Gameplay

A short overview showing different players’ opportunities of attacking the farm building.

Breakdown

A short breakdown showing different phases of the map creation process. In general, the process goes as follows:

1. I started with a good old Paper Plan. Just to quickly sketch out my thoughts on paper. I don’t usually spend too much time at this step. Only to quickly write down some ideas and try different layouts or bubble diagrams.
2. Then I jumped right into CryEngine 5 and started finding the right scale for the buildings and environment I came up with on paper. At this step, I also added some basic lighting and atmosphere to get the overall feeling of the environment and at the same time to define spots that will help with the players’ guidance.
3. After that, I created a so-called Asset Zoo or Temporary Asset Library right in the level. This normally helps to quickly try a lot of assets and pick a few that will define my environment. That, in turn, helps to stay consistent with the art and at the same time keep the performance high.
4. After that, I just continued to refine spaces and to add more details to the environment. At this step, I usually make screenshots and write some notes right on them. Like “make this area larger” or “Block a Line of Sight here”. Those notes are temporary, but since they’re visual, they help me to stay organised better than just text notes. This process continues until the blockout is done.
5. Also, I never forget to keep my hierarchy clean and organised. This often helps me to try out a different idea of the same area or building without destroying the existing one. So, in the end, I can present several ideas just by switching those folders in the hierarchy.