Creating rooms on Lasuni is a long and fun process. It takes a while to plan each room, composite sketches, plan what features will be in the room, decide if any NPC's (non-playable character) should be in the room, and if so, what they should be like. We also have to think about any specific moods we want to portray in the room, as well as any sounds that the room should have.
Step 1: Plan
When the time comes for a new room, the first step is to plan what the room will contain. If it's an outside space, or inside space, really depends on it's location as well. Once the room location is decided upon, we start brainstorming what will go into the room. If it's a shop, we would obviously put things in for people to purchase, posters to advertise items, etc. This also depends on what type of shop it is. We wouldn't want to have advertisements for clothing in a food store. Once we have the initial plan down, we decide upon a mood for the room, then inform our music artist of the plan for the room. Once they can get a feel of what the room will be like, they start on a tune for this room.
Step 2: Sketching the idea
Once the room idea is planned, we can now start sketches for what will actually be in the room. Not everything from the original plan ever makes it to the actual drawing board, some things are even
added after the original planning. The sketch is made to get an idea of where things will be positioned in the specific room. We wouldn't want something to block the users from being able to walk from one point to another. The sketch gives us an estimate of where things will go. We also have to ensure the room isn't too cluttered, as that would cause problems with a bunch of users in it at once.
Step 3: Finalizing the Drawings
During this step, we put the sketch together with by actually pixeling the entire room. This step takes quite some time as it's the most time consuming part of building a room. Depending on the complexity, it can take anywhere from a week to over a month. Although our sketch is a rough estimate of how the room will look, it rarely is the same as the final drawing.
For instance, our avatars looked quite different on the drawing board..
Step 4: Putting it together
After the final drawings are done, we start putting the room together by slicing up the drawings and layering them into the game. Each layer is then depth sorted so it appears either in front of, or behind another item depending on it's distance from the back of the room to the front. This creates the illusion of depth and allows users to walk behind something within an isometric plane. Once the room is fully sliced up, we do several tests on it, ensuring everything is working correctly. We also look closely over the room to ensure there are no pixel errors. After the room is sliced, we then use a tool to set certain tiles to blocked or unblocked. Which stops a user from walking on a tree, or into a wall.
Step 5: Finalization
During this step, the room is pretty much done. We put the final touches on the room, such as any animations that the room may have, as well as adding any sounds. Once that's completed, we start adding in speech message for NPC's to randomly blurt out, and also replies to specific questions that the user may ask. This helps the room feel more realistic and not just a 2D image.
This process can take a while, but it's quite fun. Any room we imagine can be turned into something that everyone can enjoy. Hope you enjoyed this post, there will be lots more in the future. If you have any ideas for rooms, or anything for Lasuni, feel free to share them with us by contacting us using our help tool.
Thanks!
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