Q: Conitec has hired you to create the new Wed tutorial. I hear that you plan to offer us even more; what else will we learn?
A: The WED tutorial is more of a compilation of tips, tricks and useful advice to get people started on creating their own levels. I thought long and hard about this and decided I didn't want to create a tutorial that simply encouraged people to copy the tutorial level. Instead I wanted to encourage people to create their own levels. Topics in the WED tutorial include:
- Working with WED
- Planning your level, deciding the genre and doing the research
- Understanding textures, scaling and color coordination (color matching)
- Tips on lighting your levels
- Adding little details
- Having fun! And a lot more.

Q: Will we get all the resources that were used in your tutorial? What will we get exactly?
A: The tutorial will come with a demo "game". This isn't a full-fledged game, but only two levels with an objective to achieve. All the assets for this "game" will be freely available to 3D GameStudio users. This includes textures, models and anything else used to make the demo complete.

Q: What tools are you using to create your levels (excepting Wed)?
A: For 2D textures I am using Photoshop. This, as far as I am concerned, is an indispensable tool. Modeling was done in 3D Studio MAX. All level design was done, as you know, in WED. I did not use the MAX2GS exporter for this demo since this was to show off WED and be a tutorial for WED.

Q: A6 has improved a lot lately; what new feature(s) would you like to see implemented in the near future?
A: Wow. Now that is a loaded question and one that I could talk about for a while. I started a few topics about this in a few of the FUTURE topics on the forum. I really feel that 3D GameStudio needs to improve its tools and to even add a tool to two to the suite.
- For starters, I am fascinated with shaders, but I am no programmer. I would love to see a sort of GUI for putting together shaders for the non-programmer (in development, George's note). 3D GameStudio advertises itself as a tool that can be used for non-programmers and I would love to be able to see non-programmers be able to access as many of the features of 3D GameStudio as they can without programming.
- WED needs to keep improving, especially in the area of accuracy (in development, George's note). Little things need to be added to make a level designer's life easier such as having a function to stretch a texture to fill the entire face of a block, better methods of selecting a face of a block for applying textures to just that face and other things that could raise the bar of WED.
- MED needs to be improved. Frankly, I never touch MED except as an import tool.
- And, as one that uses other 3D applications (i.e. MAX), I would love to see better support for these tools via plug-ins or file converters. I also think that 3D GameStudio should drop its propriety format for models (MDL) and allow for direct use of 3DS and X models (in development, George's note). This would be better than a plug-in or converter. You could then use just about any 3D modeler on the market to create entities for 3D GameStudio. Of course, I don't know what advantages using MDL gives us, so possibly this is not the best idea. The engine is more than capable, now the tools just need to catch up.

Q: You are the editor of 3AM, a magazine that is oriented towards artists and wannabe artists. Even I have learned a few things by reading your magazine (like skinning a model). I hear that you plan to turn 3AM into a monthly magazine - is this true?
A: Yes. It is true. Details on decisions that affect 3AM are always listed on the news page of the 3AM web site ( 3am.web2d3.com ).

Q: How many polygons / frame would you recommend in order to keep a decent frame rate on a decent PC?
A: Ouch! Another loaded question :) . That would all depend on the target platform. In other words, what do you mean by a "decent PC"? And, as you know, there is a lot more involved than counting polygons. Creating a game, level or RT3D application is a careful balance of code, textures, level geometry, models and more. The amount of polygons that would display decently on screen would depend on many factors, I would think.

Q: Could you give us a few more tips for beginners?
A: The best tip I think I could give is for beginners to become "observers". We need to become observers of things all around us. The better we understand our reality (how light interacts with things, how things are put together, how gravity works, etc) the better we can bend these things in the fantasy worlds we create on our computers. It may seem a strange thing to say, but the more firmly grounded we are in reality the better we are able to create the fantastic.

Q: What do you struggle with the most when creating a level?
A: Lighting. Lighting is just plain hard to get right. It is where a lot of trial and error comes into play and I guess this has to do with how WED displays lights compared to the final build when light maps are created.
You simply have to become familiar with what light maps will look like and sort of imagine them in your head as you place lights and adjust their brightness and color values. There just isn't a quick and easy way
to learn lighting.

Q: How long have you been using 3D GameStudio and do you actually make a living with it?
A: I have been using 3D GameStudio since version 3.9 was out. So I guess you can say I have been around for a while ;) . Even so, I still have so much more to learn about using 3d GameStudio. It is always an adventure. I don't make my entire living using 3D GameStudio, but a good portion of my income is generated by using it. I think that 3D GameStudio is great for making games (as the name indicates) but I think that many people forget that RT3D is not just for games. There are many other uses for 3D GameStudio than creating games. So, using 3D GameStudio is more than a hobby for me. As a non-programmer, 3D GameStudio makes it possible for me to create RT3D environments that I could never create in other engines.

Thank you a lot, Dan.