Where to find inspiration

With all of these, of course, don't copy; make your own thing inspired by it. Of course, you can always make your spin on an idea.

• Watch lots of movies. Animated movies such as Dreamworks' Dragons are nice. Realistic ones can work as well. Sometimes, when watching such movies, I'll have a notebook out, and I'll write down a list of what I like, and what I think I could try to do.

• Books. Most books are great for inspiration. Example: The Edge Chronicles, or Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan trilogy.

• Other Games. If you find a game that provides an atmosphere, or has some good basic content (e.g. textures, models) you like, take note of it. I got a load of good ideas from playing Mario Kart DS. Another Example: The Dark Nebula games (for iOS). The games don't always have to be 3D: if you find a good 2D game with a texture you think you can recreate for 3D use, then great.

• Real world: this is a good idea to see how architecture and textures are combined. There's a trim at the base of walls in houses. It's things like that that you should watch for. You can also take a camera for photographing textures you like. That's how a lot of good textures can be made.