The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Best Engine to Learn? (Source + UE3 + CryEngine2)
Gibb
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So hoping to break into some level designing, I first started with Source... Well, source is getting pretty dated and its hard to make anything look good without making custom textures / models. So I was wondering if UE3/CryEngine2 are any good?
I was hoping to make single player levels too, but does UE3 even have single player options? Thanks Much. :^:
I was hoping to make single player levels too, but does UE3 even have single player options? Thanks Much. :^:
Gibb on
0
Posts
It's been a long, long time since I really tried to experiment with modding, but I hear UE3's UnrealMod? tools are fairly solid and support mapmaking for both multi- and singleplayer, and I think even has tools for making cutscenes.
I own Unreal Tournament 3 Collecters Tin, and the extra DVD came with a bunch of tutorials. :P I'll try it out.
i would say the easiest to learn is ue3(unreal tournament 2004) for basics, it has a really easy to use texture interface compared to ue4, ue4 has a ridiculously cool texture interface but ever so hard to learn and use properly.
from what i've done with cryengine i would say you could make some pretty cool looking outdoor levels with barely any tutorials, i picked it up and read a few things on their forums and was able to throw a decent island together.
honestly your best bet right now is to work with ut2k4's engine and work off websites and in a few months switch over to ue4 and use your basic knowledge to get a grasp on the simple stuff. I havent been keeping up to date about the ue4 books but they should be coming out if they arent out, and i would pick up a few of those.
cryengine is cool but not nearly as widely used as unreal's engine
http://www.ebgames.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=42770
I say give Unreal Engine 3.0 a shot or Crysis, both have a pretty good community and there are quite a few turtorials out there to use, Unreal Tournament 3 Collectors edition comes with a bonus disc with some great tutorials on how to make levels and so does UT2K4.
Also go to - 3D Buzz on the web for super awesome and constantly updated tutorials.
If you want to make levels with elitist assholes that pick at everything you do and give anything people make shit, I suggest learning Hammer ( Half Life 1 2 Day of Defeat, Counter Strike and so forth ) and join the biggest group of assholes you could ever meet. The only good thing about Hammer are the Tutorial DVDs you can buy from the official Steam Website, but Source is such a confined engine compared to UE3 and Cryengine 2.
Tumblr
Textures aren't nearly as hard to make as you might think. I bought a book on Amazon called "3D Game Texures: Create Professional Game Art Using Photoshop" and picked up on it pretty quickly. It's a really well done book. It's very rewarding to be able to make those yourself because your map/model will end up just like you visioned when you do it right.
I made about 50 maps in the Evolution version of the game for OXbox. I didn't even care that nobody ever played them (due to the stupid method of transferring maps to other players)
Out of all the PC engines, I'd say either UT2K4 and/or Source games. If you are planning on wanting to say, get into the industry it's best to learn as many engines as you can.
so its ue3
while unreal tournament 3 is ue4
but i second the learn as many engines as possible, but since you know source i'd recommend picking up unreal editor
UT2K3/4, and Unreal Championship 2 on Xbox are UE2, which you edit with UnRealEd 3
Gears of War and Unreal Tournament 3 are UE3, which you edit with UnRealEd 4
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unreal_Engine
-Source: Most flexible but the hardest to learn and most tedious to use
-UE3: Pretty flexible, easier to learn and more polished
-CryEngine2: Easy to make outdoor stuff but it'll be harder to pick up otherwise
Additionally, if you go to a few Brick&Mortar stores, you can find the UT3 Collector's Tin for the exact same price, which comes with a bonus DVD that contains a ton of videos, documents, etc. showing how to do a bunch of stuff in UE3. A few months ago I picked up the collector's tin from a Fred Meyer for $29.99, and I've heard a bunch of reports of people getting it from Gamestops at the $19.99 pricepoint now.
Or UT2k4 ECE. Either of those are good choices if you want to try the Unreal engine out.
I have this tin, got it at gamestop 20 bucks. So I'm deciding to start with UT3 and do some CryEngine when Crysis Warhead comes out. Thanks. :P
Level design is interesting. You can actually learn almost anything and move the fundamentals over to other engines. I learned on some Doom/Heretic editors, and later more thoroughly BUILD (which I still mostly use), and then UnrealEd, which has some interesting features but kind of a crappy work flow. I also learned some Doom 3 mapping which actually turns out to be a fairly simple affair. If you're going for modern you might want to peek in that direction. I never quite got the hang of Worldcraft/Hammer editing (HL/Source) myself.
If you just want the learn the fundamentals though even editing using Eduke32 would get you started with the basic ideas of how levels should be laid out.
When you go for the more advanced stuff (material manipulation, etc) then you'll want to go for a Doom 3/UE3 setup, although even Q3A can get you started in that respect.
Its hard to make it look good unless you can make your own textures and models, which you guys can. :P
It's only 20 bucks now, pretty good deal. :^:
I'm assuming this means that if he wanted to buy a copy of UT3 it'd be like $100AUS for no goddamn reason.
EDIT: Maybe Steam is an option?
EDIT: Keep in mind, you're gonna need a somewhat beefy computer, Dual / Quad cores are pretty much needed.