What are the simplest yet effective ways to improve map detalization?

[Li'l devil]

I've having some problems with designing my map: no matter what I do, it's still looking too primitive. I'm sure there are plenty of modern detalization tricks that I'm unaware of that can make my map look better. Any help about this from experienced mappers is appreciated. :)

[Boomslang]

4 minutes ago, Li'l devil said:

I've having some problems with designing my map: no matter what I do, it's still looking too primitive. I'm sure there are plenty of modern detalization tricks that I'm unaware of that can make my map look better. Any help about this from experienced mappers is appreciated. :)

post a screenshot, let me have a look at it.

[Li'l devil]

There's no need to quote post right above you, especially if it's OP. :)

Alright, what will you say about this courtyard? The only thing that comes to my mind is to make it look less square. I'm not sure if I want to put any obstacles all over this place, because it can make combat in this area more inconvenient, but idk. And I'm not sure what to do about this "temple".

[Gez]

The first trick would be the cliff walls. Give them a more natural shape, with curves and sharp angles. Then create sectors behind them, that you can use to vary the height. Once you have an outside vista where not every wall rises to the exact same height, it'll look a lot better.

 

Don't neglect thing detail, too. Put some marble columns or evil eyes flanking the way to stairs. Add some torches. Perhaps a dead tree or too.

[Nine Inch Heels]

13 minutes ago, Li'l devil said:

The only thing that comes to my mind is to make it look less square.

Use dividers on the outer walls, add some rocks, just anything that manages to break up these large patches of the same texture everywhere.

 

13 minutes ago, Li'l devil said:

I'm not sure if I want to put any obstacles all over this place, because it can make combat in this area more inconvenient,

You have less than a handful of shotgunners there, I dunno how you could make that inconvenient. If anything, obstacles provide cover, assuming it's sector detailing.

 

13 minutes ago, Li'l devil said:

And I'm not sure what to do about this "temple".

You can give that temple an additional ceiling piece to make it look a bit more ornate. In general that "temple" comes across pretty small-ish, so maybe make it bigger. Add some torches, and work in a few lighting-gradients.

 

Also never underestimate "floor detailing". A puddle of mud here, maybe a different floor texture there, perhaps a bit of height variation. Also that floor texture is not a good choice for large surfaces like that. A good rule of thumb is that the bigger the surface, the better it is to use flats that aren't "super-fine-grained-pixel-barf", because those flats already look boring on a 128x128 surface, never mind large areas like that.

 

Also don't waste precious time on micro-detailing in wide open areas before you have any more broad strokes added to the scenery. Always work from big to small when doing sector detailing, because micro detailing in the middle of nowhere doesn't help with the problem you have.

[Aurelius]

This post by @rdwpa outlines the general concept of how to approach level detailing:

The problem in the image I see is that it's basically just a big box. If you make a big box, you can't microdetail your way out of it just being a big box. You need to lay out some larger scale architecture, think about connections to other rooms and possible interconnection points. Maybe make a route you arrive to later go around the area, or along a side of the room. Make some rough elevations here and there to reduce the flatness, maybe use rock or other natural texture type to create more organic large scale details. Create some gameplay 'loops' that the player can employ if they are fighting in there (preset favourable routes that the player would be compelled to use). Obstacles don't necessarily work to the players disadvantage, since they can be utilized as cover, for example.

[Li'l devil]

Yeah, I think I get the idea, thanks. I've never really done outside detailing before, for me it was always rooms and corridors. I'll see what I can do. I'll probably update when I'm finished with this room and see if it'll need even more improvements.

Also damn, I've searched for "detalization" on this forum and there were no results. I should've searched for "detailing" instead... -_-

[Boomslang]

oh wow, that looks nice, if you really want. add a ton of details like cracks or ledges.

[Boomslang]

for example, if you really want it to look like a ton of people have been masscared, place a ton of blood splotches and guts everywhere

[Urthar]

Just a quick sketch of the kind of thing I would do to break up the skyline: Example.zip

 

 

[Juza]

Architecture is what should be focused on. Detailing is overrated.

 

If you want ideas, I recommend looking, learning and taking from levels you find beautiful. It's the best way to find inspiration.

 

Something that is often ignored in many levels, even if they're already considered beautiful, is conspicuous lighting variation. Lighting is an easy way to give a room life, and there's almost always room for some intriguing form of it. (Examples below)