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Gaming => Gaming Community => Topic started by: nnodley on May 03, 2014, 12:06 AM

Title: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: nnodley on May 03, 2014, 12:06 AM
Alright so this weekend I plan on getting a lot of details on what I want to make done as well as a few sketches.  I won't begin modeling and texturing till next weekend or later as I want to have a lot of reference images and sketches finished first.  As well as some gameplay elements I can build the level around. 

First off I want to get all you guy's opinion on the idea I have so far.  So I'm a big fan of post-apocalyptic, and realistic foliage and architecture, but I don't exactly want to do a post apocalyptic type level because it's over used.  So what I was thinking on my drive back from my class was to create a level where trees and other various other foliage was used as supports for houses, some taller business buildings, etc.  So basically when they went to build all these buildings they decided to preserve nature and build everything around the trees or using them as supports if need be.  In short it's a small city built in a forest.  And walkways are hooked onto trees from building to building so everything is connected. 

It's hard to explain, but I have it in my head so hopefully I can get some sketches this weekend for better visualization.

Over the next 4 months I will post updates on everything for feedback or suggestions on changes I could make. 
Title: Re: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: Raven on May 03, 2014, 12:09 AM

Alright so this weekend I plan on getting a lot of details on what I want to make done as well as a few sketches.  I won't begin modeling and texturing till next weekend or later as I want to have a lot of reference images and sketches finished first.  As well as some gameplay elements I can build the level around. 

First off I want to get all you guy's opinion on the idea I have so far.  So I'm a big fan of post-apocalyptic, and realistic foliage and architecture, but I don't exactly want to do a post apocalyptic type level because it's over used.  So what I was thinking on my drive back from my class was to create a level where trees and other various other foliage was used as supports for houses, some taller business buildings, etc.  So basically when they went to build all these buildings they decided to preserve nature and build everything around the trees or using them as supports if need be.  In short it's a small city built in a forest.  And walkways are hooked onto trees from building to building so everything is connected. 

It's hard to explain, but I have it in my head so hopefully I can get some sketches this weekend for better visualization.

Over the next 4 months I will post updates on everything for feedback or suggestions on changes I could make.


I can't stand the typical post-apocalyptic scenario. It's why I never got into Fallout. Yeah, I'll definitely make at least a few suggestions based on what you show us.
Title: Re: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: nnodley on May 03, 2014, 12:13 AM

I can't stand the typical post-apocalyptic scenario. It's why I never got into Fallout. Yeah, I'll definitely make at least a few suggestions based on what you show us.

Yeah as much as I wanted to make a sort of post-apocalyptic level, I decided against it since it's seems like a classic, generic go to level design.  I hope what I have in mind comes out as good as I'm hoping and is pretty original in that not many if any have done it before.
Title: Re: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: darkknightkryta on May 03, 2014, 12:16 AM
Keep it coming.  I'll make the accompanying Android app, cause that's the new thing, using apps to have stuff in games.
Title: Re: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: nnodley on May 03, 2014, 12:18 AM

Keep it coming.  I'll make the accompanying Android app, cause that's the new thing, using apps to have stuff in games.

LULZ!!  Gotta stay up to date on everything!
Title: Re: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: darkknightkryta on May 03, 2014, 12:22 AM
Incoherent rambling.  On another note, I'm going to start teaching Android to high school students starting Monday.
Title: Re: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: nnodley on May 03, 2014, 12:26 AM

...On another note, I'm going to start teaching Android to high school students starting Monday.

SUHWEET!!!  I wish my high school had taught more game development type stuff.
Title: Re: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: darkknightkryta on May 03, 2014, 12:28 AM

SUHWEET!!!  I wish my high school had taught more game development type stuff.

I'm not teaching anything game related.  I'm just doing an internship for a high school.  I still have to find work as a teacher.  Which is gonna be really hard to find.
Title: Re: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: nnodley on May 03, 2014, 12:31 AM

I'm not teaching anything game related.  I'm just doing an internship for a high school.  I still have to find work as a teacher.  Which is gonna be really hard to find.

Well, my high school still didn't even teach anything with android or anything tech.  A lot of schools are starting to, so a lot of kids will start to be much further ahead on learning tech and shame than I was.
Title: Re: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: darkknightkryta on May 03, 2014, 12:38 AM

Well, my high school still didn't even teach anything with android or anything tech.  A lot of schools are starting to, so a lot of kids will start to be much further ahead on learning tech and shame than I was.

I was thinking about it recently.  I realized just how big of computer science classes I can get if I did this at the beginning of the year.  The problem is that I only have a month so I want the advanced students right now.  But if I was a teacher and it was September.  I'd have my club on the announcements.
Title: Re: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: nnodley on May 03, 2014, 12:47 AM

I was thinking about it recently.  I realized just how big of computer science classes I can get if I did this at the beginning of the year.  The problem is that I only have a month so I want the advanced students right now.  But if I was a teacher and it was September.  I'd have my club on the announcements.

