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Home > Game Development > 3D Game Development > CryENGINE 3 Cookbook
CryENGINE 3 Cookbook
CryENGINE 3 Cookbook

CryENGINE 3 Cookbook: Over 90 recipes written by Crytek developers for creating third-generation real-time games

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CryENGINE 3 Cookbook

Chapter 2. Sandbox Basics

In this chapter, we will cover:

  • Creating a new level

  • Generating a procedural terrain

  • Terrain sculpting

  • Setting up the terrain texture

  • Placing the objects in the world

  • Refining the object placement

  • Utilizing the layers for multiple developer collaboration

  • Switching to game mode

  • Saving your level

  • Exporting to an engine

  • Essential game objects

  • Running a map from the Launcher

Introduction

With the CryENGINE 3 Software Development Kit installed and ready for use, we can now get into the more exciting bits of utilizing the Sandbox basics.

This chapter will deal with the majority of the tools you will use on a regular basis as well as the essentials for creating new and exciting levels for your project. We will also look at the importance of utilizing the layer system for developers to work simultaneously on the same level. This chapter will also include the use of one of CryENGINE's greatest features of What you see is what you play by demonstrating how you may be able to play the level that you have created on demand.

Creating a new level

Before we can do anything with the gameplay of the project that you are creating, we first need a foundation of a new level for the player to stand on. This recipe will cover how to create a new level from scratch.

Getting ready

Before we begin, you must have Sandbox 3 open.

How to do it...

At any point, with Sandbox open, you may create a new level by following these steps:

  1. Click File (found in the top-left of the Sandbox's main toolbar).

  2. Click New.

From here, you will see a new dialog screen that will prompt you for information on how you want to set up your level. The most important aspect of a level is naming it, as you will not be able to create a level without some sort of proper name for the level's directory and its .cry file. You may name your level anything you wish, but for the ease of instruction we shall refer to this level as My_Level:

  1. In the Level Name dialog box, type in My_Level.

  2. For the Terrain properties, use the following values:

    • Use Custom Terrain Size:...

Generating a procedural terrain

This recipe deals with the procedural generation of a terrain. Although never good enough for a final product because you will want to fine tune the heightmap to your specifications, these generated terrains are a great starting point for anyone new to creating levels or for anyone who needs to set up a test level with the Sandbox. Different heightmap seeds and a couple of tweaks to the height of the level and you can generate basic mountain ranges or islands quickly that are instantly ready to use.

Getting ready

Have My_Level open inside of Sandbox.

How to do it...

Up at the top-middle of the Sandbox main toolbar, you will find a menu selection called Terrain. From there you should see a list of options, but for now you will want to click on Edit Terrain. This opens the Terrain Editor window.

The Terrain Editor window has a multitude of options that can be used to manipulate the heightmap in your level. But first we want to set up a basic generated heightmap for...

Terrain sculpting

In this section, we will cover the basics of painting your heightmap by hand. This recipe will teach you how to flatten, raise, lower, and smoothen the heightmap by hand, painting in both the Terrain Editor window as well as Perspective View.

Using the Terrain Brush from the Terrain Editor is good for a general high level pass over your level; it is only decent when starting on a fresh level. For more detailed work, many designers use the Terrain Brush from within the Perspective Viewport to see their results instantly. We will be covering both methods.

Getting ready

  1. Have My_Level open inside of Sandbox.

  2. Review the Generating a procedural terrain recipe to learn about the Terrain Editor.

  3. Review the Navigating a level with the Sandbox Camera recipe to get familiar with the Perspective View.

  4. Have the Rollup Bar available in your Sandbox layout and ready.

How to do it...

On the right-hand side of this window you will see a rollout menu that reads Terrain Brush. This menu is the focal...

Setting up the terrain texture

In this recipe, we will teach you how to set up a new grass-like terrain texture for you to paint on the terrain.

Getting ready

  1. Have My_Level open inside of Sandbox.

  2. Review the Generating a procedural terrain recipe to learn about the Terrain Editor.

  3. Review the Navigating a level with the Sandbox Camera recipe to get familiar with the Perspective View.

  4. Review the Terrain sculpting recipe.

  5. Have the Rollup Bar open and ready.

How to do it...

  1. First open the Terrain Texture Layers window, found in the main Sandbox Toolbar | Terrain | Texture.

  2. In this window, create a new layer—Add Layer.

  3. Rename your NewLayer to Grass (double-click NewLayer to rename it).

  4. Then change the layer texture of this layer: Change Layer Texture | Terrain Folder | ground_mud_grey.dds.

  5. Now change the detail texture; click on the material path for this layer, Materials/material_terrain_default | Terrain Folder | grass_7. Go back to Terrain Texture Layers window | Assign Material.

