Program for making custom environments and structures

The Game Room
1

Occasionally I like to create plans for things - my bedroom to decide on furniture arrangements, or maps from fictional novels or TV shows for fun. I typically do them in 2D in Illustrator because that’s what Im familiar with, but I’d like to try my hand at doing it in 3D.

The reason this is in the game forum is because I believe there are ways to create your own levels in certain FPS games that might serve as a good way to accomplish this. Has anyone done this? Is it a good solution and do you have any recommendations?

I’m also open to other good programs. If possible, I’m looking for the following features:

  • easy to use
  • free or inexpensive
  • ability to modify measurements by number, not just by mouse
  • ability to use 2D image template for “tracing” help
  • basic terrain

I’ve ruled already the following:

  • SketchUp has a pretty innovative interface, but I find it difficult to use in practice
  • SecondLife is expensive to buy space
  • Mineworld is too blocky

Thanks!

2

I’ve used Sweet Home 3D to help layout furniture. It works pretty well and it’s free.

3

Question: Do you just want to model these locations, or do you want to be able to navigate through them in a first/third person view?

4

I’ve been trying to learn CryEngine 3 SDK, which CryTek has released free of charge for non-commercial purposes. It’s pretty nice.

5

Modeling is sufficient, but navigating would be a cool bonus.

6

Then I would start by looking at something like Blender. It’s an open source 3d modelling and rendering package. It’s very powerful but can have a steep learning curve.

Another similar package is Hexagon. It’s not quite as powerful as Blender, mainly due to it not having had an update in forever. One advantage is that it is a bit more integrated with Bryce. This is a package designed for creating and rendering landscapes.

In a similar vein to Bryce is Vue 3d. This is primarily a pay-for package but there is a free cut-down version at the link.