Yeah the amount of people that want to learn computer science and game development is growing fast.  I would assume you could get 2 or more classes of students for it. 
Title: Re: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: the-pi-guy on May 03, 2014, 12:49 AM
My school has like nothing. 
Title: Re: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: Legend on May 03, 2014, 12:49 AM
Good thread to bring up a forum rules question.

This thread is starting to get off topic. In situations like this would you like the new topic to be split off and made into its own thread? In this case we'd still have the thread about unreal, but we'd also have a new thread about teachers in game fields.

I'm not going to take action, but what do you guys think?
Title: Re: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: nnodley on May 03, 2014, 12:54 AM

Good thread to bring up a forum rules question.

This thread is starting to get off topic. In situations like this would you like the new topic to be split off and made into its own thread? In this case we'd still have the thread about unreal, but we'd also have a new thread about teachers in game fields.

I'm not going to take action, but what do you guys think?

Hmm,  I think it could more or less be up to the OP.  If they feel a new topic is being brought up and they don't want that then they can opt to get it spun off into it's own thread.  I however do not care as I'm not exactly ready to post anything yet for feedback.  :-p

But I might end up making a thread about the new Unreal Engine 4 and game development and computer science so we can talk about it without me posting stuff and getting in the way of a good discussion.
Title: Re: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: darkknightkryta on May 03, 2014, 01:56 AM
Yeah I think it should be left up to the OP.  If mods want to make mention, but I think the OP should have final say.  I mean, me and nnodley are off topic for now, but will be on topic once nnodley starts updating.
Title: Re: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: Raven on May 03, 2014, 02:00 AM

Yeah I think it should be left up to the OP.  If mods want to make mention, but I think the OP should have final say.  I mean, me and nnodley are off topic for now, but will be on topic once nnodley starts updating.


I agree. I mean, if it becomes obvious that a decent thread could be made about the off topic discussion going on then I would just step in and say, "Hey guys, let us know if you're going to discuss this further and we'll just turn it into a new thread for you". Instead of going, "Hey! Shut up and get back on topic. Go make a new thread and repeat everything you just said if you're gonna keep it up! You've been warned!".
Title: Re: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: 7H3 on May 06, 2014, 07:16 PM
I'm about to install the latest UDK to play around with it... any tips for scripting events?
Title: Re: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: Dr. Pezus on May 06, 2014, 07:26 PM
Any updates?
Title: Re: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: nnodley on May 09, 2014, 04:13 AM

I'm about to install the latest UDK to play around with it... any tips for scripting events?

Sorry no! Barely worked with UDK and have only worked with UE4 for about a week.  This summer project is pretty much learning the pipeline for environment art and stuff like that so I can start thinking and working on my big capstone project for the end of my University media arts program.
Title: Re: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: nnodley on May 09, 2014, 04:22 AM

Any updates?

Nothing really.  Last few days I've been stressing over getting my grades for my classes.  I have them now so I can now fully enjoy my summer and really start this project. 

I can say however that I am in fact going for modern architecture that is realistic, but yet has a slightly different style so I can hopefully get in some really creative stuff.  So it will hopefully turn into this small beautiful looking city/town built within a forest/rainforest with walkways supported by trees that interconnect everything together.   I guess the best way to put it is think of mayan structures you see in forests but it will be modern and much much more dense in architecture.
Title: Re: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: 7H3 on May 09, 2014, 04:37 AM
how different is the UDK from the engine itself?
Title: Re: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: nnodley on May 09, 2014, 04:49 AM

how different is the UDK from the engine itself?

Much better everything really.  UDK I believe is just essentially a free cut down version of Unreal Engine 3.  So now you just pay $20 a month and get access to Unreal 4, new updates, all the documentation, etc.  Stop paying and you keep it but you just lose access to updates and other stuff. 

Everything is pretty streamlined and easy to use in UE4 and pretty customizable.  I know they change kizmat(correct spelling?) to blueprint which is much better.  I would highly recommend just trying to get UE4 since it is super powerful.  Just from the very little I have used of both, UE4 has been much easier for me to learn and navigate.
Title: Re: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: 7H3 on May 09, 2014, 01:35 PM
I'll have to look into it... Personally, level designing seemed to work great in UDK, but I didn't really like the kismet thing
Title: Re: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: nnodley on May 09, 2014, 03:18 PM
Well just keep an eye on this thread as I will be posting screens of my progress on my level.  Then I can also share even more in depth how UE4 is.  I'm going through digital tutors full Intro to Unreal 4 to help kickstart being able to use it well.
Title: Re: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: darkknightkryta on May 09, 2014, 09:17 PM

Well just keep an eye on this thread as I will be posting screens of my progress on my level.  Then I can also share even more in depth how UE4 is.  I'm going through digital tutors full Intro to Unreal 4 to help kickstart being able to use it well.

