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3D Computer Games Design

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3D Computer Games Design 

Concept Development 

Like all other forms of design, 3D Game design starts with an idea, not always original but often a

modification on an existing idea. The game idea may fall within one or several genres, with some

game designers often experimenting with mixing genres. The game designer usually produces an

initial game proposal document containing the concept, gameplay, feature list, setting and story,

target audience, requirements and schedule, staff and budget estimates. Many other decisions are

of course made during the course of a game's development about the game's design but they will all

be based on the original concept, it is the foundation of your game so give it plenty of thought and

consideration as it is of vital importance.

  Game Genres (PDF)

  101 Level Design Ideas (PDF)

  3D Game Concept Developmemt Stage 1 (PDF Worksheet)

  3D Game Concept Developmemt Stage 2 (PDF Worksheet)

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  A 3D Game editing software - Best Options in our opinion are the Unreal Development Kit

(UDK)from Unreal, for PC, or Unity, for Mac.

  A 3D Modelling software - Best options are 3D Studio Max (free trial and student version

available) or Blender (free)

  An image editing software - Best is Adobe Photoshop (free trial available) , but if you can't

afford that, which most people can't, then use Pixlr which is an online photo editor and it

has all the main functions from Photoshop.

  CrazyBump is a program designed specifically to make quick, quality, variations of an image

to be used as textures on 3D models.

Once you have downloaded the required software you are ready to begin. In these examples the

level editor we are using is UDK and the modelling software is blender. This is because they are both

quality softwares that are also free to download and use so everybody can use them and therefore

everybody can follow these tutorials!

The main steps in the production stage of developing a 3D game are outlined below and the tutorials

relevant to each stage are included in each section. We are currently developing our own set of

video tutorials but for the moment we have embedded videos from external sites. All text tutorials

are our own.

Introduction to UDK: 

Before we begin the actual level design tutorials we recommend you familiarise yourself with the

UDK software by watching the videos below.

  Getting started with UDK - Part 1 of 3 (Video)

  Getting started with UDK - Part 2 of 3 (Video)

  Getting started with UDK - Part 3 of 3 (Video)

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Setting up the Level: 

Any game or level can appear huge or tiny depending on the scale of things relative to the character.

As soon as you begin the production stage of your game, regardless of the software or game engine

being used, you should place a character template or similar in the level to guide you in the correct

scaling of your level. UDK has its own system of measurements referred to as UU Units where 16uu =

1 foot. For example the standard character size in UDK is 96 uu units which is 6 foot. This simple act

is one of the basics in setting up your level and it, along with other standard level design procedures

are explained in the tutorials below.

  Creating a Terrain in UDK (Video)

  Creating a simple room/building in UDK using BSP (Video)

  Blocking out basic room features in UDK with BSP (Video)

  Setting up Different Camera Views in UDK (Video)

Static Meshes: 

The next step is to "block out" the Level. This process is used to quickly layout the main sections and

areas of a level. Each block may represent a building or cliff or vehicle or object etc. and doing this

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will allow you to quickly and easily get a sense of the environment you have created and make any

necessary positional changes. It is also an ideal way to break down a large level into more

manageable areas/blocks which can be detailed one at a time. After you do this you can then add

static meshes to the level, replacing BSP blocks where necessary.

  Adding Static Meshes to your level in UDK (Video)

  Importing Custom Static Meshes to UDK (Video)

Textures, Materials and Decals: 

Once the level is blocked out the next step is adding textures. Textures should only be added after a

level has been blocked out and all static meshes have been added. This is because textures are

easier to edit and change than meshes and it is therefore better to match textures to meshes than

vice versa. Most game engines will have a library of ready-made textures but creating your own is

recommended as it will give your game a more original feel.

  Create your own textures for UDK (PDF)

 Using CrazyBump (Video)

  Use UDK Material Editor to make usable materials from your textures (Video)

  Apply Materials to surfaces in UDK (Video)

  Apply Decals to surfaces in UDK (PDF)

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Adding Lighting: 

Lighting is one of the most important elements to a 3D game. Good lighting creates atmosphere,

hides enemies, build tension for the player and makes a game look more realistic. Subtle changes

and constant lighting rebuilds will take a lot of time so allow for that in your planning. Poor lighting

cheapens a game, makes it look false and boring. Put in the time to get the rewards.

