[Question] Regarding Level Designers
polycounter lvl 6
Do level designers in the industry use CAD or alternatives when designing levels? Or do they typically just graph paper? I'm trying to figure out if learning CAD would be beneficial or a waste of time. Thank you.
Replies
"So why did you decide to use CAD instead of Unreal or Unity and why should we hire you?"
I started mentioning Unreal cuz you could plot CAD style without need of an outside app. I think understanding Blueprints is the key though if the focus is on prototyping.
some people do that. i'm not sure what benefits using cad to sketch would bring though.
- Clarity over hand drawings (can draft clearer in a shorter amount of time)
- Grid of dots can be set as snapping points
- Grid spacing size can be changed
- Allow drawn lines and shapes to be copied, stored, and modified in various ways so that designers can edit quickly without redrawing things by hand
You can do them all in game engine.
Yea from what I've seen designers tend to do a quick sketch of the general idea of the map from top down and then build it in engine. (This is for multiplayer games)
At the end of the day, the goal seems to be to get a playable version in engine as quickly as possible so the team can playtest the map, give feedback, and iterate on it.
Make a rough sketch, and just start blocking things in ASAP. Do not have to model out the entire map, its all about generating a fun experience first and foremost. You can always make some more pretty with art, make sure the level flows. Getting this built in engine as soon as possible allows you to get the level into other people's hands to play test.
More value in that easier to see scale in the engine, as well as testing the flow.
- you're not as concerned with throwing something away if it's a drawing versus an actual 3D work
- less likely to get bogged down on the details
- can do it literally anywhere and bring it anywhere
- can jot down ideas and notes
- etc.
Sure you can do all of that on a computer, but I find once somethings in a program it starts to become more "real" in the sense that you might not want to alter it as much or start over on an idea that might not be working.
You could always scan a sketch and bring it into photoshop or a 3d program too if you think you have a somewhat decent idea and want to make it a little more presentable and refined.
At least that's what I liked to do when I used to make maps for fun, probably got over a 1000 scribbles of maps littered across computer paper, notepads, gridpaper, and homework from when I was younger
Of course I also used to do the opposite as well and literally go room by room in hammer trying to make everything look pretty for fun, but I found maps that were blocked out first where I didn't give a shit about what it looked like in the beginning had a much higher chance of me completing it versus just going straight into the details.
If it helps, you can view level design somewhat similarish to how a 3D model is made. Usually you don't want to just go straight into zbrush or whatever and focusing on the details, having a concept and references sketched out first goes a long way in saving time versus exploring purely in a program.
Whatever method you do, the general advice is to block everything out first and play that to see if it's fun before making it look too pretty. Planning saves time!
And like passerby said, you probably don't want your level design to get to a point on the piece of paper where you're 110% happy with everything. The sketch should be pretty broad, blocking it out in 3D will help refine it after as now you'll have to deal with actual scale and might end up adjusting the sizes and paths of the areas.
I used to just start designing from the hip, or modeling for the sake of modeling, and it can be fun but I always, always get far better results if I work out a concept on paper or in Photoshop first.
and uses a CAD style approach and you can even export it into your engine , but using real CAD makes no sense