Multiplayer Map Design - Recent Changes

Since the completion of my blockout deathmatch map, I have been adding features in to improve the level in any way I can. These improvements include the importing of custom meshes and pre-existing materials inside UDK.

In particular I have added a flipbook texture to the map, along with the other particle effects in the form of flaming barrels, this had been left out originally as I could not find a use for it within my level. with subesquent thought I added flaming barrels, as they could in some way fit into the combat facility concept.

Physical strip lights, a pulsating light and a rotating holographic effect Splash Damage building have also been added, below are a variation of screen captures of changes made since blockout completion.

I have learned a lot through these two units and have thoroughly enjoyed working in-engine. as such I still have plans to add to this map, with more of my own meshes, replacing the UDK resources used, furthering this as a piece to be used in my portfolio.
I will also be working on improving textures as and where necessary, in an effort to make my map feel even more like an abandoned warehouse, converted into a combat training facility, in accordance with my original concept.

Multiplayer Map Design - Peer Review stage 3

A third peer review stage has been reached within this project, I had to come up with another 3 questions to ask my peers and request feedback on each point, not only asking for simple answers but asking for any ways in which they think my map could be improved.
This is important to get a wider perspective opinion on my level, as always, what I feel fits the level perfectly may not fit as well in another users opinion, I will be evaluating all given feedback and editing my map in accordance with the given feedback.

The three questions and their subsequent answers given were as follows:

1. The upper floor of the level is surrounded by a post process volume, lowering the light overall from a higher point in the area. Do you feel the brightness change is too light, too dark or alright? Any other criticism appreciated.

A. I think the post process volume add a great effect to the level but I do believe it needs to be brightened slightly.

B.The post process volume is pretty good but I think you should add bit bright make it easily visible.
C.  I think the lower lights helps create the atmosphere, but in terms of navigation it might need to be a little lighter. Then it’ll be perfect.

2.  Navigate to the Rocket Launcher, does the animated lighting in this instance feel well placed? The aim is to keep the rocket launcher shrouded enough whilst also enticing a player to approach the pickup.

A. The animating light helps the rocket launcher stand out and draws the player’s attention straight to it. I also with where the rocket launcher is placed is very convenient as it requires more players to fight it out to get to the weapon. 
B. I think Rocket launcher is good in a place and you should put more Rocket launchers in your level.

C. I think the lighting and placement is good, as the player has to make sure they don’t fall. So it feels like a good reward as a pickup. Maybe adding ammo for the rocket launcher on the top floor might be a good idea as they only have access to it??

3.  My lens flare is located on the firing range, do the values within the flare feel appropriate for a warning light within the lighting scheme for the level?

A.  I thing is an appropriate addition to the level but does change it in any way that impacts the game.
B. The Lens flare, I don't seem to notice any change when I get closer.
C.  I think the lens flare needs to be a little brighter or add some effect when further away, as it just looks like a normal red light from afar.


Building on my feedback from peers one change is clear, based on my first question I can see I need to slightly increase the brightness in my post-process volume, I will include this update in a changelog post.

From the second question I may add some Rocket ammo, dependent on whether or not every NPC can pick up the rockets, this would balance the gameplay more so as not only the player(s) wielding a rocket launcher can collect ammo.
Adding more rocket launchers may retain the games pacing, but may also affect it negatively, so I will experiment with this in due course.

From question 3 I may alter the lens flare attributes, although the intention was to only have the lens flare render in fully from a closer range, due to an artificial light not being as harsh on the eyes as a natural light like the sun or moon, this will also be experimented with and updated in a changelog..

Multiplayer Map Design - Simple Rotation

Moving into the more aesthetic area of map creation, prior to creating and importing my own meshes, materials and textures etc, I have the option of implementing some simplistic moving objects within my level, fans for example, to implement these is simple and they may fit in my level nicely.

To start I imported the fan from the "Old School" package within the UDK Content Browser into my scene, I then converted the mesh to a mover.

Once converted, F4 is used to open the attributes and the object can be simply animated from here, within the 'Movement' drop down list, the 'physics' option is changed to "PHYS_Rotating" and subsequently, values can be modified within the Rotation Rate section.

Using the Roll, Pitch and Yaw options I can modify any physical mesh to rotate accordingly, the degrees entered being the amount of degrees rotated through each second.

Multiplayer Map Design - Bink Videos

I have the option of adding video footage to my map in the form of a Bink video file (.bik extension), the software to convert to this format is freely accessible and easy to use, which should assist me in my level design if videos are necessary.
A material is set up with four main nodes present, the Texture sample itself, a power node, a multiply and an add node, these are linked together with other optional nodes as below.

To import my own video capture, a Bink video is imported through the Content Browser, grouped as a material in accordance with the other assets.
This can then replace the 'TextureSample' node in the material editor.

Certain elements can then be modified to change the appearance of the video in-engine, making use of opacity and other elements. The results can be seen below.

This may or may not be used within my level, but I have the knowledge to implement this regardless if I find a use for it, it could be implemented into a control panel or a television screen for example.

