TEACHING THE DEVELOPMENT OF BASICS VIDEO GAMES TO ARTISTS THROUGH BLENDER

Blender is a free software package specialized in 3D development that is beginning to be used in the development of video games since it incorporates a real-time rendering engine that together with a series of specific tools for the development of video games offers us everything necessary for the development of the same. This article presents a teaching methodology for the technical procedures necessary for the development of video games from a perspective based on simplification of the development process to adapt it to Arts students without previous knowledge in programming. To do this, we use one of the most intuitive tools that incorporates Blender: the logic blocks. These blocks are intended to present a visual development environment that does not require previous knowledge in programming. In this article, we will see the possibilities offered by Blender through the logic blocks and how to guide our projects towards this methodology based on the three large groups of logic blocks used by Blender: Sensors, Controllers and Actuators. After analyzing the main elements that will be used during the development of a video game or interactive application in Blender, we can conclude that from a methodological point of view it is more useful and quick to teach artists to develop video games through blocks of logic in its early stages of training because thanks to this we can quickly face a wide range of projects that require a basic development of functionalities. However, it must be considered that the use of a mixed approach, using the benefits offered by programming languages and the rapid and simple development of our projects through blocks of logic is the best option when it comes to face a complete teaching of the necessary skills for the creation of video games