Section 1 - Adding Features to Your Room

Now add some interest to that big empty box! Click on the 2D MAP button then click on the first room in the demo model to select it. Turn off the 2D MAP button (make sure the FACE EDIT button is off, too) and you will see a room with columns, a small ledge around the floor perimeter and a stepped ziggurat” ceiling. (We’ll deal with the light, medium and dark green wall panels in the section about applying textures.)

Okay, go ahead and turn on the FACE EDIT and the LIGHTING buttons (don’t forget to turn off 2D MAP) so you can see how great your room will look when you complete this tutorial. Now, back to your model. (You can select your room from the ROOM SELECTION WINDOW or go the 2D MAP route…it’s up to you.)

The Stepped (ziggurat) Ceiling

1. Turn 2D MAP and FACE EDIT buttons OFF.

2. Go to the PLAN VIEW grid, select the center 2x2 squares of your room. Now click the CEILING + button twice (or you can press the “W” key on your keyboard). Check the numbers in the ROOM INFO BOX below the EDITOR WINDOW. Your ceiling height should read 22.

3. Select the center 4x4 squares, raise them by 2 clicks.

4. Select the center 6x6 squares, raise them by 2 clicks.

5. You should now have a room with a stepped ceiling 26 clicks tall. That’s too tall, so let’s reduce it.

6. On the PLAN VIEW grid, select all of the light blue squares. (DON’T select any of the gray “wall squares”)

7. Press the CEILING “-” button (or the “S” key on your keyboard) 8 times. This will lower the entire ceiling without disturbing the step effect.

8. The height of your room should now be 18 clicks.

Columns

1. On the PLAN VIEW grid, check the demo model’s “First Room” to see which floor squares you will change into columns. The column squares will be green.

2. Go back to your “First Room X” and select the square you want to make into a column. Find the green WALL button from the ROOM EDIT BUTTONS below the PLAN VIEW grid and click on it to change the floor/ceiling square into a green wall square, thus creating a column in your model. Click off the 2D MAP button to check it out.

NOTE: To change a wall square back to a floor square, select the green wall square then click the light blue FLOOR button.

Ledges

Now create a ledge around the perimeter of the floor.

1. Go to the PLAN VIEW grid and select a row of floor squares along one side of the room and raise these squares by two clicks.

2. Repeat this process along each wall.

3. To make the path for the door that you will put in later, you need to lower the four middle squares of the ledge along the east (right) wall. If unsure, check the demo model for the exact location.

4. Finally, make a raised “platform”. This is where Lara will be standing when the level begins. Select the 4 center squares and raise them by clicking once on the FLOOR + button (or press the “Q” key on your keyboard).

Congratulations! You’ve finished modeling your first room. You should now have a room with the same construction as the “first room” in the demo model. You are ready to begin applying some textures.