Navigation and Functionality

Abstract

So far, you have explored the terrain in the Scene view with zoom, pan, orbit, and flythrough navigation. Every environment artist’s dream is to be able to experience his or her creation firsthand. And while “holodeck” technology is not quite here yet, being able to travel through your environment in first-person mode for the first time is, for many of us, one of the best parts of making real-time games. To make your environment into an actual game environment, you will need to be able to travel around inside the world, responding to terrain topography and large objects during runtime. Only by doing this can you tell if scale, layout, color scheme, and all the rest of the design have come together to create the mood you intend. Even though what you’re creating here is just a temporary test scene, the effect is the basis for every entertainment author’s goal: suspension of disbelief.