Wednesday, April 28, 2010

First Unreal Level Completed!

When I first started my 3 months off from BioWare I decided to make use of my team and try to learn something productive to the job.  I used to love making levels for Duke Nukem but got somewhat left behind when Unreal became the norm in level building.  So I decided to spend my 3 months off learning the Unreal Development Kit.  I used the videos supplied by 3DBuzz.com and made my progress.

I applied for a QA Design position on the Mass Effect team last week, and when I didn’t even get selected for an interview I was pretty bummed out.  I realized I still have a lot to learn.  After a short period of feeling sorry for myself, with the help of some good friends, I got my butt in gear and decided to use this to motivate me to make my Unreal level awesome.  To prove to myself that I can improve.  Three months ago I didn’t know how to even use the UDK program, and today, I’m happy to say, my first fully functional level has been completed!

Here are some pics, followed by a video.

A01

A02

A04

A05

A06

A07

I am really proud how everything turned out, especially considering this was my first real level.  I created a video showing off the level, and explaining some of the process.  The last 5 minutes are a Deathmatch with 5 bots showing the map in action!

I’m really proud I met my goal of learning an entire engine in my 3 months off.  I still have a lot to learn, of course, but after my recent disappointment with the fulltime position, it’s encouraging to remind myself that no matter where I’m at now, I have it in me to improve.

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