Level-design: ProCore, Blender or other

News & General Discussion
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Hi,

If you don’t mind me asking, what tools do you recommend for level design with Unity and what should I be aware of before investing time learning them?

Back in 2003, I used to create maps for Soldier of Fortune 1 for fun (it used a modified Quake2-engine; the map editor for it was a modified version of Radiant.) Now, that was of course a while ago but I’m trying to figure out what it is I really need to learn in order to create levels in/for Unity. (Aiming for the ability to produce levels “BSP-style” like in CoD, UT, etc. though eventually I’d like to produce a small town prototype, which would make the level design closer to a GTA-clone than a regular FPS level.)

Namely:

  • What tools should I use to produce my levels? The Unity editor itself for now? Learn Blender? Invest a few bucks in Procore or Prototype? Learn another modeling package? [AFAIK the learning curve is steep on big name modeling software, I guess I just have to accept it, no problem there: but do you really produce levels faster with them?]

  • What do I need to be aware of when mapping. Do still I need to build a skybox and make sure my level does no ‘leak’ like it was the case in the Quake and Half-Life engines?

  • What do I need to know in terms of synchronizing my work between Unity and any third party editor? (Do I need to keep switching between programs and reload files and do some programs save you more time/energy than others in that departments.)

I’m trying to capitalize on the community knowledge to get up to speed. Thank you for your help!

Sincerely,
Fabien

EDIT: in view of the replies, I do mean software to produce the level geometry. Not means of drafting it on paper. e.g.: Radiant for the Quake*-based engines would let you produce geometry pretty fast, as well as texture and light it. So you could get a feel for your level very early and then merely revise/improve it. Looking for a similar, quick, workflow or tool for Unity.

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Pen(cil) and squared paper.

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What.

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List of things needed as implied by fishman92

  1. Pen and/or pencil
  2. Paper with grid lines on it

thats a good start to get the design down. but now how do you make it?
you could use 3d modelling software (like blender) to create your level. then you also have to worry about textures and stuff.
thats a pretty big task for one person though.
you might also look in the asset store, there’s probably some type of level editor system you can find, or you could also find a pack of assets with stuff like trees and landscape stuff, buildings, boxes etc, and construct your level that way inside unity.

but what do i know, ive never actually done any of that.

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This. or how about a sheet of primitive?

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It’s probably best to think about how you are going to model and refine your level, if you plan to make models from modular sections or prefabs in Unity or build then up on a modelling package and import them.

If you’re going from the 3D modelling to Unity approach then probably best to mock things up import to unity set up a test camera controller and have a see how it looks then go back to your 3D modeller app and test, adjust and re-import.

For the more modular approach, setup prefabs for the components and draft rough versions then you can test and adjust and iterate on your level design within Unity, then go back to improving the models in the 3d package.

There may be other approaches as asset store tools now allow you to model and build directly in Unity, although the same approach with prefabbing should be applied.

You will also need to setup collision primitives and for performance reasons these should be as simple as possible e.g. planes, spheres cubes

Hope that helps.

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Unity doesn’t have any built-in FPS level tools like Radiant. You can use Blender, but it’s different than Radiant… on the plus side, it’s a fully fledged 3D modelling app, so you have tools to build pretty much anything. On the minus side, it’s a fully fledged 3D modelling app, so it’s much more complex than Radiant and isn’t really designed with FPS levels in mind.

I believe most people do what Arowx said; you make modular pieces like hallways and rooms in Blender or another modeling app, or smaller like walls and floors, and then turn on snap settings in Unity and assemble them into levels in the editor. Or you could try GameDraw or something similar from the AssetStore, they let you build levels using boolean geometry and things similar to the way Radiant works. I don’t have much experience with those tools personally but they seem to have some satisfied users.

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I purchased Prototype and, within 48 hours, returned and bought ProBuilder and ProGrids. They’re a great package. They beat the hell out of using a modelling package for level design, because they’re designed for that were a modelling package is not.

