It’s truly awe-inspiring, and humbling, for us to hear, see and read what our students get up to while taking our course.
Here’s the story of James “Cheshire” Clayton’s dream of turning his paper and pen role-playing game into a AAA video game. We can’t wait to play it!
My name is James “Cheshire” Clayton, and I am a 41 year old reformed knock-around guy, turned artist. After working as a bouncer, bodyguard, private investigator, and even as head of security for a professional wrestling company, I learned the hard way that some jobs don’t make for an easy retirement. After years of moonlighting as an artist and writer for pen and paper roleplaying games in the 90s, I wrote my own and payed the bills with bumps and bruises. It wasn’t until many years later that my love of gaming and art (and project management) came together again when I discovered Blender 3D, Zbrush, and Unity. Everything that I learned after 3 years of hard practice and finding some friends to help me in my insane dream led me to the Unity Development Course, and after a year (I’m an artist with a day job, don’t judge me) it is paying off for me and my project in a major way.
Before starting Ben’s course, I had 20 years of experience in illustration, page layout, and type setting. I had been learning 3D modeling in Blender and Zbrush for 3 years, but had no clue about programming or anything it entailed. As any artist would be, I was mortified at the prospect of learning to code, but the course broke it down into easily digestible pieces that I could learn at my own pace, and keep as an encyclopedia of reliable tutorials and advice on programming. Add the community and class support, and all my fears were put to rest.
What is my project? Well, that question is a big one, and you might think I’m crazy when I tell you about it. I am the creator of Status Quo: Chronicles of a Universe at War, a currently non-commercial volunteer project that is working on producing a AAA quality FP shooter with elements of roleplaying and RTS. Originally sold on Amazon and RPG.net, my pen and paper table-top roleplaying game is now well on its way to becoming a video game. The video game I always wanted to play. The focus will be on open world multiplayer PVE and and closed multiplayer matchmaking, with character progression based on games like Skyrim, Fallout, and many of our favorites.
For anyone who still thinks we’re crazy (and it’s ok, we’re used to it), the facts and our work speaks for themselves: On a volunteer timeline and next to no budget (less than $5,000 from donations and semi-successful fundraisers) we have already created over 20 playable characters (rigs and animations underway), 100 civilian NPCs, 20 vehicles, 50 weapons (so far), 3 multiplayer maps, 4 open-world sandbox planets (the smallest of which is 32 square kilometers), three space combat levels, and original music from Brazillian DJ nCamargo and Dr. Randolph Partain (PHD composer from Rice university).
When we go commercial (or if we can build a following on Patreon: www.patreon.com/SQProject) long friendships and networking have opened our doors to the opportunity of contracting talent from companies with experience like Gearbox, BioWare, and Blizzard to help us reach our goals. I promise I’m not making any of this up… I’ve been at it for 4 years and I don’t plan on stopping until it’s done or ready to sell to someone who can finish it for us; even if some months I’m doing 95% of the work.
Here are a few links to show you just how serious we are, and what this course has made possible for us to build and improve on:
Youtube Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0rHDrefceU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fIw5VBSD30
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFr1zX82Lj4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-kRwED-LOM
Check out the SQProject and learn more here:
miffedkittypress.com
www.patreon.com/SQProject
Facebook: SQProject
Twitter: @Cheshire3D
Twitch: SQProject
What can I say to anyone who is thinking of taking the Unity Development Course ?
This is, put simply, the best single coding resource for beginners in C# anywhere on the web. My project members and I have have assembled dozens of code assets already, but every class of this Unity Development Course adds to my arsenal. When I started this project (and the course) code looked like hieroglyphics to me. Now I can read it, understand (most of) it, debug it, and every day I am experimenting with new ways to make my game a reality by coding what we need or adapting commercial assets that a year ago I couldn’t even fathom. I coded my own shader last week; imagine what I’ll be doing next year. Programmers talk to me like I know what I’m doing, and you have no idea how huge that is for me as an artist. Without this course, I highly doubt my goals would feel as in-reach as they are looking more every day.
A million times, thank you for making this course and this community. I would recommend it to anyone, even an old knock-around guy like me.