  Add a Work Light and Lightmass Importance Volume (Video)

  How to add a Sky Dome in UDK (Video)

  Dominant Directional Lights and Point Lights (Video)

  Emissive Lighting from Static Meshes (Video)

  Toggleable and Moveable Lights (Video)

  Creating Fog in UDK (PDF)

Adding Functionality and Interactivity: 

As good as quality textures and feature lighting will make you game look unless it also hasinteresting and challenging elements for the player to interact with or use then it will not be

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successful. Things as simple as adding light switches and sliding doors add so much to a game by

keeping the player constantly active as they roam around. More complex elements like elevators,

vehicles, countdown clocks etc. will further enhance the player's experience. Most interactive

functions in UDK utilise the Editors visual programming system Kismet and/or the animation editor

Matinee.

  Create a Moving Door or Elevator in UDK (PDF)

  Create swimmable water/lava/slime in UDK (PDF)

  Light Switches (Video)

  Ladders and Jump Pads (Video)

  Teleporters (Video)

  Adding Vehicles and Weapons (Video)

  Create "key" Pickups in UDK - Part 1 (Video)

  Create "key" Pickups in UDK - Part 2 (Video)

  Create a Game Countdown Timer in UDK (Video)

  UDK Game Lives Counter - Part 1 (Video)

  UDK Game Lives Counter - Part 2 (Video)

Adding A.I.: 

Artificial intelligence refers to elements in the game which can react to the players' movements,

actions or decisions. They may be enemies or friendlies or other. Although complex to programme,

once one is programmed correctly the same code can be used on an infinite amount of the same

characters or only subtly edited for different characters.

  Create Enemies in UDK - 4 options (PDF)

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  Multiple Enemy Patrol Bots Setup - Part 1 (Video)

  Enemy Bot Spawning Behavior - Part 2 (Video)

  Patrol Origins and Destinations using 'Notes' - Part 3 (Video)

  Activate Patrols - Part 4 (Video)

  Control Enemy Patrol Bots Firing - Part 5 (Video)

Intro/End/Cut scenes: 

These are short "movie" like interludes in the game used to inform the player on the game missionor objectives, give character information, hand out clues, show dialogue between characters etc.

The reasons for using them are up to you but they are undoubtedly a great feature and add a sense

of professionalism to your game while allowing the player a short respite from the action. They are

quite difficult and time consuming at first, as seen from the 12 part tutorial below! However, like

anything else, practice makes perfect.

  UDK Cinematics - Part 1 (Video)

  UDK Cinematics - Part 2 (Video)

  UDK Cinematics - Part 3 (Video)

  UDK Cinematics - Part 4 (Video)

  UDK Cinematics - Part 5 (Video)

  UDK Cinematics - Part 6 (Video)

  UDK Cinematics - Part 7 (Video)

  UDK Cinematics - Part 8 (Video)

  UDK Cinematics - Part 9 (Video)

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  UDK Cinematics - Part 10 (Video)

  UDK Cinematics - Part 11 (Video)

  UDK Cinematics - Part 12 (Video)

Menus, HUD's, Fonts: 

The menu is the first thing the player sees so it is great if it is interesting and enticing however the

main function of the menu is of course to provide options for the player. Be sure your menu is clear

and easy to use above all else. In UDK scaleform is used to create menus, and other visual interface

features. The full range of applications for scaleform is explained HERE. 

  UDK Scaleform - Part 1 - Importing a SWF (Video)

  UDK Scaleform - Part 2 - Render Textures and Materials (Video)

  UDK Scaleform - Part 3 - Adding a SWF to a BSP  (Video)

  UDK Scaleform - Part 4 - Capturing Input (Video)

  UDK Scaleform - Part 5 - Invoke ActionScript and FSCommands(Video)

  UDK Scaleform - Part 6 - Creating Custom Menus (Video)

  UDK Scaleform - Part 7 - Working with Fonts (Video)

  UDK Scaleform - Part 8 - Mastering a Scaleform HUD 1 (Video)

  UDK Scaleform - Part 9 - Mastering a Scaleform HUD 2 (Video)

  UDK Scaleform - Part 10 - Mastering a Scaleform HUD 3 (Video)

  UDK Scaleform - Part 11 - Mastering a Scaleform HUD 4 (Video)

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Troubleshooting: 

Despite your best efforts and meticulous attention to details sometimes things still go wrong - paths

don't link, things go missing, codes don't work, levels won't build, enemies won't spawn etc. When

something does go wrong and you don't feel like rushing straight to Google, have at look at some

frequently asked questions and issues in UDK. If you can learn from your little errors or oversights

they will be less likely to slow you down in the future!

  UDK Troubleshooting (PDF)