Multiplayer Map Design - Flickering/Pulsing Lights

Another mandatory feature to place within my level in this project is a flickering or pulsing light, these are usually faked in-engine using materials applied to lighting functions, lights themselves are not animated.

To animate my light, I have taken a sample and edited it to fit within my playable area, this is placed in such a manner to draw players into a firefight for the rocket launcher placed on the walkways above.

The material integrated into the light itself is comprised of multiple texture layers, panners and rotators, these each control a cloud texture sample which is ultimately applied to the light, panning between a black and white shade, giving the effect of a flickering light in-engine, but saving greatly on budgets and subsequently GPU and/or CPU strain.

I have control of multiple values within the rotators and panners, allowing me to speed up and slow down both panning and rotation. These are attached to the UVs of the Texture sample, control the pan and rotation values of the sample and in effect control the flicker rate of a light source, these can be edited accordingly to give any desired rate of flicker.
A standard electrical type flicker is desired in my level, but other design concepts may require other types of flicker.

More flickers may yet be implemented into my level, but for now I have two in place, one on the walkways which create the top tier of my deathmatch map and one which is to represent a flickering light in a exit sign. These are both currently running from the same material, but I may also duplicate my current material and subsequently change the values to give a different flicker rate to the object.

I could also create a pulsing light with ease in my level, modifying the texture of the light with a single gradient varying between black and white, this would pan vertically or horizontally in accordance with the texture itself, and would pan at a certain speed, alternating between a lit and unlit fade effect, this would give me the effect of a pulsing light without the strain of physically animating lights within Kismet.

Multiplayer Map Design - Post-Processing Volumes

Among the three mandatory light functions to be put into my level alongside lens flares and basic flickering/pulsing lights are post-processing volumes, these allow me to control multiple elements of the viewport such as lighting, screen blur and more, they make use of colour lookup tables to alter the lighting.

The main element I want to control within my post-processing volume is the lighting, making it dimmer whilst the player is navigating the upper tier of my level, to do this I had to make a copy of the original colour lookup table and modify it in Photoshop as accordingly.

I started by taking a screenshot of my level in UDK and transferring it over to Photoshop, followed by the above colour lookup table, making separate layers and creating an alpha channel with which I could control the selection for the lookup table.

Merging both layers of the PSD allowed me to modify the colour lookup table and the level screenshot at the same time, letting me achieve a desired shade and light value, taken from a perspective in my level which would be directly affected by the post-processing volume. 

Once a desirable level was achieved, the alpha channel was used to load the colour lookup table selection and export it to its own document, this was saved as its own table and the outcome was a much darker colour lookup table in comparison to the table above.

This was then imported into UDK in a modpack and added to the post-processing volume through its attributes, the lighting rebuilt accordingly and then tested, a comparison of positions inside and outside of the post-processing volume can be seen below.

This was designed to be a seemingly subtle change whilst impacting the lighting a fair amount when accessing the higher tier navigational walkways. The colour lookup table is yet subject to change, as any upcoming peer feedback sessions will give me opinions on the lighting and post-processing effects, but for now I am happy with my post-processing volume.

Others may also be added at some point further in development, dependent on any level design features added or subtracted from the level.

Multiplayer Map Design - Lens Flares

Through this unit, a feature which I have been tasked with adding to my DM map is a lens flare.
I was given an example lens flare, with multiple components to understand and modify in accordance with my level. I began by locating the lens flare within the content browser and opening properties, giving me access to editable features, this presented me with the following window.

This provides me with multiple customisable elements, which I can edit to achieve multiple different effects, the 4 main editable elements within the lens flare are:

• Render distance - The distance at which a lens flare will begin rendering on screen and the distance at which it will stop.
• Flare colour - The physical colour of the flare itself , editable for each of the elements within the flare.
• Flare size - The size of each respective element of the flare, allowing me to make certain elements within the flare appear larger or smaller.
• Flare brightness - This allows me to control the brightness of the flare, ranging in distances far from, and near to the emissive object within my level.

I can turn each layer of my lens flare particle on or off individually using the "Is Enabled" tick box, allowing for easier viewing and editing of other sections.

Considering the intended use for the lens flare, I was to edit the colour and size or each element first, the colours were edited to a darker, orange tone in accordance with use on the light itself.

Once I was happy with the size and colour of the flare itself, I began to implement new assets for certain parts of the flare, the near and far lens elements more specifically, I imported the new elements into the flare simply, using the content browser and material editor.

Following the import, the colour and alpha values of the lens elements were edited to give a less harsh result on screen and in-game, the Flare editor and end result can be seen below.

For the moment I am happy with my lens flare, it will likely need tweaking at a further point in development and  I may yet add another lens flare in through further work on this project. As I adapt it to contain a window with a light outside, being in a night time setting I feel a lense flare from either a somewhat harsh light outside or the moon would be appropriate.

Multiplayer Map Design - Animating Materials

Since the end of Unit 70, and finishing up my basic thematic lighting, I have been tasked with implementing 3 different instances of animated light sources into my map. I have been shown examples of animated lighting, including flickering lights and animated 'sprite sheet' style lighting.

