Best, easiest level editor to make a detailed house?

[Geosurface]

I want to do something again (in much better style) I did years ago, which was recreate the house I grew up in within a level editor. When I did it in the 90's I used the Unreal 1 editor.

I was wondering what would be an easy to use, effective, and detailed editor nowadays I could use for creating a realistic looking house, ideally with lots of little details.

It could be a game editor or some sort of program made for modeling your "dream house" or something.

Just looking for suggestions.

 

[Stringjam]

The normal workflow is to create 3D models in a dedicated modeling program (like Autodesk 3DS Max, Blender, or Google SketchUp) and THEN import them into a game engine. Game engines aren't really designed to provide tools for detailed modeling and texturing (although there are in-engine tools that make some of that possible).

Blender is also free, BTW.


I always wanted to model a "dream house" as well. I got into 3DS Max for a little while and figured out it was a ton of work with a very steep learning curve....but I still want to get back into it again some day.

 

[Geosurface]

I'd be happy with at least being able to make an accurate model of the house with the right color of walls, carpet, etc - even if I couldn't swing all the little objects which maybe I could do later.

I'm considering something called Sweet Home 3D but I'd probably prefer a game level editor.

 

[mdram]

give sketchup a try too, it does house well

 

[Barfo]

Minecraft

 

[CottonRabbit]

Sims 3

 

[mmntech]

If you just want to build a house, Sims 3.

 

[CU]

Minecraft

LOL. I just did this for my kids. I just assumed the blocks are about 3ft square and went with rough estimates on the actual sizes. It actually turned out pretty good considering it was in minecraft.

 

[Midwayman]

give sketchup a try too, it does house well

It does low detail well. I used it for a remodel project to see how it would look. If he's looking for high end, sketchup isn't it. However it is free and easy.

 

[Geosurface]

It does low detail well. I used it for a remodel project to see how it would look. If he's looking for high end, sketchup isn't it. However it is free and easy.

Can I put in dressers, couches, TVs, lamps, and custom textures, paintings on walls? That level of detail would suffice

 

[magomago]

I read 'house' initially as 'horse'. I was like "hmm....a detailed horse, now this is interesting". Only after I clicked the link and read a few responses did I realize you meant house.

 

[Midwayman]

Can I put in dressers, couches, TVs, lamps, and custom textures, paintings on walls? That level of detail would suffice

Yup, it can do that. Its just not a photo real sort of program. If you're using it for visualization it works great. Lots of free furniture, etc in their catalog too.

 

[Geosurface]

Thx for info - afterward I can walk around in it?

 

[Midwayman]

Thx for info - afterward I can walk around in it?

yup, even in sketchup. It has a setup for setting eye height and then walking around. Pretty basic, but it works.

 

[JamesV]

Sketchup is horrible for design; at least the free version. Anything I could do in Sketchup, I could do in Unreal ED in a tenth of the time. Granted it's been a year or two, but I was constantly frustrated that things took forever in comparison to game editors. The (often) times when a vertex would not be allowed to snap to a point, or face issues, or a host of other issues (that never happen in a editor), made me hate it.

As for using models, unless you are doing fine detail work, regular editor geometry works fine. Especially for a house down to a furniture and even smaller. Once you try to accurately design a coffee maker or something small though, you will want a modeling program.

 

[Geosurface]

Sketchup is horrible for design; at least the free version. Anything I could do in Sketchup, I could do in Unreal ED in a tenth of the time. Granted it's been a year or two, but I was constantly frustrated that things took forever in comparison to game editors. The (often) times when a vertex would not be allowed to snap to a point, or face issues, or a host of other issues (that never happen in a editor), made me hate it.

As for using models, unless you are doing fine detail work, regular editor geometry works fine. Especially for a house down to a furniture and even smaller. Once you try to accurately design a coffee maker or something small though, you will want a modeling program.

What version of the unreal editor is out now and what game does it correspond to? what game can you actually run around shooting in the level you made, with?

 

[Maverickbcp]

You want to design the house you grew up in and run around shooting in it? Hmm...nah I'll leave that one alone.

Another vote for Sketchup. I actually found it very easy to use and so did my girlfriend who has no experience with this type of stuff. Some people may be put off but the changes in terminology but it's still pretty powerful. Of course the paid version will have much more options than the free one but it's still worth a look.