Detailing Strategies

[PureSlime]

So what strategies do you use to break up the monotony in your levels in terms of detailing?

What kind of things do you folks add to your levels that, while not necessarily part of the level design itself, make the space more interesting?

[Li'l devil]

Damn, I misread the title as 'Derailing Strategies' and thought this is some sort of a guide on how to derail threads. Would've been useful.

[40oz]

This is one of my favorite pictures (thanks darkreaver)



1. Windows that show you areas you cant get to yet are the easiest ways to open your map up more and make things more interesting to look at.

2. They call it "lighting" but that's sort of a misnomer. Its better to start from a medium lighting like 128-176 and use sectors for shadow casting. Lighting generally looks much better on walls than it does on ceilings and floors.

3. Make details proportional to the size of the room, and evenly spaced, sometimes with repeating patterns. Big thick border and support beams for large room and outdoor parts of buildings.





And narrow thin strips and inset wall cutouts (for computer terminals or marble face artwork) for smaller rooms on th inside.

[kuchitsu]

Put some corpses on the floor. I think many mappers neglect this for some reason.

[nxGangrel]

Alright, these are the kinds of things I litter through out my maps, I consider them the "Gangrel details/style" though I know a lot of people use them too.

I always add something in the backdrop of a wall depending on the level theme, either a computer, glass panes, metal bars, etc. And usually I'll add ceiling lamps and/or carpet to compliment the walls. Height variation is also important as well. Another thing the detailing relies on are the lighting.

With the lindef/flat detailing I always add light variation to make it look more lively and interesting. My favorite is using dark rooms/halls and adding strips of brightness. Especially when there is a window or a corner for a light. Dynamic lighting is my favorite. Color is just as important. Mashing too many color schemes together is just an eye sore. I try to use two main colors that work well, such as blue and silver, or brown and red.

One important thing when editing that I do is making the textures merge together well. Seeing this disgusts me. And something like this I find to be lazy, but sometimes it's necessary. I always add some sort of barrier or extra detailing to make it work. Here's a couple simple examples.

For "building" rooms and such I always stick to the main grid (main as in using 16, 32, and 64 pixel lines while following the blue line on Doom Builder). The shortest width I'll let an area be is 64 pixels wide, if I need it to be larger, I usually add it an extra 32 or 64 pixels, and continue if more space is required. I try to give lots of variation in space, connecting open rooms with smaller hallways. Though sometimes seeing change between different room spaces (large to small) takes a bit of level progression. I'm also fond of using lots of 90 degree angles. I rarely use diagonal lines, unless it's for a natural rock formation like area. Or a spiral like area or detailing.

This is as basic as I can describe the way I map. Probably not helpful at all.

[illuknisaa]

40oz said:

And narrow thin strips and inset wall cutouts (for computer terminals or marble face artwork) for smaller rooms on th inside.

Spoiler

http://doomwiki.org/w/images/d/d9/E2M1_rising_stairs_room.png

http://doomwiki.org/w/images/6/68/Doom-e2m6-comp.png

To expand this you don't have to limit yourself just to walls but inserts to floors and ceiling.

http://i.imgur.com/5aWbiq1.jpg?1

As a minor nitpick "detailing that doesn't affect level design" simply does not exist. Everything that affects audio or visuals has a direct impact on level design and gameplay. Even if you think that something is minor it still has an effect.

[PureSlime]

These are all really great tips so far.

[mouldy]

Remember as well that you can add detail without adding geometry that people will bump into, by simply breaking up walls into different textures with vertices. For example you can take a bare wall and add vertical support strips on the corners, or add a computer panel with some trim on each side.

If you want to get more creative you can experiment with making walls into sectors with zero height, so you can have 2 different horizontal textures, or 3 with a mid-texture. You can also use mid-textures to make protruding details that you dont want people to bump into, like a pipe running down the wall. And if you are using boom features you can add floor lumps and bumps without stubbing people's toes by using "create fake ceiling and floor".

There's also a lot you can do with lighting to break up bland spaces.

[40oz]

I can't emphasize enough how well lighting makes a map look cook. Try playing maps with light amplification visors and you'll find many of your favorite mappers work is very easy to duplicate with enough patience. It can also take a pretty bland map and make it look amazing.