Book Image

Google SketchUp for Game Design: Beginner's Guide

Book Image

Google SketchUp for Game Design: Beginner's Guide

Overview of this book

Creating video game environments similar to the best 3D games on the market is now within the capability of hobbyists for the first time, with the free availability of game development software such as Unity 3D, and the ease with which groups of enthusiasts can get together to pool their skills for a game project. The sheer number of these independent game projects springing up means there is a constant need for game art, the physical 3D environment and objects that inhabit these game worlds. Now thanks to Google there is an easy, fun way to create professional game art, levels and props.Google SketchUp is the natural choice for beginners to game design. This book provides you with the workflow to quickly build realistic 3D environments, levels, and props to fill your game world. In simple steps you will model terrain, buildings, vehicles, and much more.Google SketchUp is the ideal entry level modeling tool for game design, allowing you to take digital photographs and turn them into 3D objects for quick, fun, game creation. SketchUp for Game Design takes you through the modeling of a game level with SketchUp and Unity 3D, complete with all game art, textures and props. You will learn how to create cars, buildings, terrain, tools and standard level props such as barrels, fencing and wooden pallets. You will set up your game level in Unity 3D to create a fully functional first person walk-around level to email to your friends or future employers.When you have completed the projects in this book, you will be comfortable creating 3D worlds, whether for games, visualization, or films.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
Google SketchUp for Game Design
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Time for action – making fencing with SketchUp's materials


We've not yet used the materials much that came bundled with SketchUp. If you haven't downloaded the full extended set yet, head over to Chapter 2, Tools that Grow on Trees now and find out how.

  1. In SketchUp open up a default template with a 2D person present to help you with scale. Select the meters template.

  2. Draw a rectangle and type 0.2,0.2 and hit Enter.

  3. Push/Pull to a little over the height of the person.

  4. Now, make it into a component and copy it for a distance of 2m.

  5. Draw a rectangle from the bottom of one pillar to almost the top of the next pillar, as you can see in the next screenshot:

  6. Now, select the Paint Bucket tool and select Fencing in the Materials pallet.

  7. Select one of the wire mesh materials and paint it onto the rectangle on both sides.

  8. Go to CGTextures.com and select Metal ¦ Painted and select any of the textures you like—one that you can get a reasonable area of metal from.

  9. Prepare the texture as you've done before in...