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 – enabling a skybox


Now we want to make the environment a little more real. Unity comes with a few Skyboxes that you can use straight out of the box. A Skybox is like being inside an upturned box with a sky painted on the inside. Crude but effective! Here's how to get one set up:

  1. Go to Edit ¦ Render settings. The following pallet appears.

  2. Select the dot next to the Skybox Material. A material selection pallet appears.

  3. Type in skybox and select one of the thumbnails. Check whether the text at the bottom shows Assets/Standard Assets/Skybox, which is where the bundled Skyboxes are kept.

  4. Now just close the pallet. Your sky appears next time you press Play in the Game tab.

Have a go hero - fog

If you chose one of the murkier skyboxes, you might also wish to introduce some fog to set off the atmosphere. This is accessed from the Render settings pallet. Enter a Fog Density, Linear Fog Start, and Linear Fog End. I suggest you just experiment with this.