When personal computers arrived in my life (around 1990), the first thing I wanted to do was created something of a 3D nature. At that stage the best I could do was print out faux 3D cubes and shapes on a dot matrix printer, graphics were very limited on a IBM XT 286 but I began delving into Dos programming language in the hope that something useful could come from it. A few years later after playing a bit of Doom1 I realised that 3D on a 2D screen was definitely going to happen and I began buying a computer magazine every week to follow the latest developments.
3D engines began appearing as indie (independent) developers raced to improve on the Doom legacy. My own goal was to create a 3D temple for performing rituals in. Being an avid explorer of the occult, this new cyber 3D environment began to show many parallels to the inner temple work I was doing and I could see the potential.
My first 3D Temple was made with an engine called DBPro..
his temple was a room in an old manor. I could toggle things on and off, move around and cast a circle. It was quite good considering resources at the time.
I then tried other engines until finally settling on Unity 3D.
I had the idea that I would create a primary working temple that could be placed in any 3D environment and set about developing the structure. Then came a few environments.. The results were encouraging and that particular approach has continued until today.
If you have ever attempted to make computer programs, you will know that programming is not easy and can be a time consuming process. I am always on the lookout to make things less stressful for myself and a couple of years ago I found a remarkable solution to the whole business of reinventing the wheel every time one starts a 3D project.
Unity 3D has an asset store attached to it and I have bought many useful assets there and some that proved to be not so useful. There is one that looked very interesting to me called ‘Gamecreator’ and I purchased it with enthusiasm because it’s makers promised a lot.
This is software that enables one to make 3D programs without actually coding anything. There are loads of presets that simply need to be linked and activated to produce results. The programming has been done so that artists and concept designers can get on with what they are good at.
This then is an engine within an engine (because it needs Unity3D to work) and the results can be impressive. With a little work, avatars can interact and perform functions which is exactly what is required.
As with all things, there is a small learning curve but compared with coding every single step in C# it makes the process a breeze and new functionality for this asset is arriving all of the time so the future of temple building in Unity3D appears to be rosy.
No, this is not an advertisement but I can recommend that anyone attempting to create a cyber temple look at this tool par excellence.