Good level design is vital. Recently, I have moved towards creating modular assets to improve the process of building levels, but also the time it takes to build those levels. As a lone developer on a project like Reloaded, efficiency is key.

Over the past week or two, I have been researching the best methods for creating modular levels and modular assets. Using what I have learned so far, I have focused on rebuilding the main area which I have been working on, known simply as the "Office". This is the area mentioned previously in "Devlog #1: The story so far". Modular level design allows me to improve my work in quite a few ways. Firstly, it allows me to quickly throw "blocks" together to get a good idea of the scale and feel of a level without getting too attached to certain ideas. This allows me to be flexible and look at ways of improving the level faster. Secondly, as the level will be built using multiple pre-made assets rather than a single mesh as they previously were, if I were, for example, interested in placing a window where a wall currently is, it allows me to quickly switch out the wall for a window asset. Previously, I would've had to completely change the mesh of an entire model. Thirdly, I have been using "Prefabs" or, within UE5, simply blueprinted actors. This allows me to chuck together assets which fit well together, such as desks or dining tables. Rather than have millions of individual tables and chairs clogging up my outliner and taking up time whilst I place every individual asset, I am able to create these prefabs which allow me to chuck desks directly into the scene instead.

In the above images, you are able to see the current extent of the modular assets that I have created. The list is extremely short so far, however as development goes on I hope to have a larger selection that I can use around my levels.