I also brought them in to work and showed off the concept of how the tools work because, while what we do professionally is pretty different, the concept of being able to just drag out sections and have them handle themselves is something super valuable. Need a lump to be a little longer or shorter? Easy - grab the verts and drag them. Need a room bigger? Simple. Corridor too long? Shrink it. And while you’re doing all of that things like your UVs and textures play nice.

A modelling tool can do all of those things, yes, but the pipeline is different. ProBuilder et al won’t give you the fine detail you’ll want for the presentation layer of your level, but you shouldn’t be too concerned with that until you’ve got the layout in place, and that’s where the tool excels. Also, by being in-editor, it saves you the export / re-import cycle.

There are probably other similar tools out there as well. I only talk about ProBuilder because it’s the one I happen to have used personally. But having used it, it or something like it is a no-brainer recommendation for anyone making anything 3D where level geometry layout is important.

The general pipeline is to prototype your level’s layout by building to, say, a 1m grid. Once that plays well, give your level a high-level feel by texturing what you’ve got and adding mid-level details (curved walls, artistic slopes, eyelines, and so on) working to a smaller grid and adding textures. Then, using your modelling and 2D art packages make props, decals, and so on and add a final level of detail by putting things on top of your level geometry. Or, where you want specialist/organic stuff, export chunks of the geometry and then model over it in your modelling package.

In other words, iteratively build up your level from the early, low-resolution design stage to the later, higher-resolution detail stages. Use the appropriate tools for each stage and you’ll find that each task can move along and be iterated upon at a pretty fast pace.

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What about exporting these ‘mockups’ back into a 3d modelling package for detailed work?

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Who says they’re “mockups”?

But anyways, as I said…

:wink:

You should of course check that your level geometry tool of choice supports exporting, and provides a format that your 3D tool of choice can use.

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highly recommend pro builder too, good price, v good support, powerful software, being steadily updated, what more could you want?

game draw too is arguably more powerful but theres been no updates for over a year

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Thank you for the replies, especially angrypenguin. That iterative approach to creating stuff is exactly what I’m after.

Just got myself a copy of ProBuilder to design Radiant (Hammer) style. Might follow it with a copy of their Utilities as well down the line.

Off to build!.. :slight_smile:

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Just found this thread- this does indeed sound like a perfect use for ProBuilder/Prototype…but I might be ‘slightly’ biased :wink:

Kidding aside, I’d love to hear what your thoughts are after having used the tool for about a month now? I think AngryPenguin explained it better than I ever have (mind if I quote you on that?). ProBuilder/Prototype give you that old-school, fast-and-easily-iterative workflow that’s gone missing lately. Will all the geometry you create end up used in the final version? Maybe yes, maybe no. But either way, you will certainly, absolutely certainly, save countless hours of trouble and frustration, by simply using build/test/build/test, etc, right in the Unity editor.

Also, mapping this way is simply a lot of fun, to me anyway :slight_smile:

EDIT: thanks for the +1 as well, Adam!

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Haha, cheers! Go for it. :slight_smile:

To be honest, I think that’s what’s missing for a lot of people is recognition that level building and level design are two different things. Also that environment art is not the same as level design. And so on and so forth.

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Just another +1 for ProBuilder here. It provides a great way to build up levels and then detail over it as needed, as well as being extremely quick and intuitive for prototyping level layouts.

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Thanks IcyPeak_S! Great to hear :slight_smile: Once we get the new UV unwrapping/Texturing overhaul completed, it should be a fully capable 3D modeling tool. Month or two on that, but it’s coming!

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progrids

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Thanks!

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I prefer Blender to model geometry. Now, with improved fbx export iterative managing and modeling complex scenes are a breeze. And its modeling tools are more advanced. Modifers helps a lot. Like creating spline based road etc. Workflow is speedy.

I can prototype fast. Also, i dont have to worry about switching to higher details later.

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