This week at FIEA

 


This week at FIEA we got started on our next big level design project. In this project we are tasked with recreating an existing level from a game! For this I decided to go with the first level from one of my favorite games Bioschock. 


Concept and Planning: 

        Planning this out was pretty straight forward. Like the last assignment I start with going into Bischock and grabbing a bunch of in game screen shots to use as reference to build the level. Along with screen shots I had a video of the whole level so I can get other points of view of each area in action. 

I also went a made a top down map to further plan out the layout and design of Bioshocks first level 


Development Process:

This project is still in development but I am about half way through it. I start with throwing the top down map in engine and start using cub grid to block out the floors and walls. Going room by room was the way I decided to tackle this level rather than blocking out the whole thing first just to come back and realize I need to make changes or sections aren't scaled correctly. Along with cube grid I made use of the modeling tool in Unreal Engine 5 to make some of the props and items to help limit destructiveness and making adding materials easier. 

When it came to scale I used both the screen shots I took and the video. Using the screen shots I edited them with drawing lines to show/convert each level space into primitive shapes to make blocking it out easier. Doing this made blocking out and scale a lot more refined (still had some issues and adjustments) as I was able to display to myself how each room would look as primitive shapes.


Challenge and solutions 

I didnt have a lot of challenges with this project so far except for one reoccurring issue. With having to remake a already existing level using only screen shots and not knowing the metrics used for the scale of the player, walls, props, etc made the block out process of each room take longer. This was an issue I ran into with each room having to go back and forth between looking at my editor and the pictures and having to keep iterating on the rooms to get the scale as close as possible to the game. The biggest issues was the first and fourth room as they were both really big with super tall walls making scaling them properly quickly more challenging. All other rooms lean more to standard heights and widths making those rooms a lot faster to produce and scaling properly a lot easier. 

The solution I found to my problem was really narrowing in on my screen shots and the video and making what if measurements based on visualizing a grid on the walls and floors of the pictures. 


Work in progress pictures of some of the rooms made so far. I plan to return to each room to properly light it, add props, and more to make the block out fleshed out. 





































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