Dungeon/City Design..Help?
Author
I play world of warcraft and am in high school, now interested in making things like dungeons and cities like in world of warcraft and other games. how would i go about making a dungeon?
could anyone describe the process to make a city or a dungeon in the virtual world?
Could anyone please describe what i would have to go to college and get a degree for to do these things? i dont know what to go to college under in order to do this..
Ok, even though I am a relative beginner, I can answer this one if you answer these simple questions:
What environment do you plan to use to make the game (not the dungeons, those come later)?
Is it the artistic style of the dungeons, or are you just looking for a way to make a dungeon crawler?
Many people start with trying to make a WoW clone and fail miserably. Don't try to follow them, start easy.
What virtual world are you talking about? You have to either:
a) Make one yourself, taking the hard but rewarding path. Or:
b) Use an engine such as Ogre, but lose some of the flexibility that inherently comes from doing it yourself.
What environment do you plan to use to make the game (not the dungeons, those come later)?
Is it the artistic style of the dungeons, or are you just looking for a way to make a dungeon crawler?
Many people start with trying to make a WoW clone and fail miserably. Don't try to follow them, start easy.
What virtual world are you talking about? You have to either:
a) Make one yourself, taking the hard but rewarding path. Or:
b) Use an engine such as Ogre, but lose some of the flexibility that inherently comes from doing it yourself.
There is a whole lot of work that goes into something like what you are describing. If you actually wanted to make a dungeon crawler, you need art and some programming knowledge.
If you want to work on the art side (design the layout of your dungeons, create monsters, etc.) you will need to start by sketching things out and refining your ideas. To actually create them in 3D you will need to use a modeling tool (A popular free one is Blender, google it).
If you want to start working on the logic side (monster x spawns at point b, and does Z damage, etc.), you need to learn some programming. Programming is a HUGE field, and I would recommend you gain a lot of experience before working on a system like the one you are describing. I recommend becoming familiar with the programming language Python (google it) to help you get a hold of the basics.
There isn't a point in going into much more detail that that now, as you start to investigate these two things it will become apparent to you what else you will need to learn.
Thats probably not the answer you were hoping for (before investigating most people don't realize how much work goes into games), but its actually a really good starting point. Best of luck to you!
If you want to work on the art side (design the layout of your dungeons, create monsters, etc.) you will need to start by sketching things out and refining your ideas. To actually create them in 3D you will need to use a modeling tool (A popular free one is Blender, google it).
If you want to start working on the logic side (monster x spawns at point b, and does Z damage, etc.), you need to learn some programming. Programming is a HUGE field, and I would recommend you gain a lot of experience before working on a system like the one you are describing. I recommend becoming familiar with the programming language Python (google it) to help you get a hold of the basics.
There isn't a point in going into much more detail that that now, as you start to investigate these two things it will become apparent to you what else you will need to learn.
Thats probably not the answer you were hoping for (before investigating most people don't realize how much work goes into games), but its actually a really good starting point. Best of luck to you!
Author
well yes it is a rather big field, but i mean mostly the nonartistic design, like making the dungeon on Blender.
http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2008/features/wow_lichking/utgarde_baddies1.jpg
That, i dont want to draw all the art, someone else does that because i fail horribly at real life art, yet i can imagine stuff well, anyway..
like you said, model it on a computer 3d, to make the entire dungeon, then when the artist gives me the character designs i guess i put them in there...
thats not the point though...
i want to do as you said. make the dungeon, how it goes, the paths, shapes of doors and entrances..how tall it is, basically i guess the basic frame of the dungeon or city.
http://timhowgego.com/files/dalaran.jpg
that is a city Blizzard, the makers of World of warcraft made called Dalaran. i would like to make that some day and work for them.
http://www.blizzard.com/us/jobopp/designer-exterior-level-wow.html
that is my dream job there... Level designing mostly, and making landscapes it says. if i have to sharpen my art skils i will!
some things it says i have to do...
Experience creating levels in 3ds Max or other 3D level editors
* Design and implement large-scale game environments.
* Work with artists and designers to create a fun and compelling experience.
i just dont get what they mean by...
# Bachelor's degree in art or game design
# Have shipped AAA PC or console titles
# Experience with Illustrator, Photoshop, or Vizio
Shipped AAA pc titles ?
