1. Cameron McRae
3D Game Engine Workflow
For this task, we must use the Unity 3D engine to create a video game level. We must sculpt the
terrain, and texture it all too. My level will be a closed off section of land with a volcano and a forest,
during a dark night, and could be used in a survival horror game.
My level:
This is a screenshot of the entire level so far. Most of my time has been spent on the area in the
middle, which is meant to be a large forest, with a small camp inside. The large tree that stands in
the centre of the pond is meant to be ‘sacred’. The left side is intended to be a mostly rocky area
with the active volcano spewing a river of lava (unreachable by the player). The right area is a beach,
and a large lake, surrounded by rock formations.
Creating the terrain
I created the terrain by clicking on the ‘Create’ button underneath ‘Hierarchy’, and then clicking
‘Terrain’.
2. Cameron McRae
I then moulded the terrain into the shape I wanted using the ‘Raise/Lower Terrain’ tool. Using this
tool, I created a rough layout of my level, and then I used the Paint Height tool to raise some parts of
the level to be higher than others (so that I could insert water without drowning the level).
Afterwards I used the Smooth Height tool to make the terrain (mostly the rock formations) slightly
less jagged, and better to look at.
Texturing the terrain
My level has a volcano and some lava pits, which all use lava textures that have been imported from
the Asset Store. I also had a forest which I covered in grass textures, except for the dirt texture I
used as a path to guide the player through it. At the end of the path is a beach, which fades from
grass to sand textures. Under the water I had a different wet sand texture to make it more
believable.
3. Cameron McRae
Adding a Skybox and directional/point lights
I chose for my Skybox to be night time, so that my volcano stands out more in the level.
This provides enough light for the player to see, so it doesn’t look unnaturally dark, but I kept it dark
enough to make it look like night time. I also added a fog effect (at a low density) so that everything
felt darker, and so the player couldn’t see to the other end of the level, so they would need to
explore.
Where I added lava textures, I added a point light with an orange glow and a range of 100 and
placed it just above.
4. Cameron McRae
Inserting Trees
At first I had my trees inserted to the level onto the terrain, but none of them had any collision, so
the player could go right through them. Instead, I had to enable collision on the prefab tree and
manually place each one on the terrain.
Inserting Grass
For the grass, I could mass place it in the terrain, so I didn’t need to place it all separately. I could
only place it in small patches otherwise the map would lag a lot on testing.
5. Cameron McRae
Adding Water
In both my forest and beach areas, I have sections with water in them. My forest has a pond with a
slightly enlarged tree in it. My beach area has a large body of ocean, surrounded by the rock
formations.
The bodies of water I have in my level came with the ‘Water’ pack I imported into Unity.
Inserting the First Person Controller
The first person controller is the thing that the player is in control of, and uses to move and look
around the level. I imported it in the Standard Assets pack from the Asset Store. All I had to do was
place it where I wanted In the level, but I made sure that it was slightly above the ground, just in
case the player fell through the ground couldn’t progress.
Particle Effects
In my level, I had two different particle effects, smoke for the volcano, and a fire effect for the fire at
the campsite. The smoke in the volcano can be a bit difficult to see, partly due to the colour of my
fog, and it is a night level. The fire in the campsite is possibly one of the first things the player will
see when they enter the forest area.
6. Cameron McRae
Inserting Props/Objects: Volcanic Area
I added rocks around the base of the volcano in this area , because I felt they suited the rocky
environment they were in.
The only other thing I added to this area was a burning bridge at the beginning of the level. I added it
so it was easier for the player to get past the first area, which had a lava pit. I was going to add a
second bridge next to it, but collapsed slightly, just in case the player fell down and couldn’t get back
up. This didn’t work because the bridge kept spawning elsewhere on the map, and I couldn’t find a
solution in the limited time I had.
Inserting Props/Objects: Forest Area
The first things I added to this area were the wooden barricades at the entrance and exit paths. This
could perhaps make the player more cautious, because they don’t know why there would be
barricades.
The next thing I added was the mushrooms that are scattered around the area, hidden within the
grass.
7. Cameron McRae
I added a campsite that was surrounded by trees and slightly obscured by a small hill and some
grass. The campsite has a tent, campfire (with particle effects), 2 crates and 2 barrels.
The last objects I added to the forest area are the temple and a fallen pillar. They are surrounded by
trees, and the pillar is obscured by the grass.
Inserting Props/Objects: Beach Area
Most of the props in this area are boats, some are ‘floating’ in the ocean, some are docked and some
are piled up on the beach.
8. Cameron McRae
One of my docked ships has crates/barrels loaded on it, as though someone loaded/unloaded goods
onto their ship, but never left in it.
Next to the piled up boats, I have a pile of logs, and some barrels. In the water nearby, I have a
couple of crates and barrels. It looks as though they used to be with the logs and barrels, but ended
up rolling into the water. It looks like these are unloaded goods that were waiting for transfer
somewhere.
To make the lake feel less empty, I place a few empty boats in the area, like they floated away from
the port
