Dark Souls / Souls-Franchise Map & World-Design
polycounter lvl 8
Hey there,
i am a huge Fan of the Souls-Series, including Bloodborne ofc.
I am wondering how they approach their awesome level-design, does anybody here have a clue? I find this stuff, especially with all this connected buildings and stuff so hard to draw.. i mostly try to design something in iso-view, or trying it with a plain map in top-view. But it's harder then i thought. I could also try to build very rough forms in 3D and design it that way.
But i would really love to know how they are doing it. I cant find anything related
Maybe someone here knows or heard about it, cheers!
i am a huge Fan of the Souls-Series, including Bloodborne ofc.
I am wondering how they approach their awesome level-design, does anybody here have a clue? I find this stuff, especially with all this connected buildings and stuff so hard to draw.. i mostly try to design something in iso-view, or trying it with a plain map in top-view. But it's harder then i thought. I could also try to build very rough forms in 3D and design it that way.
But i would really love to know how they are doing it. I cant find anything related
Maybe someone here knows or heard about it, cheers!
Replies
divide and conquer. my approach would be to build gameplay sections, then glue them together. keep verticality in mind. think about aesthetics after you have the sections ready. i'm only an amateur though.
so, what u meant was, building interesting buildings & places and link (glue?) them together right? yeah, sounds good, think it's best done in 3D.
basically, im still looking for the best approach that lets the creativity flow. and i see a lot of creativity and "soul" in miyazakis work!
http://kayin.moe/?p=2218
You should look at the painted world of ariamis, which is the best level in dark souls.
On Miyazaki he copies a lot from Berserk, D&D and ICO.
You might want to check out http://www.ultimaratioregum.co.uk/game/tag/dark-souls/ and read through some of his posts.
You might also want to read Berserk http://mangasaurus.com/view/42478-01213725 (NSFW).
and i know berserk, i watched some of the anime episodes and all 3 movies, but i think the stuff that might happen right after the last movie could be much more interesting than everything else. didnt get that much of a dark souls vibe out of it, probably i should give the manga a try.
What i find impressive in DS1 is that after playing through a area once, its layout sticks in your mind. The game has no map and a rather large world, but i know my way perfectly around every area by memory which says something to the design of it,
Maybe they designed the World first and the Bonefires and shortcuts later to relax the level design.