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 – creating a 3D car outline


  1. Use Push/Pull on the side view to extrude the car's outline as far as the edge of the plan goes. You can see this here.

  2. Now do the same with the rear view. Triple-click on it to select everything, and then right-click and select Intersect Faces ¦ With Model.

    Tip

    Boolean tools

    If you have SketchUp Pro, skip to step 7. You can use SketchUp Pro's Boolean tools to do the following steps.

  3. The part you want to keep is where the two volumes intersect. Use the eraser on everything that falls outside both outlines, as you can see here.

  4. Once you've finished, you should already have the following basic car shape. You can now hide the images to see your model better.

  5. Now to finish off, extrude the plan shape and again use Intersect with Model.

  6. Delete the parts you don't need.

  7. If you have SketchUp Pro you can do this much easier using the Solid Tools. Here's how. After extruding each part, turn it into a Group.

  8. Select your three groups. Then simply go to Tools ¦ Solid...