Quick and Dirty Area Design Tutorial

The Idea:

This post is designed to give you the basic tools necessary to make a visually appealing area with minimal effort. I'm going to tell you how I do things, and you can adjust as necessary. Now, mind you, these tips aren't going to make your areas "come to life" instantly; rather, you might now have some additional tools and a general thought process on how to make an area.

This tutorial is for interior areas. On the surface, these might seem to be far easier than an exterior, but there is a certain mindset that is necessary for interior design. There's no texturing, but that means there is added weight on the usage of placeables and other decorations. If you skimp here, the player will instantly become aware of the relatively repetitive textures of interior design. Care must be taken here.

Part 1: That dark feeling.

You've now created an interior area(say, 5x5) for the final section of your goblin mine. The big boss needs a home, after all, and so you need to make sure the area is a functional battlefield as well as possess some degree of visual flair(nothing to win awards by, mind you, but enough to avoid rolling eyes from the player).

Above is the dark, dark void all new areas start with. Wipe your brow, and grab a drink(if that's your poison), and hunker down(preferably with a good playlist and/or cat).

Part 2: So, uh, let's make a dungeon.

When I design areas, I sort of go by whim. "Oh, I like the look of this", or "Maybe there needs to be a hole here." I don't have anything in mind yet, so I'm just dabbing away. I remember a painting instructor telling me many years ago: early on, the picture hasn't shown itself yet, but if look hard enough it'll show itself. Areas are just the same. Right now, there isn't anything there. Later, after we've poked it with some sticks for a while, it'll come to life(hopefully not a zombie).

Basically, just put down tiles that feel right rather than anything else. If you have a grid based dungeon already written--well, that's great! I can see you've already surpassed the teacher(meet me after class). If you don't have a strict idea, don't feel like you need one. The picture will make itself clear.

Part 3: Who turned off the lights?!

This is a goblin cave, as I said above, in that generic-fantasy world where temperate climate is everywhere and chainmail bikinis keep form and function without chaffing(one can dream). So, it's going to be a brownish hue--lucky for us, the default lighting settings for an area have a brown hue to them. What I do, when starting a new area, is to shut off directional lighting and reduce the ground/sky light value by half. This makes the area very dark, but that's the style I like. Your mileage may vary, but hear me out on this. I can explain my thinking.

Part 4: The Focal Point

Now, for an area to have some oomph to it, there should be something special about how it looks. Somethings that draws the player's eye: something that makes them go "wow". This can be a difficult part of design, but it makes the area feel like an aesthetic whole rather than just stuff thrown together. Start to develop an idea of where the area will be going.

For this, we have a bonfire(did I say they should go "wow"?--well, maybe I was too forceful). I figure goblins want to have some light and, more importantly, some well cooked food, so a bonfire helps on several levels. Also, it's natural light: and I always appreciate that. Notice, too, I put some tan interior fog over it. This acts as 'smoke' and makes it easier for the player to see; always a good combination.

Furthermore, consider this post over at the Left 4 Dead blog. Specifically, the mention of how light guides the player. The player will look at things which have light, and so you can indirectly suggest where the player should go without telling them. This is very useful in mods that don't want to have a great deal of dialog, for instance.

Part 5: Leading the way

Now, as I said before, this is an area for a goblin king. So, it can be sort of dirty, but at the same time it can have some "refinement". As such, I thought some floor mats near the fire, some meat cooking, and a throne near the back were a good idea. The mats add a texture difference(less monotony), the meat provides "realism", and the throne continues with the original theme of a goblin king. I've now created another point in the area while continuing with my theme. I think I'd like to go over there and make some changes.

Part 6: Too Subtle Allusions

When I moved over to the throne, for some reason I could not get the image of Jabba's palace out of my mind. He tortured people and had fun--really, living the good life. So, I thought that some torture devices(of different sizes) near the throne was a good idea. They could be used to intimidate potential rivals, scare new prisoners, and for all I know he has a goblin Carrie Fisher in a gold bikini(okay, there's been far too much bikini discussion in this post...I know, I know). Basically, I've started adding some 'character' to this boss with these small placeable additions.

Part 7: Continue the Theme

With Jabba on the mind, I thought a cage nearby would be a good idea(maybe the end of a quest). Again, this makes the guy 'intimidating'. To further this, I added some skull piles/masks at the throne. After all, why not? It helps the goblin character out a bit, and it spices things up. And, of course, I added a corpse over the fire--goblins are pretty evil.

Part 8: Content

Wait a second! If this is going to be the site of a great battle, don't there need to be...uh, enemies? Good point. We were getting ahead of ourselves here. What do goblins like? Wargs. Oh, wait, excuse me. Worgs(real original D&D). So, let's say the goblin king has a favorite worg and keeps it with him. Let's put some posts in the ground that prisoners could be tied to(gruesome, really) and let the beast have dominion over them. I tuck this into the corner, as I'm sure this puppy wouldn't play nice with strangers.

Part 9: Filling in the Gaps

While putting the dog in the corner, I realized this cave was missing rocks. Of all things, rocks. So, I took the time to put some rocks around the area, making sure to leave enough room for battles to take place in and such. I varied their height to make sure that they look visually distinct, while still conveying their rock-ness. They help to make the area feel less like a tileset and more like a semi-vibrant, distinct area.

Part 10: Further Considerations

Isn't there supposed to be treasure here, too? Okay, you got me. So, keeping with the theme of the goblin, I thought he might want to have some of the spoils of victory nearby. It seems plausible, anyways. I throw some crates near him--making sure they're broken open, of course--and place some garbage at their feet. This makes it awfully grungy, and allows for some treasure during/after the battle. The colors, also, don't contrast much, so it won't distract the player.

Part 11: Them Darn Goblins

If we've got treasure here, then there need to be more goblins stationed here. So, I have an empty corner nearby(the only one left), so I fill it in with some guards and weapon racks. Notice, also, I put a light source on them. The player will know, then, that these foes are in the corner. Rather than having them lurking in the dark, the player will be aware of what's going on. Players shouldn't feel like the design of the area is hindering their play; it's just not fun.

Part 12: Nearing the End

Notice, in my first picture, I put down a hole. Why? Well, I thought there might be some water down here. Maybe it doesn't make sense--but, then again, I'm making a goblin cave, so a certain degree of creative license is to be expected. I think water looks right, and it gives me an excuse to put roots on the wall(which, again, matches visually without distracting the player). The light source is entirely optional(there's no gameplay reason for the light here). I thought it looked nice, so I kept it. That's not a really good reason, but it's the only honest one.

Part 13: A Final Decoration

One last section is left, so I decided to throw down a pillar. Why? It makes sense, and makes the cave seem more 'lived in'. I've always thought that goblins were sort of clumsy, so they might even need a support brace to keep the room up and not crumbling. It doesn't add gameplay, but it's better than just putting rocks in.

Part 14: Darkness...Again

I like making areas dark, as rule, so I just darkened things again. With that all done, you can see that that the area retains consistency in design, color and functionality. It won't win awards, but this area would be entirely acceptable for a final room in your goblin town.

The one aspect of this tutorial I want to stress is this: designing areas is best thought of as designing subsections of a larger, cohesive whole. It's like writing paragraphs in a paper. They can't survive on their own, but they collectively work together to make the area complete. The worg could be removed, but something would be lost by doing so. The subsections complete one another. I'm making this sound far more serious than it ought to, but I think my point comes through(I hope so anyways, as I don't feel I'm a particularly effective instructor).