Edge of Nowhere by Jake Thompson
While
many students spent the Winterm playing games at home, DES 256: Interactive Environments, was making them. For two and a half weeks in early January,
fifteen UW-Stout students spent over eight hours a day (five days a week)
creating their own video game environments. They drew on their previously learned
knowledge of 3D modeling, and combined it with newly acquired skills in
programming and game engine design.
Roughly half the class was Entertainment Design majors, while the
rest was composed of Game Design & Development (Art Concentration)
students. Dave Beck, Assistant Professor of 3D Animation and
Game Design taught the course.
Nearly
all of the artists worked on their own, utilizing Autodesk Maya and Unity, the artist-friendly 3D
video game engine. Their goal was to
create artistic experiences for the viewer to explore as virtual
installations. Students were responsible
for creating everything themselves (models, materials, lighting, animation,
scripts, sounds, etc.). Elements of
sculpture, performance, interactivity, game design, and art/game history were
incorporated into the course and the student-designed environments.
In
addition to creating their own games, students also presented examples of
published video games which demonstrated impressive 3D environments and
interactivity. The daily presentations
included both a research-style presentation and a class-wide playtest
session. Games such as Far Cry 3,
Bastion, Dear Esther, Half Life 2, and Super Mario Sunshine were presented and
play-tested.
Please
feel free to experience a few select examples of these projects, here: http://davebeck.org/interactive_environments.html.
Temple by Keith Catalano
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