Basic Game Art Concepts - Game Character Creation with Blender and Unity - page 20

Reflection Maps Also called environment maps, these maps create the illusion that a
surface has a mirror-like shininess. The object appears to reflect scenery around it, but
in reality it is displaying an image moving across its surface. This image is often a pan-
oramic view of the environment surrounding the object. You often see these used in rac-
ing games that depict realistic car models.
Illumination Maps Like specularity maps, these images have a color palette that ranges
from white to transparent, with white showing what areas of a model should appear to
glow on their own. The most familiar use of these textures is in lit windows for night-
time cityscapes. They can also be useful for creating glowing eyes in powerful characters
or enhancing special effects. You will use a map like this on your zombie in Chapter 6,
“Digital Painting Color Maps.”
Working with Game Engines
Game artists go through all of the steps of preparing 3D models so that the models will
eventually work in a game engine—a program that simulates the real world and makes
video games function. In this topic, you will be utilizing the Unity game engine to make
your zombie interactive. However, there is a wide range of game engines available to the
do-it-yourself (DIY) game designer.
Game engines are unique among types of software in the gaming industry in that
there is no single industry standard that everyone uses. While we will be using Unity
in this topic, it is useful to understand the scope of engine choices available. he “big
name” choices include the Unreal Engine, CryENGINE, and Source Engine, though
many studios elect to create their own tool sets. The important thing to remember when
choosing and working with a game engine is that it should it the skills you have and the
scale of your project. It does not make sense to give yourself a headache with a 3D engine
when your project will look just fine in a 2D engine like Game Editor or FlatRedBall.
Game engines vary greatly. Some are more focused on scripting and others are largely
WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) art-based interfaces that show you what your
game will look like as you design.
Unity offers the best aspects of many other game engines to the art-focused game
designer. It has a WYSIWYG-style interface that lets you drag and drop your art assets
into a level. It also has an intuitive importing system that relieves you from many of the
headaches that other engines put you through to bring in models. If you are learning
about 3D game creation for the first time, Unity is a great choice for learning some of
what the game art field involves because it lets you spend more time learning how to work
with engines and less time slamming your head into your desk.
When learning about game engines, you must understand the general workflow
of bringing artwork into a game and getting it to work, as this is the basis of the game