1. Game Design, Development, and Technology
CS 382
Game Design, Development, and Technology
3D Modeling & Environments
Player Focus
Camera Placement
Splines
Level of Detail
Parts

2. 3D Modeling
Effective placement of characters and objects within a 3D game environment can determine the scene’s emotional impact.
The three characters on the left tilt the weight of the composition in their direction.
Enlarging the isolated character gives him more weight and helps the player focus on him.
Part 6.2
3D Modeling
Page 206

3. Framing The Focus
The action can also be framed to lead a player’s eye to a particular feature, like the V-shaped framing of the heads in this scene, which helps the player focus on the central character.
Part 6.2
3D Modeling
Page 207

4. Camera Placement
The emotional content of a scene can be greatly enhanced by the strategic placement of the camera.
This side shot doesn’t evoke a particular sense of danger...
…but pointing the camera down the pit changes everything!
Part 6.2
3D Modeling
Page 208

5. Camera Lows & Highs
Similarly, placing a camera low and shooting up at a character tends to make the character look large and menacing, while keeping the camera high makes characters seem more helpless and insignificant.
Part 6.2
3D Modeling
Page 209

6. Splines Linear curves and surfaces can look rather chiseled…
Quadratic curves and surfaces are difficult to control with respect to first derivative discontinuities…
So cubic curves and surfaces are the simplest means of generating images without obvious discontinuities…
Part 6.2
3D Modeling
Page 210

7. Free Form Deformation
Patched bicubic surfaces can be bent in a “natural” manner by embedding a polygonal mesh of control points and then recalculating the bicubic patches whenever the control mesh is altered.
Part 6.2
3D Modeling
Page 211
The semi-transparent rectangular solids form 3-D control meshes.

8. Wall Motifs
The form, scale, and inclination of a 3D wall tend to arouse certain motion impulses in game players.
Invokes a “follow along” movement
“Stay still & gaze upward”
“Advance”
“Retreat”
“Downward”
“Over”
“Neutral”
Part 6.3
3D Environments
Page 212

9. Down-Sampling Meshes For LOD
Level-of-detail can be automated by pre-calculating a bicubic mesh and “down-sampling” the mesh (i.e., skipping certain rows and columns of control points) when less detail is required.
Wireframe & Rendered Quake 3 Level
Down-Sampled Version Of Same Scene
Part 6.3
3D Environments
Page 213