I watched a “Intro to level design” video from Unreal Engine.
A lot of good info in that video alone.
Back to my question.
What is or was everybody’s step one for the game that they are working on?
Is it an idea for a game? A quick sketch of what the first level/game might look like? Something else?
I have an idea of a story for a game (three actually, maybe I can combine them). I’m wondering, where do I go from here?
Should I sketch out a level (on paper), make a quick one in the editor (BSP brushes), or flesh out the story more (the middle needs work)?
Step One: Do something.
Step Two: Finish doing something.
Step Three: See Step One.
Seriously. Follow this and you will get it done =) If you reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally need someone to tell you what that something is then I say you can start with opening the editor and putting a cube in the scene and go from there.
Intro to level design is the tip of the iceberg, there is so much going on in the engine that you are best off defining the extents of your project before you go too much further so you can pick a learning path, i.e. are you doing 2D or 3D (VR?!), puzzler or shooter, etc. I think the next step after you have mapped out a basic plot is to decide how you want to present your tale.
From there you prolly want to look at systems, i.e. will you need an inventory, day night cycle, combat system, etc. Putting these into a point form list will let you know what you need to learn to achieve your goals. Some things will depend on other things like if you’re having inventory and armed combat you probably want to build the inventory system first with a view to it supporting your combat system.
Getting the underlying systems working is probably more important that getting the content blocked in - saves you from having to radically change stuff later, for example some of my climbing animations work with well certain heights and not at others, knowing that means that I can build props and structures to the correct sizes from the get-go and allows me to build a testing platform before the artwork becomes too involved to want to change (and change, and change). Once you have your systems in place you can design your levels in accordance with their limitations.
That said a good writer is like hens teeth. If this is your passion I would recommend starting to break your story down into story boards and getting some concept art made while looking for a team to help you put it all together. GLHF
I understand why he says not to create a game as your first project. I’ll be making smaller projects (as in the video) to learn aspects of UE4 and then I can use what I’ve learned to actually make something.
I’ll be using OneNote to document/jot down ideas I have and to keep track of links I’ve found that will help me.
I’d like my project to be a first person shooter. I’ll need an inventory. There won’t be a day/night cycle until much later in the game. Combat is a must but stealth will also play a role.
Watching more tutorials about the inner workings of the engine. I now have a name for my project/game and I have the intro/first level figured out.
I’ll be following the tutorials (UE4 fundamentals) and seeing how to implement what I’ve learned into the level.
