The basic design for the level is below:
Making this in Unity has led to a few problems, mostly with regards to the camera and elevation. We want the camera to remain in a fixed position as much as possible (keeping in mind the likes of Baldur's Gate, etc) but we'd like it at a mild slant (so it's not fully top down). A few prototypes with the camera (Unity's built in 'Smooth Follow' attachment has been a useful starting point) have it mostly how we would like it, but there are still a few issues here and there with the camera hitting the terrain and then going through it.
To make this in the Unity Terrain editor, rather than starting with a flat surface and building up, I created a large plateau and then worked backwards; almost like carving the cave structure out of the mountain. I think this gives me more freedom when working with this level and its evaluations and for future levels.
The Terrain resolution is set at 250 x 250 x 500; the default terrain is far too large for our purposes. The plateau is then set at 25 high, with the average level height (which is the level at which the player starts on and moves on throughout most of the level) being at 15. Upper walkways are at 20.
At the moment, I'm working with just a basic rock texture and hollowing out all the main areas. Areas like the building structures (to the right of the level) will most likely be built in 3DS Max or Maya and then imported into Unity, as creating straight, man made walls, etc is a bit unwieldy in the Unity Terrain Editor. They will then sit into the cave structure above. The two bridges (both broken and unbroken) will also most likely be built in a separate 3D modelling programme; I've added the rock bridges above purely for testing purposes.
This level will be added to a lot as we go on, but it's useful to have a starting point now so we can prototype camera and user input in an environment that will be much like the final level design.
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