People all over the world play games. They've been doing it for ages. People always long to play alongside other people, rather than on their own, and it's the same with computer games. Virtual gaming worlds have sprung up with immense success. Games where teams can work together or against human opponents, such as Second Life, World of Warcraft, Halo, games where teams can work together, or against human opponents. Gaming brings people together in virtual worlds who would never get to meet in person. Games cross the boundaries of language and culture. When you start to take part in a community like, this you start to gain approval. After a while this turns to kudos, then adoration, and a following can develop. In the end, you have your own fan base. I have seen this happen time and again for extra-helpful forum members, game level creators, or tutorial writers. This kind of kudos can be the biggest reward available, much more satisfying than financial rewards.
If thanks and kudos are what motivates you, you've come to the right place. With this book, you will be able to mod your favorite games. You will be able to create the new game levels and release them for free to the community. You will be able to churn out detailed and professional assets for your friends to use. Just remember one rule: Do it for free, and don't be needy in your pursuit of praise. If you're good and you're consistent, it will come.
Many games come bundled with a level or map editor. Some have gone so far as to release the whole game development kit with the game, and you might be able to use this with SketchUp as your asset modeling tool. Find a good example of this and stick with it for a while. Learn the ins and outs of the game and the editor. Use the skills you learn in this book to create new game levels or customize the existing ones. If you are able to show that your levels are downloaded and popular, this will be an excellent portfolio to use in approaching a game company. Furthermore, the feedback you get from those playing your levels (good and bad) will help you hone your skills like nothing else.
Even if your favorite game doesn't have a level editor bundled with it, you can still make an impact with your new asset creation skills. Texture maps on your computer are usually saved somewhere accessible to you, so at the least you can take these and modify them to your own preferences. I once took great delight in mapping a photo of my own face on my gaming character, then running around creating mayhem.