UDK SciFi Mining Base Level Design

Anngelos

I'm blocking out a level for a SciFi FPS and need some direction in where to place assets in order to avoid a direct path to the capture node at the top of the hill. The setting is a mining facility in the mountains that has to be guarded from a rival faction.

I'm still trying to figure out the "golden triangle" stuff. So any help in where things such as good places for high and low ground as well as the reason for things being where they are would be helpful. Ill answer any questions about the block out if you need please ask.




http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/1933/blockout4.jpg



http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/8584/blockout41.jpg

Anngelos

On another note does anyone like anything from the current block out?

fragfest2012

The problem is in how you laid out this place in the first place. Your landscape design screams linear path. If you are going to keep this design, then the best way to make this less linear is to add in height variation and make the path go through, say, a large building that goes up and has open areas and tight areas. That would also be a good way to add more interesting gameplay. That said, you are going to need some larger building pieces than you have now and you are going to need to make some modular assets you can use to create different buildings. If you can add more to the upper areas (bridges, buildings on top of the side hills, etc), then the scene becomes more visually appealing, and then you just will want to create a larger structure inside the little valley that will add varying gameplay and more aesthetic fun to the scene.

Hope that helps!

ZacD

Do some black and white thumbnail composition sketches, make something that works at 300 pixels wide. You already have your main focus, now you have to balance that visually, that make something that makes logical sense as a mine.

Think about stuff like:
Foreground, Middleground, Background
Balance
Scale and Proportion
Movement
Rhythm and Repetition
Unity
Emphasis

http://www.ctrlpaint.com/tag/principles-of-design/