Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
The secondary challenge is to be professional in your demeanor and work ethic. This means that you have
taken the time to learn your craft and the working rules involved with your community, and that you strive
to maintain the highest professional standards possible.
The tertiary challenge is to understand the needs of people, how that affects the accessibility of a virtual
world, and the principles of Design for All.
1.5.1 d
efining
The
j
oB
of
a
V
irTual
e
nVironmenT
d
esigner
At present, there is no union or guild of virtual environment designers to codify the job description or set the
working practices, but you will probably want to have those deined in any letter of agreement you have with
a new client. A good deinition to include in your paperwork would be the following:
The virtual environment designer shall be responsible for the creation of the following: (1) creative concept
representations, including sketches, models, and descriptions that pertain to the client's stated list of requirements
for the environment; (2) subsequent rough preliminary 3D models and iterative progress representations as the
design process progresses; and (3) the inal environment in a virtual space, including all of the following items:
terrain, landscaping, buildings, scripted objects, lighting, and sound elements.
You may also want to add in avatars and other kinds of special objects like vehicles if that is what you
want to design and the client has requested it.
1.5.2 B
eing
a
d
esigner
“i
n
The
K
noW
”
As a designer of virtual environments, you should be well versed on the differences and similarities of
various virtual platforms. One of the irst questions to your client should be: “How many virtual worlds
do you want to see this environment on?” If you have been designing for a while, especially if you started
before early 2008, you are probably aware of the options provided by OpenSim and Unity. Each platform
has created a paradigm shift in design thinking for virtual environments, and as a “metaversal” designer,
you need to be aware of that. Figure 1.4 is a schematic drawing displaying some of the differences between
Second Life, OpenSim, and Unity in terms of terrains, inventory backup, and content creation. A designer
who is “in the know” plans for these differences so that if the client decides to change platforms, the designer
is ready to go with it.
1.6 DESIGNING IN A PREEXISTING VIRTUAL WORLD OR MAKING ONE YOURSELF
The decision about where to build your irst design for yourself or a client should not be taken lightly. There
are many options, so you will need to do your homework regarding what these can provide and match them
to your project's needs. Essentially, there are two basic categories: (1) prebuilt grids (or hosted grids) that
allow you to have land regions, modify terrain, and create content that is hosted on someone else's server and
(2) “do-it-yourself” virtual worlds that you install, run, and build on your own server or computer. Let's look
at these and some examples of each.
1.6.1 p
reBuilT
g
rids
/h
osTed
g
rids
The category of prebuilt and hosted grids includes the “full-service” grids like Second Life (http://www.
secondlife.com) and over 200 OpenSim-based grids, such as 3rd Rock Grid (http://3rdrockgrid.com/),
