So basicaly, i'm new to everything that involves game design. So far, everything seems so complex, but this industry is definetely something i want to break into as a career. I am currently studying art at college. What i want too do is basicaly create 3D models of characters, weapons and various other things such as trees and vehicles. What i want to know, when designing games, is there a difference between a game engine and a 3D moddeler? Do the 3D models get imported to a game engine for the programmers to work with? i'm just trying to get my head around it

My second question is, what is a good 3D moddeling program that i can download for free to learn the basics, and then what is one i can buy with prices ranging from £75 to £125 that will allow me to create things with GOOD detail as i'd really like to progress and create good things. Thanks in advance! Joe

So basicaly, i'm new to everything that involves game design. So far, everything seems so complex, but this industry is definetely something i want to break into as a career. I am currently studying art at college. What i want too do is basicaly create 3D models of characters, weapons and various other things such as trees and vehicles. What i want to know, when designing games, is there a difference between a game engine and a 3D moddeler? Do the 3D models get imported to a game engine for the programmers to work with? i'm just trying to get my head around it

My second question is, what is a good 3D moddeling program that i can download for free to learn the basics, and then what is one i can buy with prices ranging from £75 to £125 that will allow me to create things with GOOD detail as i'd really like to progress and create good things. Thanks in advance! Joe

A game engine is a program that runs all the services needed to get a game up and running. It takes care of managing resources (art, sound, etc...), drawing ot the screen, playing sound, taking input, running the game logic, networking, and any number of other things it might need to do.

A 3D modeling app is a program used to make 3D models, among other things.

Blender (Blender.org) is a free 3d modeling application, and a very good one. You can learn to use it by watching the free videos on BlenderCookie.com. They will take you from learning how to use the basics of the interface all the way up to making complex models.

So, what type of programs to level designers use in order to put together game maps? and thanks for reply i will check out blender!

So, what type of programs to level designers use in order to put together game maps? and thanks for reply i will check out blender!

It depends on the game. It might be a text file edited with notepad, or it might be a big in game editor. This decision is up to whoever is making the game.

Since you are new, you will probably end up using Unity at some point. So I will use that as an example. You'd make your models in whatever program you are using, and export them out to an intermediate file format, like FBX. Then you import them into Unity.

Within Unity, you'd have a level, and you'd pull in any of your assets that you'd need, and place them in the correct locations, and then add any scripts you might need to define their behaviour. eg: If you want a gate to open up when a player walks near it, you'd just place a trigger on the ground, and then script that the gate will open up as soon as the player enters into it's area.



The workflow for other engines will be similar. The capabilities of an engine will be different depending on if it was made to make a certain type of game, or if it's more general purpose.

My second question is, what is a good 3D moddeling program that i can download for free to learn the basics, and then what is one i can buy with prices ranging from £75 to £125 that will allow me to create things with GOOD detail as i'd really like to progress and create good things. Thanks in advance! Joe

As already mentioned, blender is very good tool and it is free (I'm using it myself), but if you want to break into the industry as artists you need to get in touch with maya or max, zbrush and photoshop finally. The price tag is quite high (maya/max ~$2500 ?,zbrush $XYZ ?, photoshop $800 ?). Take a look at your college if they offer certain student licenses or make the tools available to work with etc.