Tired of waiting for funding that kept being delayed, indie developer Joseph Azzam decided to scan an entire castle (Byblos Castle in Lebanon) with whatever equipment he could find. 

To his surprise, it worked out well -- and only cost him $70! Encouraged, he made a point of trying to authentically recreate that castle in a game engine as cheaply as possible. Azzam discovered the peculiar challenges that come with working with scans of huge structures, and at GDC 2017 he delivered a fascinating talk about how he overcame them.

His talk covered some of the latest photogrammetry techniques that enable devs to create game-ready assets, the challenges that come with working on huge structures, and some useful workarounds you can use to reduce the cost of such work.

It was a really interesting talk that dug into a hot topic (photogrammetry!) from a surprising angle. If you missed it at GDC, don't miss your chance to now watch Azzam's talk for free over on the official GDC YouTube channel!

About the GDC Vault

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its new YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC, GDC Europe, and GDC Next already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.

Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Americas