Level Design Tips For Unreal and UT

By: Oliver Gerestein

ogerestein@unrealkingdom.com

Unreal Kingdom

Designing levels for Unreal and Unreal Tournament is not just a pastime for me, it's also a passion. And just like any other pastime or passion, the entire process from idea to finished product is a long and arduous one: it requires an investment in time and effort, but one we all know is worth it. There are ways, however, to make the designing process much quicker, and therefore less painful.

This article is not geared specifically towards newbies and rookies, but rather towards established and somewhat experienced level designers who wish to refine their craft. To them, I propose a designing method which I have developed through my own experiences. The purpose of this is to suggest a step-by-step, efficient approach to level design, an approach which I now swear by.

1. A good idea I don't think I have to tell anyone that every level starts with an inspirational idea. To my knowledge, a level is never the product of planned brainstorming or discussion groups. For every idea I have about a level, there's a whole selection process that goes along with it.

- has it been done before? If no, good! If yes, how can I improve on the idea?
- what original features can be placed in the level?
- is it feasable given the limitations of UnrealEd?

Ask your friends for advice. Most of their ideas are horrible, but some are worth considering.
2. Concept sketches Once you've settled on a suitable idea, it's time to put it on paper. First, draw up some rough sketches to get a good idea of the design you're going for. This is often a good way to tell if the level is do-able. Show your sketches to some friends, and ask them what they think.

Rough sketches are one thing, but one of the most important steps in level design is the detailed sketch. This sketch should basically be an exact representation of your idea, with as much detail as possible. Emphasis should be placed on proportion, proportion and especially proportion. If your sketch isn't to scale, it's worthless. Be sure to include all movers, important items, and respawn points.

At this stage, you should review the sketch with a critical eye.

- how is the flow? Are there too many dead ends?
- how will the lighting work?
- what is the ideal player load, and is it too big or too small?
- will some areas be really choppy?
- will the bots be able to go everywhere?

| 3. The level skeleton It's time to start editing! Yay! Grab a beer and fire up UnrealEd, then go take a nap while it's loading. First, you must build the skeleton. Essentially, the skeleton is an exact translation of what you drew on your detailed sketch, minus all the little things. To sum it up, it's just walls and textures, that's it. Once again, proportion is the key. Do your best to be faithful to the detailed sketch, it'll save you alot of trouble later on. A short note about textures: don't fix them later, fix them now!!! There's nothing more discouraging then having to go through a thousand-plus polys fixing texutres because you didn't bother to fix them as you went about building. Besides, it gives you a good idea of the interaction between texture and architecture.
4. Lighting and textures Once you're satisfied with the basic architecture, it's time to do lighting. In my opinion, this is the most important part of level design: it makes or breaks a level. The lighting should suit the mood you're trying to create, for example, in DM-Warehouse, I wanted a dark, gloomy, inner-city atmosphere: fluorscent light bulbs indoors, a garbage can on fire outside...
A good tip: go nuts on spotlights. Even if you don't need 'em, use 'em. Don't forget that the spotlight only shines in one direction, so you'll need a radial light (the default light) to light up your lamp or light bulb. Lighting is one of those things you can never be entirely satisfied with. Keep improving and changing your lighting, and do it instead of changing your architecture or textures, whenever possible. Also, make good use of coloured lighting and light effects, but don't go overboard. No one I know lights up their house entirely in green and red strobing searchlights, so don't do it either. |
5. Adding detail I should mention at this time that it's good practice to make backups of your level as design progresses. Everytime I add something significant, like lighting or a new structure, I make a backup. Later on, if I get a jumbo BSP cut I can't get rid of, for example, I can always go back to my latest backup instead of banging my head on the coffee table.

