Is it feasible to just make an entire level inside a 3D package and then import all of it at once?

Development Platform & Builds Debugging, Optimization, & Profiling
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Well perhaps not in a single piece it would probably be better to import it in chunks but you get the idea. I am a Modo User and I think it’s a good modeling program that might be well suited for level design. However there are a couple questions I have:

  1. UV mapping. As far as I understand it’s better for performance if a model (which the level is as far as the engine is concerned) doesn’t contain too many different UV sections/areas. Would this be a problem for level design? The idea is to treat the level texturing in a similar way as you would in a BSP editor by making every flat surface it’s own thing so that it can have it’s own separate texture. Is this a bad idea?

  2. How big of a deal is it to create collision shapes for a level if you make the levels in this way? Can’t I just copy/paste most of the level geo into collision shapes before exporting the level into unreal 4?

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Depending on Unreal Engine Version (i’ll assume for a moment you mean UE4) you can definitely model an entire level for UE4 in a 3d app, Exporting each mesh with Collision Primitives, but read further for Optimization tips and tricks…

I would try to make large textures/skins for multiple models ad use multi/sub-objects material ID’s for multiple textured/skinned models, and also take advantage of HLOD (Hierarchical Level Of Detail) Models, where at a distance, multiple models (like rubble and a sidewalk, from 300meters) would be in one single HLOD mesh, with one texture/skin applied… Collision should be optimized, ie. use an optimizer modifier or simply weld vertices together, and at 300meters, the mesh will basically resemble the same exact thing, more-so if it’s being blocked (occluded) by another object. if you cannot use HLODs i would use a basic LOD for each model, (LOD1,LOD2, please Google “Unreal” (version) “LOD” for exact prefixes, i’m in the middle of a UDK project for America’s Army: Proving Grounds, and don’t remember atm.

Also, You are right about UV mapping being taxing. Overlapping UVs in UE4 isn’t all that bad, assuming the LightMaps can do their job, i would try to keep Overlapping UVs at a bare-minimum, to none at all. But, keeping multiple mesh’s textures/skins on the same Material can help when loading them, and reduce the “texture/mesh popping” issue UE4 has been known to have.

If you Copy/paste a model for Collision, for say a chair with 2,300 triangle polygons, that method isn’t a great way to optimize, i would weld vertices/edges as i mentioned above, and make a more “basic” primitive out of the chair for Needed-Only Collision. That is, to block a player’s character pawn, and any projectiles and/or objects and/or emitters with collision.

For other versions of Unreal, like UDK and versions before that, it is also best to export each model individually, With Multiple LOD Models and use a modular format, re-building the map, but you can adjust the pivots or centers of each mesh to import at the correct spacing and scale, if that works with Modo.

GL

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Not that big of a fan of modular level design to be honest. If possible I would rather just make something like an entire room minus some of the room objects (chairs, boxes etc) and then import that as a single piece.