How to make sewers look interesting

[Sir Taffsalot]

I've just finished making a fairly large sewer network for my map. At the moment they just resemble a bunch of interconnecting tunnels with water, some pipes and some lights. Most of the areas look very similar. I don't want the player trying to get from A to B by running around in a maze hoping to find B randomly. Was wondering if anyone has any tips on how to make it look interesting so certain parts look different from others. This is my first attempt at level designing so I don't have any previous experience.

 

Thank you

 

 

 

 

[Shadowhide]

decals,triggered sounds , crushed walls ,flickering lights, blood stains...

Edited April 13, 2011 by Shadowhide

[Fidcal]

Customise each tunnel section to look different:

• 
   
  
• Vary the lengths by a distinctive amount, eg, 50% or 100% longer.
  
• Vary the lighting intensity and position. Have some sections hardly lit - perhaps by a light at either end but dark in the middle. Other sections brightly lit etc. The occasional broken light, perhaps just off or maybe sparking and flickering slowly.
  
• Add custom items: a big inlet pipe covered by a grid, vertical and horizontal pipes, valves, dummy doors, perhaps a simple control/maintenance/store room.
  
• Gate off some sections. The player can lockpick or just open some of these. Some of these gates and sections can be dummy. That is, a static gate with a section of tunnel beyond that turns left or right with just caulk at the end.
  
• Do a dry section or two if possible.
  
• Add some broken section - wall caved in and rubble.
  
• Vary the stonework.
  
• Vary the mould, dirt, grime type.
  
• Add steam/vapour here and there.
  
• All the above and more make every area different to give the player clues as to where he is.
  
• Also consider a map. This can be extremely simple or it can be a complex blueprint.
  
• Always include a compass in situations like this.
  

 

[edit] yeah - what Shadowhide said - sounds! I completely forgot. Drip, drip, drip, clank...

[Sir Taffsalot]

very good answers! Thank you very much.

[Baal]

You can also use height variation to make things more interessting. Build parts of the sewers on different levels and let the player climb.

[Sotha]

There could be height differences and even totally flooded sections too. There ain't many FM's with the need for the player to use breath potions... Maybe the player needs to find first the smuggler's breath potions stash or risk drowning in the murky dark waters...

 

Also do not use only 90 degree turns, varying the turn angles can give nice variety.

[OrbWeaver]

Play Half-Life 2 (if you haven't already) to get a good idea of how to make sewers look interesting. They are not just pipes, but also galleries and walkways with guard rails, alcoves and subsidiary passages, slopes, little staircases, shallow sections with uneven partially-flooded terrain, and so on.

 

I tried to Google for some screenshots, but couldn't find any particularly good ones. Here are some shots from a Mod which shows the sort of thing I mean, though:

 

http://www.totalgamingnetwork.com/showthread.php?168302-3-Brand-New-Screenshots-From-The-Grayshot-Mod

 

EDIT: Another one (photo this time): http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_evsx5sAIVrc/TKtOa2ma-ZI/AAAAAAAAAjg/xbFLuYPqLXs/s1600/sewer.jpg

 

Example from some random RPG game: http://thegamereviews.com/userfiles/image/Top%2010/rpg/sewer.jpg -- note the dry walkways around the water area, the little bridge, the smaller pipe on the wall etc.

[grayman]

Rats.

 

Now that rats are less likely to drown, toss in some rats here and there. If you have water that's more than 4 units deep, put some monsterclip in it to keep the rats out. We haven't taught them how to swim yet, and they will fall off ledges if given the chance.

 

AI

 

We loves to sneaksie past and pickpocket wandering AI. Make sure your network is NOT devoid of AI. Guards on tunnel duty, homeless beggars, a priest who has no business being there (what's HE doing? I'd better follow him).

 

-----

 

This thread is timely, since I've also been working on a tunnel network. I've already incorporated a lot of the upthread suggestions, and will rethink a few sections to use others.

[Springheel]

Don't forget spiders and webs.

[Sir Taffsalot]

Wow! You've all given me so many great ideas to work with. Thank you for all the brilliant help

[Melan]

Don't forget spiders and webs.

 

Spiders in the sewers is probably the #2 Thief mission design trope right after "world-weary protagonist goes taffing because the rent is due".

[OrbWeaver]

Spiders in the sewers is probably the #2 Thief mission design trope right after "world-weary protagonist goes taffing because the rent is due".

 

Which is odd, because in real life that's probably one of the last places you will find a spider (although there are exceptions). Not many flies to catch, and they don't like water. But these are huge fantasy-horror spiders, maybe they eat rats?

[stumpy]

sewers = poo = flies eat poo = spiders eat flies = rats eat spiders and poo = maggots eat dead rats, maggots become flies, which then get eaten by spiders. spiders also eat moths that like the dark which sewers usually are.

Edited April 16, 2011 by stumpy

[Diego]

Good suggestions! Just throwing some more ideas around:

 

Try to make things look damp, with high and concentrated specular and some dirt textures. Fog might work too.

 

In general, try to use a simple palette of colors to make things more interesting to look. This goes for everything, not only sewers. I think this is penumbra's (or some other iteration of the series) sewer:

Brown and green seems to send the message (this is just an example of color, the rest isn't very interesting.. too bright for our tastes! )

[Jesps]

Criminals could have hide outs in the sewers.

"stuff" being flushed out of a pipe just as the player walks under it.

Loot; a purse that has been dropped in the sewer, some one ate a gold ring and now it has ended up here.

 

Edit: Vegetation; mushrooms, vines, tree roots, etc.