Game engines research
Game engine 1: Unity (3D)
Interface-
Hierarchy: Anything placed into the scene above will be added to this hierarchy tab, this means that the objects are active in scene. unity also makes use of a process called 'parenting' which simply means having an adult game object attached to a child game object, so the child object will follow any command given to the parent e.g physics.
Hierarchy example with groups of objects (parent/childs)
Project: Everything created outside or inside unity will be added to the project tab which links to a folder on the desktop. you can drag and drop anything from this tab into the scene making it applicable or ready to work with, also adding to the hierarchy tab.
Example of assets in the project tab
Example of the search function in the project tab
Inspector: This tab handles all the components attached to game objects ready for modification of each, you alter objects with free transform values, change colour, wrap textures onto surfaces, add sound files to an object, apply physics to the object (collison, destroy, gravity) or even add your own java script code to the object to fine tune what you want it to do when scene is in play mode.
Example of inspector tab with a close up on component/physics tweak drop down menu
Scene: on this tab all objects in the hierarchy are in play on the scene box so you can move them around for re-positioning e.g player, enemies, structures. you can move the objects around with various scene tools such as
hand grab (traverses the scene)
move arrows (moves and places objects)
rotate (rotates game objects)
scale (changes game objects size)
alterations with hand grab-
pivots or orbits a selected object
zooms in on a selected objectGizmo tool in scene is used for altering views e.g birds eye perspective, isometric. possibly useful for making a 2d game with top down view.
Toolbar and game view:
This simply plays and pauses the current scene (makes all objects active) so you can keep track/progress on how the game runs at various points without an overall test at the end making it a quick reference.
The game view takes the scene view and runs it as how the game will look and run in final publish.
Ease of use-
compared to that of udk, unity is easier to use in terms of coding, you can create and add scripts to any object without leaving the engine, making it far more adaptable and quicker.
everything you need is nicely organised into separate tabs so you can keep track of everything on one screen without any hidden tabs (or however you wish to lay out your workspace).
Paired programs-
blender (for 3d modeling and animating)
photoshop (texture development)
google sketch-up (game level)
Platforms-
windows pc
macintosh pc
Availability-
free for standard versions
payment needed for professional version
can only run on high end performing computers
Game engine 2: U.D.K (2D)
Interface-
like with unity u.d.k has many different tabs or panels that can be moved around and display various elements within the game scene.
u.d.k can be viewed with two different editors, level editor and blueprint editor.
level editor
The level editor view is where all design elements of the game can be altered and adjusted. by manually selecting different aspects of within the scene (actors).
1. tab bar/menu bar: the tab bar shows the list of editors currently open including names of the projects, the tabs work similar to that of a web browser (google chrome) so relatively simple to pick up.
Menu bar is simply for loading/opening new projects and a list of commands that are helpful for customising the layout of the interface by checking or un checking different window tabs.
2. Toolbars: this is the main bar that you will go to, to use all of your commands and operations that control the game scene, e.g play and stop the game (preview), you can save and also edit world settings for the global effect across the whole game.
3. Modes: this panel controls all the editing factors of properties within the scene, like placement of objects/movement of objects, terrain and landscape editing, painting (putting textures onto static objects/meshes). all of these editing aspects can be applied within the scene itself.
4. content browser: this is like the assets panel in unity, where every previously constructed object is saved and stored inside. so you can drag and drop into the scene ready for editing.
5. viewports: this is he scene view (like with unity) it shows various different angles of your game, showing orthographic/perspective, perspective gives full control over the view of the game with full pan and zoom options available.
6. scene outliner: this is the hierarchal view of all the objects (actors) curentely in the game scene viewport where instead of looking for the individual object by panning around the scene you can search for it in the outliner with the search bar to find and select it much much easier and faster.
layers: this works same as photshop works in how to organise what objects appear over other objects changing how the overall object looks, so e.g a door 3d model as one layer and a wooden grain texture on layer 2 overlapping.
7. details: this is the main properties editing panel for a selected target in the scene where you can add all your physics and manage all your textures on the said object. along with free transform tools, like rotate and scale. you can also open the individual object in a separate editor window to work on it out of scene view making it easier to work with applied textures.
ease of use- with little experience of my own with u.d.k from my research i have seen similarities between it and unity and since i already have some experience using unity i believe picking up the interface controls and general navigation of scenes.
Paired programs- (same as unity mostly)
photoshop (texture creation)
blender (3d models), although models can be created in udk too
Platforms-
windows pc
macintosh pc
Availability-
u.d.k is the free version of unreal engine 3
high end computer needed
Game engine 3: Scratch (2D)
Produce a 2d game in unity
Produce a 3d game in unity
Are Teams Name: The IndieViduals
Teams Games Name: The DeadEnd
My Personal work involved in the game
Gothic Manor Objects:
Hospital objects:
Dark forest objects:
Players House objects:
Level Design:
Layout 1
Layout 2
