Epic Games Asked Me to Talk About Science Fiction/Fantasy
I had a thing or two to say about that
I was invited by the Epic Games education expert to speak on worldbuilding in the Unreal Engine to their Unreal Fellowship this week. There were over 100 filmmakers and video game developers there.
So what did I talk about?
The worlds we build in Science Fiction and Fantasy.
After publishing a whole slate of SFF books, you start to see what makes a compelling world.
Good game design is not that far off from good novel writing.
History
No one wants to feel like they’re in a world that was snapped into existence seconds before they arrived.
We all want to live in a world that has aged. Change of state fascinates us. Who lived here before? Where are they now? What happened here?
Those are foundations of a good story.
That’s why we just can’t get enough Tolkien.
Things have happened before, and they are going to keep happening.
We Should Want to Explore
Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland does this for me. I could wander around there all day.
Even just looking at the map makes you want to walk through every square inch.
So it should be with the books we read and write. We should want to spend time in those worlds.
Until next time… Read on!
Adam Sidwell
Creative Director
Future House Publishing & Future House Studios
And Another Thing…
Join the Conversation: I speak about the origins of Future House and the metaverse on the Animation Industry Podcast! Or watch it on Youtube here.
Or, come tell me which Disney ride has the best worldbuilding.
Sword of the Week: Willow Branch from the Usagi Yojimbo Chronicles on Netflix! An ancient samurai sword!
I also love that unreal provides UE for free to anyone with a decent running PC to create anything they can imagine. As long as they have enough time and curiosity to learn the engine. I’m still learning the basics myself.
The one that comes to mind for me is The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios. The ride is pretty short, but it's amazing how they captured the era and sense of being inside a Twilight Zone episode. The entire buildup really takes you out of the park and into an amazing experience. I have yet to tackle such an ambitious world building exercise in a short story, but I'm ready to give it a go here soon.