Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Developers use various programming languages that are all based on pure mathematical functions
and logic. It doesn't get much more technical than that. On the other hand, it takes great creativity
to come up with a solution within the strict limitations of computer code to bring an app or game
concept to life.
A great game is that beautiful combination of art and code coming together to produce an
outstanding experience for the player. Always keep your mind open, including for those opportunities
to learn more about whatever the heck it is those other team members do. The better you can
understand how it all fits together, the better you can communicate with your 3D artist collaborators,
and ultimately the better your final product will be.
Modeling, Rigging, and Skinning
Computer-generated animation is an entire industry in and of itself, with individuals who specialize
in modeling, rigging, animation, and more. Each of these is needed just to create and animate a new
character. Maya, 3ds Max, and Blender are used to create characters from scratch, and there are
other character generator tools out there as well. That is beyond the scope of this topic, but you will
need to understand some of the terminology.
Modeling
is the process of creating the three-dimensional shape of the game object, where this
shape is made up of a number of triangles typically referred to as
polygons
(Figure
5-5
). Recall that
more complex models require more computational power.
Figure 5-5.
Alien character model wireframe
One of the most common descriptors for models in the Asset store is the number of “polys” or “tris”
used in the model. Metaio, an augmented-reality SDK that supports Unity, says it best: “Whenever
you design a 3-D model, keep in mind to use as few polygons as possible, but as many as
necessary.” The same goes for choosing ready-made models for your game.
