me man... time flies, wtf.

Edit: Ok found it, on VRay is called VrayProxy. Max also has this, it's called Xref.

http://www.kxcad.net/autodesk/3ds_max/A ... ssary.html

[Rick_D]

yeah, File -> References if you are using max 2010

[Gloglebag]

IDtech 5 is supposed offer something like that, where two artist can be working in the same map next to each other and see each others results update in real-time.

Well if so, I can imagine IDT 5 becoming a mapcore fad.

[Nysuatro]

I decided to go with a level editor in max. I will post my progress in this topic.

Here is a nice article about level editors in max : http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3 ... d_net_.php

[Zacker]

At IO we did all geometry and art related matters in 3dsx max and worked quite well. We had our own instancing system in place which allowed for the usual workflow with premade props and env art. So a bunch of a c++ for the instancing and export and then about 30-40 maxscripts to help with general level design tasks. I have since IO tried to do level design in 3ds max but it is an absolutely horrible program for that without those precious plugins and scripts.

[Buddy]

Level editor for FEAR (lt jup ex) works in parallel with 3dsmax, you can edit world geometry/place entites in max or level editor, everything is crossreferenced.

[Skjalg]

IDtech 5 is supposed offer something like that, where two artist can be working in the same map next to each other and see each others results update in real-time.

Well if so, I can imagine IDT 5 becoming a mapcore fad.

lol thats a long time dream of mine <3

Multiplayer map making ftw

[Sentura]

IDtech 5 is supposed offer something like that, where two artist can be working in the same map next to each other and see each others results update in real-time.

Well if so, I can imagine IDT 5 becoming a mapcore fad.

lol thats a long time dream of mine <3

Multiplayer map making ftw

oh god that would be awesome. you could invite people over for some 4 player map creation action!

[Warby]

that would be soooo awesome !