ABSTRACT
The design of video games including the planning and integration of various 3D assets that build up the game model and map will be discussed. There are various types of structures: terrain, foliage, lights, UI and other elements that are needed to create the engaging game world. In this chapter, the development of an interactive user interface (UI) in Unity including menus, extra features and tools will be explained. To enhance the quality in the game, real-time shadow and sun simulation to control the day and night cycle and shaders for real looking rivers will be presented. The authors will discuss the importance of narration and game logic enhanced by artificial intelligence (AI) in level design. Artificially generated terrain structures are a big part of the modeling of virtual environments for the video games industry and in military training simulations. Without them, we could not enjoy an open space world in many games like The Witcher, The Elder Scrolls, Fallout etc. In this chapter, we will focus on faster ways to generate terrain structures using height map algorithms and modify them according to our needs. The Unreal Engine Blueprint (UEB) system to generate procedurally parameterized trees and interactive gameplay features like force reaction, chopping and dynamic wind will be discussed. Utilizing the UEB system to implement the recursive surface align algorithm that can be used to create surface aligned vines, ropes, fences and other assets will be presented. The chapter contains four parts which were built independently and they may be used as a roadmap to develop interactive games following different approaches.
