Finding a decent workflow that works for me is still something I’m trying to develop. There are a bunch of different ways and methods to develop a zone in a timelier manner than how I went about it in my first zone. One attempt at using a possible solution was giving BSP (binary space partitioning) brushes also known as BSP geometry a try.
While it might sound complex from the name at the base foundation it is quite simple. Unreal Engine 4 provides a host of basic shapes that you can manipulate in an attempt to build or demo an area out. I tried both creating a modular shell system which if it worked would solve a lot of long term things down the road for me. I also gave using it to mock out a zone before deleting and replacing it with static meshes one at a time.
One way I was hoping to do this was by creating a bunch of setups using BSP brushes. They would make up different size rooms, hallways, stairs, and anything else that would be needed. I would also be creating parts of zones with them in the meantime to test and make sure there is no sizing, mismatching, or other issues I’ll need to adjust or program safeguards in for.
There is also another benefit I was looking for. That was being able to set a wall thickness that resolved the massive light bleed issue I have in the first zone. Trying to scale the static meshes in such a manner to fix this since they are just one pixel wide has other consequences I’m trying to avoid. The other solution would be doubling up on walls to block light but from a design element, you need to leave enough room for that.
On top of that, I have plans for building hidden walls and areas that will open up. When you are dealing with one pixel in-depth static mesh on their own that presents another issue. The player realizes there no depth at all to such objects, so, you would have to build them out to have depth. Which again using BSP brushes would solve this issue.
Finally, a really cool thing they can do when interacting with other BSP brushes is being additive or subtractive. This means if I need to put a doorway, window or even a hole in the floor I didn’t have to move static mesh around and resize them to fit. I could just plop in a subtractive BSP brush and with the correct order of operation, it would make a hole. Sadly without the BSP part, they don’t behave in the same manner when testing it with static meshes on their own.
Since I would be looking to copy and paste this shell quite a number of times. It’s not a big deal to invest quite a lot of time in trying to resolve it having such a repeated pattern look. I also understand there would need to be other adjustments made over time.
After playing with values, making several attempts, and doing some research. I was no better off than where I started on this front. I could break up the pattern but then you realize a dived between the different sections. I could try and change the size of the pattern that again created other issues I was looking to avoid.
I can just use static meshes and make rooms out of them that I copy and paste. This is in part what I did in my first zone. I, however, wanted a more elegant and sure-fire way of not having mistakes crop up over time if a section was missed or something somehow separated. For now, I need to put more time into this and so I went on to another way of using BSP brushes.
Another method I notice quite a few people using is getting the general outline and feel for a level and then going in and replacing it all with static meshes. This would also help resolve some workflow issues I’ve been having with getting distracted. There were however quite a few issues I ran into.
One thing I noticed with the first zone I created was wanting to stay away from anything I had a hard time implementing. This usually involved creating height elevation different from going upstairs or downstairs. They are quite a time consuming to create and get everything pixel perfect. This even more so when dealing with a sloping roof that needs to be manually adjusted till it fits.
I also knew to go into it that my BSP brushes were not the exact same size as my meshes. I tried my best of eyeballing it and using some overlay rulers. They, however, were not pixel perfect which means dealing with compounding inaccuracies the further along you go. You can’t just click on an object and see its’ X amount of units in the zone. It’s based off scale that starts at 1, 1, 1.
I’ve been slowly trying to work on this much smaller zone than my first zone over the past two weeks a little here or there at a time. It’s hard to say if I ended up saving time going this route or just making way more work for myself. While I enjoyed having using BSP brushes as one step in my workflow. It also added in additional steps and frustration.
This is just part of making your own game. Things never are as simple or smooth as you want them to be. This was at the very least another attempt to try something new and see how it went. I’m uncertain if I want to attempt trying this method again. Perhaps I just need to invest more time in understanding and researching before giving it another go.
Screenshots were taken and content was written by @Enjar. Screenshots are from Unreal Engine 4.
