hey all This my 1st time in the forum so I hope this is in the right place. I am starting on my 1st big project soon and I have road block. I have no idea how square did the level design back then. I know it was prerendered but other then that I can't rap my head around it. My game is your basic RPG modeled after the Final Fantasy series from the ps1 mainly IX. I know it's old school but the game has a truly beautiful story and I felt that stories aren't told so well in 3d as they are in a prerendered world. What I have to work with is the a7 studio, 3d max and photoshop is there any one who can help final fantasy 8

First, you might design your levels on paper, the same as with any game.

I would then suggest roughing out the levels in full 3d with Max. Perhaps you will only need place-holder primitives.

This allows you to perfect the positioning and experiment with camera placement and perspective before you begin on final art. You would then go on to produce a detailed environment in Max for rendering and also be able to tell, based on camera position, which parts of the scene might simply be drawn (i.e. where you can "cheat" as part of the scene is obscured or only seen from a certain angle.

When you are done, parts of your original rough draft of the level could be used to help place invisible collision boxes and masking areas.