  6. Set up your layer to...

Placing the objects in the world

Placing objects is a simple task; however, basic terrain snapping is not explained to most new developers. It is common to ask why, when dragging and dropping an object into the world, they cannot see the object. This section will teach you the easiest ways to place an object into your map by using the Follow Terrain method.

Getting ready

  1. Have My_Level open inside of Sandbox (after completing either of the Terrain sculpting or Generating a procedural terrain recipes).

  2. Review the Navigating a level with the Sandbox Camera recipe to get familiar with the Perspective View.

  3. Have the Rollup Bar open and ready.

  4. Make sure you have the EditMode ToolBar open (right-click the top main ToolBar and tick EditMode ToolBar).

How to do it...

First select the Follow Terrain button. Then open the Objects tab within the Rollup Bar. Now from the Brushes browser, select any object you wish to place down (for example, defaults/box).

You may either double-click the object, or drag-and...

Refining the object placement

After placing the objects in the world with just the Follow Terrain or Snapping to Objects, you might find that you will need to adjust the position, rotation, or scale of the object. In this recipe, we will show you the basics of how you might be able to do so along with a few hotkey shortcuts to make this process a little faster. This works with any object that is placed in your level, from Entities to Solids.

Getting ready

  1. Have My_Level open inside of Sandbox (after completing either the Terrain sculpting or Generating a procedural terrain recipe).

  2. Review the Navigating a level with the Sandbox Camera recipe to get familiar with the Perspective View.

  3. Make sure you have the EditMode ToolBar open (right-click on the top main ToolBar and tick EditMode ToolBar).

  4. Place any object in the world.

How to do it...

In this recipe, we will call your object (the one whose location you wish to refine) Box for ease of reference.

  1. Select Box.

  2. After selecting Box, you should see a...

Utilizing the layers for multiple developer collaboration

A common question that is usually asked about the CryENGINE is how does one developer work on the same level as another at the same time. The answer is—Layers. In this recipe, we will show you how you may be able to utilize the layer system for not only your own organization, but to set up external layers for other developers to work on in parallel.

Getting ready

  1. Have My_Level open inside of Sandbox (after completing either the Terrain sculpting or Generating a procedural terrain recipe).

  2. Review the Navigating a level with the Sandbox Camera to get familiar with the Perspective View.

  3. Review the Using the Rollup Bar recipe.

  4. Have the Rollup Bar open and ready.

  5. Review the Placing the objects in the world (place at least two objects) recipe.

How to do it...

  1. For this recipe, we will assume that you have your own repository for your project or some means to send your work to others in your team.

  2. First, start by placing down two objects on the map...

Switching to game mode

CryENGINE prides itself on the saying What you see is what you play, and the switching to game mode is a testament to this.

It goes without saying that testing your work often is the key to a successful project, and the quick easy use of switching to Game Mode within the Editor allows you to test at will without the need to close Sandbox.

Even though the Editor is built with this feature to allow Developers to check their work, this is still only an emulation. This means that there are several special editor rules and debug options available in this mode, which isn't fully representative of what the Player might see in the Pure Game. Even though it is an excellent idea to test often by switching to Game Mode, it is also important to do any final testing in the Launcher on your target platform to have a proper Pure Game experience.

In this recipe, we will cover the simple, but highly important use of switching to game mode. This function allows you to jump into your level...

Saving your level

On the surface, saving your level seems like a simple process; however, there are a few important functionalities that you should be aware of when saving your level. This recipe will show you how to do a basic saving, copying/moving your level (do not use Save As), and auto backups.

Getting ready

Have any level open inside Sandbox.

Open Windows Explorer to the following location: ...\CryENGINE_Build\Game\Levels.

How to do it...

To save a level, go to File | Save.

Note

Ctrl + S does not work by default. You will need to set up a shortcut key yourself for that.

When copying/moving levels:

  1. Initially, save your level to its default location.

  2. Go to the level's location in Windows Explorer (…\Game\Levels).

  3. Using Windows commands copy/cut the entire My_Level folder.

  4. Paste the level into the location you want.

  5. If necessary, rename both the My_Level folder and My_Level.cry to something you prefer.

We recommend that you never perform a Save As for your level. Unfortunately, there are several...

Exporting to an engine

Even though saving your level will create a .cry file for you, it is extremely important to note that a .cry alone will not work in the Launcher. For that you will need to perform this recipe, which will create the required files to run in Pure Gamemode.

