Proper approach for Souls-like level designing

Hi all,

For funsies I'd like to create a huge seamless interconnected map a la Dark Souls. It doesn't need to be textured or playable - this is strictly an exercise in layout fundamentals. What tools/software should I consider using to accomplish this? Unity? Blender? 3ds Max?

Thanks!

 

Can you expand the question a bit more for how do not know what Dark Souls is?

 

Sure, I'll try. Dark Souls has the player traversing a very large map with indoor and outdoor interconnected areas. The player can traverse the entire game without encountering a loading screen.

Verticality and shortcuts play an important role. The player may arrive on the ground floor of a room, make their way around the level in a big loop, go up a flight of stairs, continue around the loop, and 10 minutes later discover they're standing on the 2nd floor of the original room.

 

Ok, now can you expand the gold: "is strictly an exercise in layout fundamentals". But probably my awnser will be use Blender for making the 3d and Unity for realtime rendering.

 

Thank you. When I say that I mean, I want to practice my ability to think, plan and lay out maps in 3 dimensions. Not necessarily develop a game.

 

To practice ability to think, plan and lay out maps in 3 dimensions you can use in order Blender that is very good and free. 3Dmax and Maya are pay alternative. Unity and combination with tools from asset store also can be good since the Unity interface allow you more flexibility than a traditional modeller software as for example look this tutorial.

https://unity3d.com/learn/tutorials/projects/procedural-cave-generation-tutorial
for maps procedural generation also the free tool grashopper inside pay Rhino3D is a grate tool.

Unity and combination with Asset store tools:
https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/search/page=1/sortby=popularity/query=category:116

 

It's worth noting there are a lot of narrow winding corridors, elevator shafts, long ladders and the like. Dark Souls had done a good job of hiding the loading time. But it's there underneath.

 

If you just what the layout exercise, I would suggest pen and paper. Modelling tools or a game engine will just get in your way.

 

Thanks! Blender is what I'm looking for, I really appreciate your help.

Thanks, but I've been a DM for 5+ years and I still have a rough time trying to do 3d layouts on 2d graph paper.

I could learn to draw isometric cutaway, but if I'm going to learn something it may as well be digital; if I master the layout part using a digital tool, I'll have more options to broaden my skillset from there.

 

There are assets for white boxing within Unity too. Like SabreCSG which is free open source.

https://github.com/sabresaurus/SabreCSG
https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/47418