Game Engine choice:
I started out by choosing a Game engine. I had worked with Unity and Unreal Engine before but my experience was very limited as it was a long time ago. I had no idea of the ins and outs of either Game engine but ultimately chose to start my project with Unity since it ran on my computer better and had a familiar fell.
The 3D models:
After that, I had to choose the proper models for my game. I knew how I wanted it to look in my head, however, had no idea how to create such complex models from scratch in either Cinema 4D or Blender as that would require a lot of time.
I remembered hearing about Google Poly while watching the Google I/O developer conference and decided to use the platform to source a few models for this early project as they were licensed under CC-BY, which meant that not only could I download them but also edit and freely use them as long as I gave credit to the original authors of the models. All of the content on Google Poly was created either with Google Blocks, Google Tilt Brish or both so that way I could be sure that whichever models I chose they would have a similar feel and look and would fit together quite nicely.
Google has developed a toolkit for both Unity and Unreal engine which acts as a plugin so it integrated perfectly with any project and made importing the various models I had chosen very easy. Some of the models, however, had a few things that needed tweaking such as orientation and scale so I used Blender to make a few small edits.
The Code:
Now came the hard part- the code. I had no idea where to start because while I had worked with 3D modeling programs before and dabbled with game development in Unity, I had never really sat down and tried to write a proper script in order to program some logic into a game.
I sat down and started reading the Unity documentation. After that, I read a few articles on Player Controllers and movement. I watched some tutorials and videos on how to implement what I wanted my game to do and through the help of some friends online to debug my code, I finally got things moving and behaving in the way I imagined them behaving in my mind.
The details:
After I had figured out most of the layout of my game as well as some of the controls, I focused on refining how the game looked and tried to eliminate some of the problems I was facing such as holes on bottom of a few 3D models and finding a way to limit the player by placing terrain in some specific areas.
Conclusion:
Although VERTICE is still in its earliest stages and needs a lot more work and refining, I am happy that I got to this stage and created something that actually functions, however, limited its functionality is.
I still have a lot more to learn in the world of Game Development. I am excited that I started my journey and will make sure that one day I create my dream game and hopefully bring it to market. I have a lot of ideas and am really passionate about the Gaming Industry as a whole. I grew up playing games and now its time for me to make them.
-Bogomil Petrov