Experience with illustator?
http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2008/features/wow_lichking/utgarde_baddies1.jpg
That, i dont want to draw all the art, someone else does that because i fail horribly at real life art, yet i can imagine stuff well, anyway..
like you said, model it on a computer 3d, to make the entire dungeon, then when the artist gives me the character designs i guess i put them in there...
thats not the point though...
i want to do as you said. make the dungeon, how it goes, the paths, shapes of doors and entrances..how tall it is, basically i guess the basic frame of the dungeon or city.
http://timhowgego.com/files/dalaran.jpg
that is a city Blizzard, the makers of World of warcraft made called Dalaran. i would like to make that some day and work for them.
http://www.blizzard.com/us/jobopp/designer-exterior-level-wow.html
that is my dream job there... Level designing mostly, and making landscapes it says. if i have to sharpen my art skils i will!
some things it says i have to do...
Experience creating levels in 3ds Max or other 3D level editors
* Design and implement large-scale game environments.
* Work with artists and designers to create a fun and compelling experience.
i just dont get what they mean by...
# Bachelor's degree in art or game design
# Have shipped AAA PC or console titles
# Experience with Illustrator, Photoshop, or Vizio
Shipped AAA pc titles ?
Experience with illustator?
Quote:Original post by Happyhabits
I play world of warcraft and am in high school, now interested in making things like dungeons and cities like in world of warcraft and other games. how would i go about making a dungeon?
It depends on what you mean by "make". Do you want to draw the artwork? Describe what shape things have in the virtual 3D world? Describe what things are located where? Describe how they behave? Or something else?
Shipped AAA PC Titles means they only want people with experience on a big time high budget pc game that has shipped.
Illustrator is like photoshop, a drawing program.
If you're looking for a designer job like that then I'd recommend purchasing a recent game with a good editor and start making very high quality levels for them or mods and keep your good work for a portfolio. Games like crysis or unreal tournament or half life 2 I would think would be good for 3D. If you wanted to show more story telling type in an rpg sense then maybe neverwinter nights.
You can also grab a copy of a 3d modeling program like 3ds max (there are some free ones) and work on creating scenes.
Illustrator is like photoshop, a drawing program.
If you're looking for a designer job like that then I'd recommend purchasing a recent game with a good editor and start making very high quality levels for them or mods and keep your good work for a portfolio. Games like crysis or unreal tournament or half life 2 I would think would be good for 3D. If you wanted to show more story telling type in an rpg sense then maybe neverwinter nights.
You can also grab a copy of a 3d modeling program like 3ds max (there are some free ones) and work on creating scenes.
Well if all you want to do is design the layout etc. of the dungeons, I still must recommend working on your artistic skills, and 3d modeling. If such a position exists (I'm sure some larger studios have positions strictly dedicated to dungeon layout/design), I don't think you will just fall into it, you would have to work your way up from an artist position or similar.
Of course you suck at 'real life art'. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to it to not suck at it. However if that really is your dream job, you should at least give your self a chance and give it a go for a few months if not longer.
I'm not familiar with Vizio, but the other two at least are expensive pieces of software. I recommend you download the free program GIMP, it has similar functionality.
Of course you suck at 'real life art'. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to it to not suck at it. However if that really is your dream job, you should at least give your self a chance and give it a go for a few months if not longer.
Quote:# Experience with Illustrator, Photoshop, or Vizio
I'm not familiar with Vizio, but the other two at least are expensive pieces of software. I recommend you download the free program GIMP, it has similar functionality.
Author
Quote:Original post by juturnas
Well if all you want to do is design the layout etc. of the dungeons, I still must recommend working on your artistic skills, and 3d modeling. If such a position exists (I'm sure some larger studios have positions strictly dedicated to dungeon layout/design), I don't think you will just fall into it, you would have to work your way up from an artist position or similar.
Of course you suck at 'real life art'. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to it to not suck at it. However if that really is your dream job, you should at least give your self a chance and give it a go for a few months if not longer.Quote:# Experience with Illustrator, Photoshop, or Vizio
I'm not familiar with Vizio, but the other two at least are expensive pieces of software. I recommend you download the free program GIMP, it has similar functionality.
Yeah, i know i suck at art. what do you mean "give it a go"? what do i try if i may ask? :P it'd help to know what to practice drawing to do it xD
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