Adding detail is more important in single-player levels, but it shouldn't be neglected in multi-player levels either. Detail is meant to fill up empty corners and soften the hard edges in your level, but without being obstructive. Again, consider the flow: that's a nice crate, but now it takes ten minutes to get from A to B...! Details are nice, but speed and flow take precedence. Never add details at the expense of making the level much more choppy. Some would argue that the Warehouse has too much detail in the big storage room. However, some would argue otherwise.

| A note about meshes (prefabricated 3d models): if a mesh is onscreen, no matter how far you are from it, the Unreal engine will render it in its entirety. When many meshes are onscreen, you can see the effect this has on framerate. Avoid putting lots of complex meshes out in the open.

Start thinking about sound. First, add music, but make sure it fits the atmosphere. Some of the finest user-made levels out there don't have a soundtrack, and it takes away so much. Sound should be used to add realism, and should not be a "feature" by itself. Look around your level, and add sound to anything that produces sound in real life (fire, water, traffic, echoes, water dripping, crickets, crashing waves, etc.) However, event sounds are just like any other detail: don't go overboard.

6. Item and weapon placement Sadly, item and weapon placement is often done hastily. Think about it: there is little or no incentive to explore the level if all the good weapons are in one spot. Some tips:

- spread out your weapons, so as to encourage people to go everywhere in the level
- give players enough ammo!
- go easy on big-ticket items like armour and invisibility: one each per level, maximum.
- never ever place the Damage Amplifier right next to the Redeemer. Ever.
- don't make secret areas no one'll ever find in a hundred years.
- "context" your weapons: put the rifle up on a sniper perch, and the rocket laucher near an open space.
- don't put too many weapons in dead ends.

7. Bots You can't have a level without bots, it just isn't done. The way you should proceed is to place your botpath markers so that they form a coherent path through the level. It's okay to loop past previous paths, as bots can switch from one path to another to get somewhere they want. Make sure the markers go everywhere, because bots should have the same access to weapons as players. Don't forget to place jump markers and ambush markers where applicable.

Once this is done, play your level on spectator mode, and watch the bots from their perspective. See where they go and where they don't go, and if there are some jumps they can't make. If you notice one area of the map is busier than another, it might be a sign to change some item or weapons placements, or to add another entrance or exit to that area.

8. Beta testing Never ever do beta-testing all by yourself. It's much like proofreading, in that the author, being attached to his or her creation, often overlooks some details that might seem obvious to anyone else. Gather your posse of friends, and let them try it out. Take their opinions seriously, as these are the people who will likely play your level later on and spread the word.

The main things to consider when doing beta-testing are the flow and the bugs. Some more tips:

- make sure all the movers work correctly.
- make sure you can't get stuck anywhere, even by accident in the most improbable area ever.
- make sure you can get to anywhere in the level.
- check the textures to see if they're properly aligned.
- if it's too choppy, see what useless detail you can scrap.

Once all this is done, you've completed the level! But the work doesn't stop there...

9. Getting the word out So you've toiled incessantly making the greatest Unreal level in the history of the universe. Might as well share the wealth, eh? Every level designer likes to get credit for his or her work, and getting positive feedback is really encouraging.

The biggest thing is to include a text file with your level. Even nowadays, some people neglect to do this. I encourage you to make use of the standard text file template, as it includes all the information others need to know about your level (all my levels include a text file based on the standard template: feel free to inspire yourself from one of them).

Then, design a web page, or better yet, have someone else do it. Since I'm inept at web design, my good pal Greg Rochon put together this professionally-looking site in his spare time. I provide the content, of course, but all the rest is Greg's handiwork. You should also consider having your web page hosted on an Unreal fan site, such as Unreal Kingdom. These outfits are often keen to recruit new sites to host, and offer unlimited webspace and bandwidth, all FREE!

Also, it's a good idea to submit your level to NaliCity and Fileplanet. These high-traffic sites are a good way to get exposure, and they also offer mirror sites and download counters.

So, with that said and done, good luck to all on your level design endeavours!

Oliver Gerestein
ogerestein@unrealkingdom.com