Getting ready

Have My_Level open inside Sandbox.

How to do it...

Go to File | Export to Engine or click on Ctrl + E.

How it works...

This crucial step is required to convert all the blueprint's setup in your .cry file into a level.pak inside of the My_Level folder to be used in Pure Gamemode. This level.pak is basically a cache of data for the game to use, which houses all the baked information about Game Logic, AI Markup, Particle list, Brush list, and so on.

There's more...

Here is some useful information that you should know about .pak files.

Opening .pak files

It is possible to open these .pak files and see the information stored inside them by using third-party compression software, such as WinZIP and WinRAR. However...

Essential game objects

Even though we covered how to export your level to be used in Pure Gamemode, you may find that when you launch your level, you are not in the correct location in the map. This quick recipe will show you how to create a Spawn point for Pure Gamemode and also remind you the importance of having a physical surface to spawn on.

Getting ready

  1. Have My_Level open inside of Sandbox (after completing either the Terrain sculpting or Generating a procedural terrain recipe).

  2. Review the Navigating a level with the Sandbox Camera to get familiar with the Perspective View.

  3. Review the Placing the objects in the world and Refining object placement recipes.

  4. Have the Rollup Bar available in your Sandbox layout and ready.

How to do it...

Unless your game supports some sort of Player flying mechanic, we recommend you choose a location where the Player can stand when he initially spawns within your level. Any physical surface (Floor, Roof, Terrain, Rock, and so on) will do.

To place a Spawn Point...

Running a map from the Launcher

The final recipe in this chapter will cover how you may access the Pure Gamemode version of My_Level from the Launcher.

Getting ready

You must have a map with a working spawn point (otherwise you will spawn at 0,0,0), that has been exported from the engine with a functional level.pak.

The level must also be inside your Build folder.

How to do it...

  1. From Windows Explorer, open either ...\Bin32 or ...\Bin64.

  2. Launch the executable Launcher.exe.

  3. Open the console (~).

  4. Type the following: map My_level.

  5. Then press Enter.

This will load the map as well as spawn you in the spawn point that was provided.

See also

  • The Starting up the CryENGINE 3 Sandbox recipe

  • The Essential game objects recipe

  • The Saving your level recipe

  • The Exporting to an engine recipe

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Page 1 of 14

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Key benefits

  • Begin developing your AAA game or simulation by harnessing the power of the award winning CryENGINE3
  • Create entire game worlds using the powerful CryENGINE 3 Sandbox.
  • Create your very own customized content for use within the CryENGINE3 with the multiple creation recipes in this book
  • Translate your design into CryENGINE by following the easy step by step recipes exploring flow graph, track view, and many of the other tools within CryENGINE

Description

With every successive console generation, the cost, time, and complexity of developing games has grown. Meet CryENGINE3, a middleware engine that is the perfect fit for most developers allowing users to exceed current generation quality standards while using less people and time than ever thought possible.The CryENGINE3 CookBook is packed full of recipes for junior and senior developers alike. It covers everything from creating photo realistic architectural visualizations to implementing advanced physics such as ragdoll and tornado effects. Topics covered include the sandbox, level layout, environment creation, AI, character creation, creating vehicles, and game logic. Every recipe is designed to add AAA quality to your games. The CryENGINE3 SDK has many tools immediately available to developers of all disciplines. For designers the book has recipes for building up your own levels and populating your levels with intelligent AI and photo realistic assets. For artists we have recipes for practical workflow tools and techniques used when working with the advanced CryENGINE shaders and materials. For animators we have recipes that will bring your creations to life using skinned characters and advanced animation systems like locomotion groups. Finally for programmers we have recipes that show how to employ the core mechanics behind entities such as vehicles and weapons while also utilizing the strengths of the physics engine to create a unique and exciting game.

Who is this book for?

This book is written with the casual and professional developer in mind. Fundamental knowledge of some Digital Content Creation Tools, like Photoshop and 3d Studio Max is required. The Software Development Kit version of the CryENGINE is used for all examples, so the reader should have a version of the development kit to follow the recipes contained in this book.

