![Creating a Level Design for a Game](/content/images/size/w1000/2018/11/RookiesArticle_Image6-2.jpg)
First, the Concept
We had three months to create a level with a creature for a DLC of Horizon Zero Dawn. It is a world full of nature with mechanical animals and an amazing artistic direction. I was in charge of the environment and I started to make research on great American forests.
Redwood Park was the perfect place because of its overgrown trees, and luxurious vegetation. We wanted to do a dangerous place, controlled by a giant centipede. I started this concept, with trees where the centipede could hide and climb, in a hilly area.
![](https://discover.therookies.co/content/images/2018/11/RookiesArticle_Image1.jpg)
Understand, then Create
Our teacher validated our concepts and helped us to find more ideas, like the logic of the vegetation and plant growing. After research on Redwood Park, I found lots of unique species of plants with weird but beautiful shapes. The nature evolved without flesh animals in this game. So I kept it in my mind that plants could have bigger sizes than reality.
The most important thing I learned is to share advice with your partner and ask for comments from everyone.
So I started to create a selection of plants. I created their meshes and regrouped their UVs for optimization. I photobashed plants pictures from the internet for the textures. And I used Bitmap2material to create the Normal and Occlusion maps.
Finally, I had 2 textures set (Color, Normal and RMA) for these flowers and weeds.
![](https://discover.therookies.co/content/images/2018/11/RookiesArticle_Image2.jpg)
Shaping the World
Then for the trees, we learned to use Speedtree. This software was perfect because it could randomize the meshes inside UE4. So I obtained trees with different size and shapes. It was a bit tricky to understand, but it was so fun, I created bushes, ferns and grass with it. With all these plants, I felt ready to start the level.
Starting to create a world is so fun, this is what I like the most in Level Art. The school gave us some megascan meshes and textures to help us. So I used their rocks to shape the field, like modelling clay.
The tricky part was to keep a “field logic” with these rocks, so you need to understand a bit geology. Like a small stream with small rocks on its banks, can be a torrent during rain time. So boulders are carried along the flow and the field gets more chaotic.
The Nature Logic
I put the vegetation with the foliage system of UE4. First, I placed the trees, then different types of grass. It grows like patches on more concentrated on flat areas. And I placed the flowers and ferns to fill areas without grass, like the riversides or cliffs.
In the main river, I added some fx of a splash. I also worked on the water and created a stream flow by moving the normal map on different directions. I was really happy with the result because it felt like the water was made of small twirls, like a real stream.
![](https://discover.therookies.co/content/images/2018/11/RookiesArticle_Image4-2.gif)
The Micro Stories
In this game, there are some relics of the past civilization put here and there. I created a rough tank destroyed by time. Then I buried it in some places with some vegetation growing on it. One of them is buried in a small pond, so I added a small brook.
![](https://discover.therookies.co/content/images/2018/11/RookiesArticle_Image5.jpg)
Find the Right Mood
Finally, I worked again on the lighting and added fog and post process. I enjoyed finding the most dramatic lighting with the sun rotation. I ended up finding some cool vistas with forest mountains, and the centipede taking centre stage.
![](https://discover.therookies.co/content/images/2018/11/RookiesArticle_Image6-1.jpg)
Conclusion
Doing all this level was an intense journey of three months and I discovered many things with it.
The most important thing I learned is to share advices with your partner and ask for comments from everyone. I could not do it without the experience of my teachers and a good teamwork with my friend. And I still remind this to myself every day, as now I work with a big team.
And one year after this project, I discover it again and played with the mood to transform the whole place :D
![](https://discover.therookies.co/content/images/2018/11/RookiesArticle_Image8.jpg)
![](https://discover.therookies.co/content/images/2018/11/RookiesArticle_Image7.jpg)