Mandatory:

Flickering Lights:

The use of flickering lights I feel will best suit my level, being set in an abandoned warehouse type building in a post war environment, there is room to add a feeling of faulty electrics within the building.
The flickering lights may be used to mark certain pickups or bonuses, for example the rocket launcher within my level which players must fight over, could have a flickering light above, drawing in players to maintain fast game progression.

Post Processing Volumes:

I have a plan for a post processing volume within my level, to be implemented simply covering the upper tier of my map, this will have a darker colour lookup table to dim the light in the upper tier, giving the effect that there is less light higher up, the users on the lower tier of the map will not be affected by the change and will still be able to easily see enemies on the walkways above.

Lens Flares:

I must add a lens flare to my level, providing another source of animated light, these consist of four parts, with the values edited to render at set distances from the player, a lens flare will be added to my level and will be set accordingly with its surroundings.

Optional:

Flipbook Textures:

Flipbook textures are an optional extra to be added into my level if I feel they will fit, at this moment in time I do not see a direct use for a flipbook texture, but this may change, if so one will be subsequently imported into my level.

Multiplayer Map Design - Lighting

The overall theme of my DM map is to be a previously disused warehouse surrounding, which has been converted into a post-war combat training facility, for this I researched warehouse lighting setups following the block out procedure.

I then took an aerial screenshot of my map, facing straight down in a bird's eye view. I created a simple black and white version of the top down image and put together the mood board containing the more specific lighting information, displaying lighting of different elements of the map.

Following the creation of these mood boards I transferred my information into UDK. I put a roof on my playable area and began laying out the lighting using point light actors in-engine. This was to communicate and relay the information shown in the second mood board into the engine itself.

Once lit, my map looked like this;

From this point I was able to work with neutral coloured lighting, lighting the regions of the map one by one, to be tested at intervals with preview lighting, my eventual result can be seen below.
I feel the doors, entrances to the higher level, pickups and target areas have been lit up efficiently, without the use of too many light nodes and using effective brightness in accordance with my original concept for my deathmatch map.

On 29/01/15 another peer review stage was reached, through this I was to gain feedback on my lighting. I asked three questions and had various peers answer different questions each.
My questions and their respective answers were as follows;

                                                                                                                                                         

Q1. Can the player navigate the map with ease using the lighting, making use of all lit elements (Doors, Pickups, Upper level access etc.)? Whether yes or no, how could this be improved for an optimal end-user experience.

Answer - The lighting is well lit and by the lightmass/radius I could automatically tell it was set inside a warehouse. The guidance for pickups, etc. was clear, maybe add more lights into certain areas that are darker?

Q2. Are the interactive elements within the map lit well enough to navigate on a regular basis, without having to think about where you are going on the map? Whether yes or no, how could this be improved for an optimal end-user experience.

Answer A -The lighting is excellent and requires very little improvement. The lighting navigation is very clear through the whole level.

Answer B - Loving the placement of the lighting on the doors, not sure how you could improve it. 

Question 3. Do you feel the map as a whole is lit enough, encompassing both upper and lower tiers, or is it too bright or too dim? How can this be altered for the best in-game experience?

Answer - The map as a whole is very well lit guiding the player through what appears to be a maze like level on the first floor, In my opinion I’d say make the lower level a little dimmer so it’s harder to navigate.

                                                                                                                                                          

Looking at my feedback I took on board both positive and negative points made, and worked on my lighting more to fit the feedback.

As according to the feedback given for question 1 ("Maybe add more lights into certain areas that are darker?") I lit some more areas. The entrances to the upper tier of my map were lacking emphasised light of their own so I added these in, I lit both corridors dividing rooms and also the corridors to the side of the target areas so that users know that both the east and west sided rooms can be accessed from both entrances/exits. This provides navigational lighting and also helps with enemy presentation, as any AI or player coming around the corner or out of one of the main corridors will be lit sufficiently enough to be seen by any other user, with a firefight ensuing.
I have still left some areas darker however, these are left darker for spawning reasons as they are in closed areas and contain player start nodes, and lighting the area may have a negative effect on possible spawn-killing patterns. If this does not appear to introduce problems as such through testing, I will be lighting the areas in question also.

In accordance with the answer given to question 3 ("Make the lower level a little dimmer so it’s harder to navigate.") I have since lowered the brightness of all lights in the level. Some lights were at brightness values as high as 4 and 6 in comparison to the drop to around 0.50-0.75 per light.
I have not lowered the lights any further as of yet as I feel the happy with the dimness of the overall level at this stage and that taking away more light may impact the end-user experience negatively, I don't want the map to be too hard to navigate as this could be detrimental to players using certain portions of my map.

These changes can be seen comparatively between both the below screen captures.

I will continue to edit the lighting as appropriate through both this process and further stages of development as it can undoubtedly yet be improved, particularly within aesthetics and visual touches yet to be added to the map, this may include another overall drop in brightness. However at this moment in time I am happy with the lighting scheme I have and am satisfied that I have lit my level appropriately with regards the layout and have built appropriately on feedback that I have been given by my peers.