Release Raptor:Level Editor Components: Level 2 - Apartments
Contents
Overall Concept
Level 2 - Apartments is an apartment building that is in partial ruins. It mixes nonlinear traversal through these apartments and halls and so forth with traditional architecture. Aka, the rooms are build based on the normal modern rules that we expect (an apartment has one door, which leads to a hall outside it, etc). However, holes in walls and the floors and ceilings provide the violations of those traversal rules so that you can go into one apartment and jump through the floor down into the apartment below, etc.
Source Folder
In the level editor load/save menu, all the parts for this level are in the Level2_Apartments folder.
Don't save anything directly in that folder, because the procedural level generator won't know how to use it. Instead, inside this are subfolders for various types of rooms that the level generator WILL know how to use.
Level Chunk Types
These are all subfolders of the overall folder for the level. Each subfolder has specific rules and design goals associated with it. Please do not violate those expectations, or you'll wind up with nonsensical levels. Aka, don't save a corridor-looking level chunk into the SingleApartment folder.
Here are the folders and what they mean. You save level chunks in them in the form of xml files, which you can call anything you like. Putting a prefix of your initials or forum handle or whatever can make it easier to find your work in a group of larger things.
Corridor
These are meant to be the corridors outside of apartments. These are considered residential areas, and should be pleasant and nicely decorated. Aka, these aren't utility halls. However, if you wish to make sub-sections of a level chunk that includes a main residential corridor AND a little utility tunnel (or whatever other hidey-holes or secondary paths), then please feel free.
These are actually a great opportunity to have multiple paths through one level chunk, so don't be afraid to make these large and with a ton of external doors. The benefit of having two ways to get the same place in sections like this is being able to sneak past robots without having to fight them, which is a big deal. These are really an ideal type of level chunk for setting up those situations.
Various ideas
- You could make one straight hall with some doors off it, and have that be very simple.
- You could make one straight hall that is nicely decorated and public, but which has some utility-style doors into a dank secondary hall that provides a shortcut (or at least alternate path).
- You could make a big square of halls that the player can go completely around in either direction. You could then have utility tunnels crossing through these at will in the center if you want.
- Don't be afraid to create several similar variants of one idea, architecturally-speaking. For example, one overall ring style, but then a variety of utility tunnel patterns in the middle. This will be more interesting and unexpected than you might think, and it's low-hanging fruit, too. Double-win!
- You could make an L or a hall or any other sort of shape, with little secondary halls that lead through it (or not, if you want one to be more linear and not have the branches).
Exterior Doors
- You can put in TONS of exterior doors in these halls to make them lead into apartments all over the place. Just make sure that when you have non-rectangular halls you're thinking about the overall Occluder AABB bounds and not creating invalid doors.
- I honestly don't see a good reason to put much in the way of collapsed holes in the floors and ceilings and walls most of the time, but you can.
- I see the ceilings here as being unusually high in most cases, so there's a really good chance the raptor can't jump high enough to actually get up through the gap in the ceiling, which makes for an unwinnable level. Careful there!
- If you place walls with windows in them, make sure that those are not right next to exterior doors that would lead into other parts of the level. That would be... very odd. How does that window look outside when it's right next to an apartment that it should be looking into instead?
- Rather, a good way to use the windows is to place them on the walls where you are NOT putting exterior doors (probably because you can't because of the Occluder AABB. That helps subconsciously explain to the player "ah, okay, that wall has no doors in it because it goes outside the building or to a courtyard." The windows will be lit-up white glowing, so you won't be able to see anything beyond them.
SingleApartment
These are meant to be a full apartment. They could be single-bedroom, multi-bedroom, whatever. The floorplans of the apartments are something you can vary up as much as you want, and that will lead to a lot more interesting results if you do.
Real apartments tend to use unexpected turns and halls and whatnot to try to make themselves seem bigger than they really are, or to work around unseen internal barriers like heating ducts or whatever, so somewhat strange orientations are definitely not disallowed.
These are NOT a good place to have much in the way of multiple paths where you can sneak past robots. These rooms are a lot more claustrophobic and close-quarters, and I don't want to get away from that feel too much by having excess loops and whatnot that would be unrealistic. We're already chopping holes in the walls with exterior "doors," and I think that's plenty for these. ;)
Various ideas
- Really it comes down to a variety of apartment floorplans. Each one should have, at minimum, the following things:
- 1+ bathroom
- 1+ bedrooms
- Exactly 1 kitchen, possibly with dining area built in.
- Exactly 1 living room/family room.
- Exactly 1 front door.
Beyond that, the cleverness comes from how you arrange them, and what little halls and bends and whatnot you put into them.
Exterior Doors
- Exactly one front door, always, no matter what.
- Lots of potential holes in the floor and ceilings and walls! Ideally one of each at minimum.
- However, when it comes to floor ones, please make sure that they do not go partly under where furniture will be (ceiling ones being above it are fine).
- When it comes to all of these, please make sure that they don't partly intersect another wall that goes partly in front of it. If you toggle the doors open in the level editor and it looks strange, then you have a problem -- if it looks okay, then it probably is. ;)
- If you place walls with windows in them, make sure that those are only on exterior walls AND that they are not in any walls that have exterior holes or doors in them. So there won't be a ton of windows, which is fine.
- But usually in my experience there's at least one outer wall which is set back from the Occluder AABB for some reason, and that's a great place to put some windows since otherwise that side is completely blank of exterior-facing stuff.
