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What mapping techniques exist?

Started by Mephs Dec 10, 2002 at 8:58 PM 0 replies 250+ views

Original Post

Dec 10, 2002 at 8:58 PM

Okies I posted a question a while back and it slipped through with zero replies... so I'm going to try and rephrase it in a manner which may hopefully gain some more response. What methods do people know of for making game maps/levels? As I previously said I find worldcraft and Q3 Radiant BSP's too constricting, I'd prefer something that can handle indoor and outdoor terrain reasonably effectively in 3D at a decently large size. So I figure, what about heightmaps combined with a map file that essentially would be a grid of characters matching the bitmaps' dimensions to a scale, the characters would represent different model "tiles" which could be used to make a simple level editor... than all my features can be made using purely a 3d modeller tool, all my powerups and items can be distinguished by the character that is in the map file rather than being held in the relevant model file directly. It's a bit simplistic.. but I want to get something off the ground to show my all round prowess in coding rather than spending forever trying to get to grips with something like 3D studio Max and how to tie it in with my game as regards levels. Now would this be a feasible method to make decently large scale maps with minimal time and difficulty, or is there a better method I could use? Am I wise to opt for a more simplistic method or should I learn to do things the proper way.... it sounds nice in theory but if I were ever to use it to tout my ability to a developer or make shareware... I don't know how impressed people would be with such simplistic techniques or if it doesn't matter... so long as it does the job? What do you guys think? Steve AKA Mephs PS I'm posting this in the DirectX forum because I do all my coding with DirectX, this and the game design forum are just the ones I feel most at home in

*EDIT oops no I'm not... lol, I should learn to read huh!? EDIT* [edited by - mephs on December 10, 2002 10:24:36 PM]

NeverSayDie

Dec 11, 2002 at 5:59 AM

You seem to be talking about a 3D tile-based map. Yeah, that''s a valid technique, quite a few modern games use that kind of system. I think the levels in Dungeon Siege were built like this, though I''ve only glanced over the demo. Neverwinter Nights also uses this kind of technique.

Should be a lot easier to write an editor for it as well - as you point out, you just need to store identifiers for a grid of tiles - no need to worry about fancy geometry representations and manipulations. If you just stick pre-modelled meshes on top of that for buildings and other features you should be fine. One thing to keep in mind is how you handle transitions between tiles of different heights - shouldn''t be very hard though. You''ll also want to consider transitions between tiles with different textures - maybe some kind of blending system.

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