it is taken serious if a serious prototype is made and if you refer to it as a7 the engine, and your not using "3D Game Studio" the whole suite for your work, in fact. Its all about making the prototype impressive so that an employer will still trust in you skills. Although if you looking for a job, say in an actual company, unless you have some c++ skils or modeling skills, you really dont have much of a chance at much more than a qa guy or an intern.