If you're like most gamers, you're always looking for
more gameplay from your favorite games! Well now, thanks to
today's technology and the tools developers are including
in games, you can. Using the game editors that come with
your game, or the free gmax software, you can create your
own characters, weapons, objects, levels, and other assets.
These tools might seem intimidating at first but once you
overcome the initial hurdles, you'll find that you can
achieve almost anything with them.
Introduction to Level Design for PC Games is one of the
best ways to get started. It teaches you everything you
need to know about the fundamentals of game creation, so
that the assets you create will work well with your
favorite game. The focus throughout the book is on creating
and texturing geometry for levels, but the concepts you
learn and the tools covered in gmax can easily be applied
to all types of asset creation. Plus, you'll begin to make
the transition from player to creator, by learning many of
the fundamental skills needed to become a marketable level
designer. If you want to make game levels that many others
will enjoy, you need to start with multiplayer levels, so
the book covers popular multiplayer games, particularly
First Per son Shooters (FPS). Working through the
tutorials, you'll create a complete level and many of its
objects. You'll find out everything you need to know to
create all the elements of a level --geometry, textures,
and exporting. And once you've mastered these skills, you
can explore game industry jobs and salary ranges to see if
this is your future!
Skills needed
To get the most out of this book, you should be technically
proficient with software so that you can install and
configure gmax and Tempest. You should also be familiar
with compression software such as WinZip, and a text editor
(Wordpad or Notepad). Some 3D experience is desirable but
not essential, because detailed instructions are given in
the tutorials.
On The CD!
- Full version of gmax 1.2
- Trial version of Photoshop 7
- Finished versions of the tutorial files
- Completed levels for Unreal Tournament 2003 and Quake
III Arena
- Textures referred to in the tutorials
- Color figures by chapter
- Additional configuration information
- Guide to Internet game level creation sites
Contents
- The design process : Creating the scope
- Architecture basics
- Introduction to gmax
- Creating and editing meshes
- Launch pad
- Creating a factory
- Texturing and mapping in gmax
- Creating textures using Photoshop
- Exporting to game engines and editors
- Creating a quake level with tempest
- Careers in the game industry
- About he CD-Rom
- Bibliography
- Index