Blender: Game Engine

I have been working towards including 3D visualisation in my ICT courses as a way of hooking in students and teaching them how to use a virtual environment to explore concepts that would be expensive to build physically.

I have been introducing students in Year10, 11 and 12 to 3D modelling techniques and a simple workflow to move through the Design process with purpose. Recently a senior student has been exploring the game engine built into Blender as part of an independent project and I have been exploring the opportunities it provides us.

I am not overly interested in Game Design in school but the skills and techniques associated with a game engine are particularly interesting for letting stakeholders in a project take control of a concept and explore it in their own way. A lot of the interaction associated with 3D games is equally valuable for visualisation and provides a great platform for students interested in a range of media and contexts.

Next year I hope to include it in a few of my courses and start getting our students into it. Should be good fun.