Post news RSS New Level - And how it was made

A quick run down on the basic process that I go through in producing levels for Block Brawler.

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Block Brawler now has a 4th playable map!

And here's (briefly) how I made it.

New Map

Title: Pipes

ingame

Setting: Green hills with pipes leading down to a sort of sewer system

Features:

  • 1 Pipe down to sewers.
  • 1 Pipe up to get some height.
  • 2 Grills/Manhole covers with small holes for smaller blocks to fit through.
  • 1 mid chamber with 2 large entrances and the grills top and bottom.
  • 1 large chamber at the bottom of the map.

Spawn points: All above ground

Lighting: "Sun" above ground, some small point lights below


The Making Of

Please take note; I am a programmer, I know I might be doing this wrong...

Program: 3ds Max

Step 1: Using planes, made up of grids of many squares, cut out the free space for each layer of the map.

early design


Step 2: Using target weld I convert select boxes into slopes as needed

Step 3: Selected and apply the materials to the appropriate areas

Step 4: Extrude the faces

front


(I don't have screenshots from every step sadly...)

Step 5: Chamfer the edges of blocks

It's important to do the chamfer before optimizing, or the chamfered edges become uneven at the joints.

Step 6: Optimize the mesh down to the least number of vertices without losing the shape.

I use the ProOptimizer for this, getting it as low as possible before tidying up with target welds.

*These steps are done for each layer*

combined


Step 7: Export to FBX

Program: Unity

Step 8: Import the FBX, reset the scale and rotate to face the camera, copy the required extras onto the prefab.

inunity


Step 9: Adjust the extras: Red boundary boxes moved to edges; Bot Marker moved to lowest point I want view-able; Collision boxes arranged to match the level; Spawn points moved to appropriate places.

colmeshes


Step 10: Adjust the light positions and colors: I'm using a yellowish green this time for the sewers.

lights


Step 11: Create the scale model (0.055) for the level selector

boxed 1


Step 12: Link them into the game. I'm using simple arrays to hold my levels and associated assets.

Done...

Other News

  • Added the Dutch Flag to the available skins
  • Added some conditions to the movement particle spawning, so now they wont just keep spewing out blocks if you stop moving...
  • Changed the camera to a fixed angle; the look-at feature of the previous camera threw the angle off too much when very zoomed in.
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