The Situation :
My name is Will and I’ve been fascinated by video games and their creation my entire life, inevitably leading to studying for an undergraduate degree in games programming. In that time and beyond I’ve picked up some valuable skills, tried a few side hustles (not all successful), and generated an online money maker or two.
In these short-form info grabs, I’d like to share some ways you might do this yourself, regardless of where you are in life. And to make it more specific with less emphasis on landing it lucky as a big streamer, I’m going to singularly focus on a different method every time one of these drops where you can pick up some new skills and exponentially grow from there in a very real and organic way. All the whilst doing something you are passionate about.
The Tools :
This maiden voyage will be focused on the workflow of 3D Modelling, I hope it tickles your fancy.
Are you the type that revels in the visuals of a game? Ever stared too long at the world around you in Skyrim? This one might be for you.
Picking up 3D modeling software such as Maya or Blender along with free tutoring from the myriad of YouTube videos out there. Is a surefire step to combine your love for game art with a dash of technical ability, I remember when I first sunk my teeth into this stuff during my college years.
I was lucky enough to have a tutor who had worked for big companies such as Rockstar so she really knew her stuff (she hated working on sports games as they were too boring for her, she loved dragons.)
Anywho, if you’re an absolute beginner I’d highly recommend installing Blender, it’s free and open source with a ton of utility that competes very well with other purchasable software.
You’ll be faced with an empty canvas and an infinite world of creativity which can seem daunting at first (don’t worry, I’m here.) but you can more or less make anything you can think of, try using a hotkey like ‘Shift + A’ in object mode to add a desired shape.
Switch to Edit Mode and use the number keys 1, 2, and 3 to switch between the faces, edges, and vertices (points of connected geometry) on your object to alter it how you wish.
Voila! You’re on your way to becoming a digital Michelangelo! Now head over to YouTube and search for your very own tutor, I highly recommend channels like Blender Guru as he is great for all levels of experience. I will add other sources with an additional hotkey cheat sheet below.
As a beginner, it’s an enriching first step to take a model, sculpt and texture it. Try the donut-making tutorials, he’s a pretty fun host and you’ll enjoy it more than you may think! With your own fancy donut at the end that Homer Simpson would envy.
For additional tips on making your model unique, try channels like Royal Skies or Imphenzia which have a wealth of pro tips to share (these guys really kept me going during lockdown).
Once you’re loud and proud about your new creation and it’s of a professional standard, you can head to sites like Blender Market, Turbosquid, and CGTrader to sell them. Hell, you could even take it to mainstream sites like Etsy if you so desire.
Just remember to make them graphically efficient without errors such as Ngons (you’ll learn a lot about geometry here), or you may have some unsatisfied customers when they render this into a game engine.
But you’ll pick stuff like this up as you go along and trust me, this is one of the most fun things you can do in game development.
As promised your links are below, I know you’ll have a great time with this if you put the time in as I certainly still do. Here’s to your new journey!