Today I started building a new level for the game so I could ditch the old placeholder level from the previous screenshots. I want the final game to have several different arenas, with different level themes. And although theming isn’t really a high priority at the moment, I’d like to be able to have at least one presentable looking level that represents the visual style of the finished game. I also think a nice looking level will make the game feel less like a prototype as I work on it and show various people.
I started with a blank Unreal map, and then I made a walled off 17×11 grid.
With that done, I could begin with scenery. I had chosen a “forest at night” theme, and luckily happened to have a few relevant assets already on hand from a few weeks ago, when I was learning how to use Blender. I had decided a while ago that I wanted the next game I made to have a low poly art style. I like the look, and as an added advantage, it’s a style that can be used effectively even by a non- artist like me.
Here’s a screenshot of what the level looked like after an evening of work:
On the second day, I tried to light the scene. I have a tiny amount of experience with lighting scenes from Cinema 4D, but no experience in a game engine. The last game I worked on was 2D and completely unlit. The Unreal Engine documentation helped me out a lot here. After another afternoon of work, here’s what I came up with:
So what we have now is a start. I can start building levels based on this theme. I’m sure there’s a lot that will be tweaked and adjusted but at the moment I’m happy with this.