What you will learn

  • Navigate and interface within the CryENGINE Sandbox, the tool used to create AAA games like Crysis 2.
  • Create your own levels and even entire worlds using recipes for sculpting and molding terrain.
  • Model with the integrated tools available to designers and artists in the CryENGINE3 Sandbox.
  • Use the cutting edge real time lighting technology of the CryENGINE to bring light to your worlds and explore the use of atmospherics and effects used for today‚Äôs newest games.
  • Create and animate AAA characters and other objects for use with the CryENGINE Sandbox.
  • Manipulate the advanced AI available to game designers in the CryENGINE3.
  • Create your own cut scenes and videos using the power of the CryENGINE3 engine to maximize the output.
  • Optimize your creations for optimal performance with maximum visual impact.
  • Have fun following interesting game changing physical simulation recipes that can add unique game play opportunities to your levels.
  • Use visual scripting to create amazingly complex events as seen in Crysis2.
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Product Details

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Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Jun 23, 2011
Length: 324 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781849691062
Vendor :
Crytek
Category :
Game Development
Languages :
C++
Concepts :
3D Game Development
Tools :
CryEngine

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Product Details

Publication date : Jun 23, 2011
Length: 324 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781849691062
Vendor :
Crytek
Category :
Game Development
Languages :
C++
Concepts :
3D Game Development
Tools :
CryEngine

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Table of Contents

12 Chapters
CryENGINE 3: Getting Started Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
CryENGINE 3: Getting Started
Introduction
Opening a level in the CryENGINE 3 Sandbox
Navigating a level with the Sandbox Camera
Setting up a personalized toolset layout
How to customize toolbars and menus
Using the Rollup Bar
Selecting and browsing level objects
Restoring the CryENGINE 3 default settings
Sandbox Basics Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Sandbox Basics
Introduction
Creating a new level
Generating a procedural terrain
Terrain sculpting
Setting up the terrain texture
Placing the objects in the world
Refining the object placement
Utilizing the layers for multiple developer collaboration
Switching to game mode
Saving your level
Exporting to an engine
Essential game objects
Running a map from the Launcher
Basic Level Layout Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Basic Level Layout
Introduction
Making basic shapes with the Solids tool
Editing and merging solids
Grouping the objects
Utilizing the Geom entities instead of brushes
Road construction
Painting vegetation
Breaking up tiling with Decals
Making caves with Voxels
Creating Prefabs to store in external libraries
Environment Creation Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Environment Creation
Introduction
Creating your first time of day using the basic parameters
Adjusting the terrain lighting
Using the real-time Global Illumination
Editing HDR lighting and the effects for flares
Creating a global volumetric fog
Creating a night scene with time of day parameters
Color grading your level
Creating a photo realistic ocean
Improving your sky with clouds
Making it rain in your level
Basic Artificial Intelligence Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Basic Artificial Intelligence
Introduction
Placing the enemy AI
Generating the AI navigation
Forbidden boundaries
Forbidden areas
Setting up the interior navigation
Debugging the AI triangulation
Narrowing the AI's FOV to allow attacks from behind
Respawning AI
Asset Creation Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Asset Creation
Introduction
Installing the CryENGINE 3 plugin for 3D Studio Max
Creating textures using CryTIF
Setting up units to match CryENGINE in 3ds
Basic material setup in 3ds
Creating and exporting static objects
Creating and exporting destroyable objects
Using advanced material editor parameters to create animation
Creating new material effects
Creating image-based lighting
Characters and Animation Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Characters and Animation
Introduction
Creating skinned characters for the CryENGINE
Ragdoll and physics for characters
Creating animation for your character
Previewing animations and characters for Sandbox
Creating upper body only animations
Creating locomotion animations
Animating rigid body geometry data
Creating Vehicles Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Creating Vehicles
Introduction
Creating a new car mesh (CGA)
Creating a new car XML
Giving more speed to the car
Increasing the mass to push objects with the car
Defining a sitting location
Setting up multiple cameras for the car
Need for a machine gun
Giving the car a weak spot
Game Logic Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Game Logic
Introduction
How to beam the player to a tag point from a trigger
Making the AI go to a location when the player enters a proximity trigger
Debugging the Flow Graph
Creating a kill counter
Rewarding the player for reaching a kill goal
Displaying the player's health through a Flow Graph
Changing the player camera through key input
Creating a countdown timer
Track View and Cut-Scenes Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Track View and Cut-Scenes
Introduction
Creating a new Track View sequence
Animating a camera in the Track View
Triggering a sequence using the Flow Graph
Animating entities in the Track View
Playing animations on entities in the Track View
Using console variables (CVars) in the Track View
Using track events
Fun Physics Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Fun Physics
Introduction
Low gravity
Hangman on a rope
Tornadoes
Constraints
Wrecking ball
Rock slide
Profiling and Improving Performance Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Profiling and Improving Performance
Introduction
Profiling performance in the Sandbox
Saving level statics
Enabling the debug draw modes
Optimizing the levels with VisAreas and portals
Using light boxes and light areas
Activating and deactivating the layers