Keep me updated about Unreal 4.  I wanna make a game development club when I eventually become a teacher.
Title: Re: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: darkknightkryta on May 10, 2014, 01:33 AM

Yeah the amount of people that want to learn computer science and game development is growing fast.  I would assume you could get 2 or more classes of students for it. 

Not in Canada, not anymore.  Computer Science classes are dying.  Well not in Ontario anyways.
Title: Re: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: the-pi-guy on May 10, 2014, 01:43 AM

Not in Canada, not anymore.  Computer Science classes are dying.  Well not in Ontario anyways.

Poor DKK. 
Title: Re: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: darkknightkryta on May 10, 2014, 01:53 AM

Poor DKK. 

I realized my sentence didn't make any sense, but yeah Computer Science is dying.  Even at my university where I got my bachelors in comp sci, they got rid of half the professors and classes.
Title: Re: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: nnodley on May 10, 2014, 07:35 PM

Not in Canada, not anymore.  Computer Science classes are dying.  Well not in Ontario anyways.

Wow that's surprising.  My University's program for Game development and Computer Science is growing fast!!  And I'll keep you updated on Unreal 4, I realize I haven't done much so far, but I recently just got a guitar so I've been trying it out and learning some chords.
Title: Re: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: 7H3 on May 14, 2014, 03:20 PM
man I loaded up the UDK earlier and was so lost... thought it would be like riding a bike... and then I remembered why I prefer Unity... :-p anyways hopefully it'll start coming back to me the more I mess around with it.
Title: Re: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: nnodley on May 18, 2014, 05:23 AM
VERY VERY VERY rough sketch of a top down view of what I've had on my mind about this level.  Most everything will likely change some except for the top left corner which what I'm wanting is a tall dog cliff with a beautiful waterfall and foliage on top and growing down the sides.  I really want that in as it will push the boundaries of my modeling for foliage and rock/cliffs. Never made water/waterfalls so that will be a fun adventure. 

(https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5562/14210291975_630140bb27_b.jpg)

So to kind of describe what your looking at.  :P

first of all the waterfall/cliff is going to extend higher than the cliffs on the opposite side that houses the walkways and buildings.  The dotted lines are showing elevation going down to the bottom where a body of water is located as well as some caves.  Hidden caves will be located behind the waterfall.  As for the buildings the ones with the diagonal lines will be the taller buildings in the town/city. There is an elevated walkway that travels along the backs of the taller buildings and connect with stairs into the walkway in front of the building.  The elevated walkway will have supports in both the ground and attached to any tree that is nearby for extra reinforcement.  Everything in bottom right is going to consists of houses/barns/etc.   It will be quite dense in foliage such as trees/shrubs/grass/etc.

Also the landscape will extend even further.  You will be able to climb/walk up the hill/pathways to the top of the waterfall to overlook the city.  I want to add in some hidden extra places that can kind of give this location a sense of uniqueness.  If anyone has any ideas on that that would be awesome.  It's late and I can't really think of anything right now. :-p  Luckily I can see most of this level in my head I just need to sketch some to have some visualization in front of me and for feedback before i get too deep into developing it. 

I'm going to also develop a few gameplay elements that I could have if this were a game, but this is not too important as it will probably not be a game anyway.  And also will develop some background info/story to give some life into the level and really be passionate about it.

OH OH also I'm going to make the buildings modernized yet have a certain futuristic sense to them.  If that doesn't work out then it will mostly be very modern and realistic.


SOOOO, shoot away with any critiques or suggestions on what may not work and what could make it better.
Title: Re: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: Riderz1337 on May 18, 2014, 07:18 AM
What type of game is it supposed to be? First person shooter or something? Or are you just going to build an environment which we can explore in?
Title: Re: My Unreal Engine 4 game level - Want feedback and would love suggestions
Post by: nnodley on May 18, 2014, 03:26 PM

What type of game is it supposed to be? First person shooter or something? Or are you just going to build an environment which we can explore in?

If it were to become a game it would be a 3rd person exploration game that is pretty much open world.  However, I am building it mostly as a showpiece for my portfolio and to gain more skills in environment art.  This is literally the first environment I will have made unfortunately so I hope I can pick up Unreal Engine 4 fairly quick to use it efficiently.  I've literally been wasting my time last semester on character and creature design just to learn zbrush.  The pipeline is fairly similar to that so that is good.