3D Game Creation – Level Design – Building Virtual Worlds

added on Thursday, May 20th, 2010 at 10:33 pm by Penny

The Growing Market for Virtual Tourism

The breadth and scope of games today have expanded far beyond the early efforts in the medium. Where previous games once tracked only a few actors and a single play-screen, modern games immerse players in sprawling worlds filled with talking people and objects to interact with.

Simple Graphics for Vintage Video Games

The sheer size of these worlds has dramatically increased the need for artists to create them. When the console cycle shifted to the Playstation 2 in the year 2000, the average art team for a game was maybe five to ten people. By the time the next-generation consoles arrived, art teams had grown tenfold. And as consumers become more demanding, requirements for art are sure to grow.

Modern titles are built around the idea of living, breathing worlds. The Grand Theft Auto series places players in elaborate urban environments, with city blocks that stretch for miles. Fallout 3 creates a huge, post-apocalyptic world to explore. The newly released Red Dead Redemption gives the player the chance to experience the Wild West. In every case, the user is able to experience a world completely apart from everyday reality.

Experience the Wild West with Red Dead Redemption

Certainly, huge game worlds are being built, and artists are needed to create them! But these virtual worlds will almost certainly expand to fields outside of gaming. Building worlds for industrial simulations, business telepresence, medical imaging, even virtual tourism, are all possibilities. In each case, the technology will rely heavily on what has been pioneered in the gaming sector. And there will be a huge need to create all the art content for such elaborate worlds.

Digital Media Academy’s 3D Game Creation – Level Design course is an amazing introduction to just this kind of art! The students will use 3D art creation tools (Maya) and level creation tools (Unreal 3) to create their own custom level that they can play in-game. This mirrors the professional development pipeline I work with in the game industry. Students will come away with the class with the skills to build anything they want inside a game engine – which is a first great step towards a career in the budding realm of virtual tourism.

Maya and Unreal 3 Game Design

Why not jump start your career in game design with a two week Academy for Game Design Summer Camp? If you are a serious gamer and interested in a career in game art and design, don’t miss this incredible opportunity! Over two exciting and intense weeks, you will build a state-of-the-art 3D environment and one or more stunning characters, all while using industry standard tools like Maya, 3ds Max, Zbrush and the Unreal 3 Game engine!

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