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Customer reviews

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Michael Nov 06, 2013
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
This is not a book that you read cover to cover, it is more set up as a series of "recipes" for specific tasks you might want to accomplish with CryEngine. The book really covers quite a wide array of topics and I find myself returning to it quite regularily when I work in CryEngine. It is noticeable that the authors worked with Crytek, as I had quite a few "good to know" moments when working through the book.By the way, this book is a good addition to "CryENGINE 3 Game Development: Beginner's Guide" (I own both). Although there is a bit of overlap, I still find myself getting back to one or the other.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
C. Moeller Sep 25, 2011
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
I picked up this book because I wanted to get some hands on experience using the CryEngine with a reference book, but had not used the CryEngine before.I feel this book is more aimed towards beginners, and allows someone new to the CryEngine to be able to easily jump in, and have a reference for doing a ton of stuff that might not be very straight forward, as well as a lot of detail on using the interface.Overall, just reading through the first chapters, I was able to get comfortable with the interface, and able to create and setup my own basic level. Further on, the book goes into a more general "cookbook" style, with recipes for doing a variety of different things you might need in your level.The book is well written, easy to read and a beginner can pick it up without a problem. There are lots of recipes for most things you would want to do, such as: creating terrain, changing level layout, placing items, changing lighting, putting down enemies, creating assets to import into the CryEngine, creating vehicles, some game logic, creating cut scenes, and much more.The one problem I did have with using the book with the CryEngine are that the assets have changed since the book was published, so some of the items, or textures it tells you to look for at the beginning aren't there. You can use alternatives instead, but it would be nice if the downloadable files included them, or you could know which version of the CryEngine Sandbox was used in the book.Overall a great book for learning how to use the CryEngine Sandbox, with lots of helpful recipes that will have you creating cool levels.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Leonardo Dalmina Dec 27, 2012
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
This cookbook is amazing! It covers a lot of information and have many illustrations. Beyond this, is very well organized to provide readers an easy way to find the right information.Really worth the money spent!!
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HARSH GURJAR Oct 02, 2017
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Yes that's i want it has the starting form basics you understand easily just go for it
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YamahaAlex37 Dec 02, 2011
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
I am part of a game development community where one guy has this book and everyone is constantly going to him for answers. Thanks to the nice price on this e-book, I don't have to do that anymore. I tried to hold off buying this book, but the CryEngine 3 documentation is some of the most confusing and abstract stuff I have ever tried to follow. This book breaks everything down to be understandable by a beginner, and if it were not for the step by step instructions, I would have probably moved on from CryEngine 3 by now due to frustration. Check out PacktPub's website, I picked this up in the October sale, and they have a few articles from this book so you can see how nice it is.
Amazon Verified review Amazon

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About the authors

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Profile icon Dan Tracy
Dan Tracy
Dan Tracy is Cryteks Technical Level Designer for the award-winning CryENGINE and Crysis 2. He is responsible for the creation and maintenance of numerous technical features and external applications used for telemetry and optimization. Viewed as more than a level designer, Dan prides himself on pushing the envelope when it comes to improving both technical and game related designs across multiple production disciplines. Dan was recruited by Crytek in 2009 after the previous year working as a Quality Assurance Technician for BioWare. He was recruited due to his pivotal role in co-founding and leading development on the award winning total conversion project MechWarrior:Living Legends. Since then, he has been featured in numerous gaming magazines and has been interviewed by multiple media outlets. Dan is a passionate gamer, but an even more passionate modder and game designer with vast knowledge and experience with multiple engines and titles including Never Winter Nights Aurora, Battlefields engine Frostbite, Unreal 3, and CryENGINE.
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Profile icon Sean P Tracy (USD)
Sean P Tracy (USD)
Sean Tracy is Crytek's Senior Field Application Engineer for the award-wining CryENGINE. He is responsible for adapting the engine and its features to individual licensees, as well as developing full technical and ‘vertical slice' demos for prospective and existing clients. Describing himself as a ‘generalizing specialist', he also gives support directly to CryENGINE licensees, while designing and maintaining their workflows, pipelines and development techniques. Sean was recruited by Crytek in 2008 after working as an electronics technician for the Canadian Military. He was recruited due to his role in founding and leading development on the award winning total conversion project ‘MechWarrior:Living Legends'. Since then, he has been featured in numerous gaming magazines and has been invited to speak at many game related trade shows, conferences and seminars. He is an avid gamer with extensive modding experience on titles including Never Winter Nights, Battlefield, Doom and Quake.
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