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Cliff Hanger colony
About Truespace Archives
These pages are a copy of the official truespace forums prior to their removal somewhere around 2011.
They are retained here for archive purposes only.
Cliff Hanger colony // Work in Progress
Post by 3dvisuals dude // Aug 18, 2007, 1:01am
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3dvisuals dude
Total Posts: 1703
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Hey 3d, now that you mention it, I have seen that before and when i tried it, it work ie nothing selected shows the total scene poly count... btw. the scene stands at 32090 polygons at the moment...
Hi Theuns,
You could more than triple that facecount and still be under online max specs assuming your model and textures sizes stay under 6 meg, and much less is always much faster. No need to worry at this point apparently!:)
A very high honor indeed to be even considered for Caligari Beta Team Membership. You may want to drop Roman a PM and see if you can work out a plan to help make trueSpace7.51 more readily affordable for you. Many here, including myself, have taken Caligari up on similar TS offers before, but very few of us have ever been considered for Beta Team Membership.;)
Hope that helps,
- 3dvisuals dude |
Post by theuns // Aug 18, 2007, 1:35am
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theuns
Total Posts: 519
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Well, most of the designs and models I've done in the past was for game projects so I always keep low-detail designing in mind when I do modelling. This is also how I designed this scene with little curved/round shapes like pipes and spheres, hence the small scene size [so far] and as it turned out, ideal for the tP project ;)
I'll take your advice and chat with him about it and I would be honoured to be considered for something like that... :) |
Post by 3dvisuals dude // Aug 18, 2007, 10:44am
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3dvisuals dude
Total Posts: 1703
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Well, most of the designs and models I've done in the past was for game projects so I always keep low-detail designing in mind when I do modelling. This is also how I designed this scene with little curved/round shapes like pipes and spheres, hence the small scene size [so far] and as it turned out, ideal for the tP project ;)
I'll take your advice and chat with him about it and I would be honoured to be considered for something like that... :)
Hi Theuns,
That's an excellent modeling approach to already be accustomed to as you design scenes for truePlay use, particularly in those cases where your intended destination for a given scene is online. It's always nice to be able to have plenty of extra room in your scene to add additional new and cool interactive scripted objects and interactive activities to really polish off the final enjoyability and immersiveness aspects of your truePlay environment.
I'm not sure how aware yet you may be of all the truly fantastic new things which have been developing lately in relation to new interactive scripts and activities which you can now add to your truePlay scenes, so I put together a "crash course" for you here below in case you may be interested. Also, by the way, having access to the Caligari Developers via Beta Team as Roman mentioned above, would give you truly inside access to developing some extremely innovative and amazing new script possibilities yourself for such application, which represents an extremely exciting opportunity indeed!
Below is my related "crash course" in what's just happened and a link to the current discussion on next Tuesday's cool new "Script Hookup" meetings available to you in fully interactive realtime via truePlay1.3. You would also be able to talk with everyone there in realtime too, including me, so you could get a good idea right from the horse's mouth how to apply this stuff to your own trueplay development projects.:)
The Interactive Scene Objects Yard (A post about a brand new related scripting breakthrough) This particular thread is a place for all of us to add new scripting ideas too.;)
http://forums1.caligari.com/truespace/showpost.php?p=44316&postcount=1 (http://forums1.caligari.com/truespace/showpost.php?p=44316&postcount=1)
The Garage area of the forum here: (Awesome tools and Developers in here daily:D )
http://forums1.caligari.com/truespace/forumdisplay.php?f=16 (http://forums1.caligari.com/truespace/forumdisplay.php?f=16)
Script Hookup: Tuesday Aug. 21 9 PM EST (try not to miss this live truePlay1.3 meeting;) )
http://forums1.caligari.com/truespace/showthread.php?t=3868 (http://forums1.caligari.com/truespace/showthread.php?t=3868)
Hope this all helps, and I'm also very glad you took my advice.;)
- 3dvisuals dude |
Post by theuns // Aug 18, 2007, 12:02pm
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theuns
Total Posts: 519
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Wow! Loads of info, thanks 3D, will definately check those links out... I also just checked and saw I have truePlay 1.21 so I will get 1.3 asap...
Thanks again :) |
Post by 3dvisuals dude // Aug 18, 2007, 3:02pm
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3dvisuals dude
Total Posts: 1703
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Wow! Loads of info, thanks 3D, will definately check those links out... I also just checked and saw I have truePlay 1.21 so I will get 1.3 asap...
Thanks again :)
My pleasure Theuns.
I'll see you at the Script Hookup meeting Tuesday then.:)
- 3dvisuals dude |
Post by theuns // Aug 19, 2007, 10:53pm
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theuns
Total Posts: 519
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I saw that the meeting starts at 4 am my time :O ... will have the coffee and alarm clock ready ;)
Another addition to the scene, a verical lift to the upper levels... still wanna add some rope pulleys to open the roof like that...
Does anybody know if there is an option or plugin to replace copies of the same object with a new one?
I want to make a better looking palm leaf for the roofs or something else like a reed mat or bark strips or something... ??? |
Post by 3dvisuals dude // Aug 19, 2007, 11:21pm
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3dvisuals dude
Total Posts: 1703
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I saw that the meeting starts at 4 am my time :O ... will have the coffee and alarm clock ready ;)
Hi Theuns. Yeah 4am can be rough sometimes... this particular meeting will be well worth the effort though, rest assured (no pun intended:rolleyes:)!
Another addition to the scene, a verical lift to the upper levels... still wanna add some rope pulleys to open the roof like that...
Does anybody know if there is an option or plugin to replace copies of the same object with a new one?
That may be a question better asked in the Older Versions area here:
http://forums1.caligari.com/truespace/forumdisplay.php?f=12 (http://forums1.caligari.com/truespace/forumdisplay.php?f=12)
There's lots of expert help per version in there, just be sure to mention which version!
I want to make a better looking palm leaf for the roofs or something else like a reed mat or bark strips or something... ???
This one I can definitely help you with. Go here and grab this excellent freeware opensource plant generator and be sure to grab any "samples" files while you are there... there is a Palm which would be PERFECT for what you are doing here if you only use a few fronds (which you can customize) repeatedly in your scene... just delete the trunk and branches after export.
http://ngplant.sourceforge.net/ (http://ngplant.sourceforge.net/)
You can actually see a Palm here which I made with that software on Caligari's main truePlaces page here:
http://www.caligari.com/products/trueSpace/ts75/Brochure/truePlaces.asp?SubCate=S2forum (http://www.caligari.com/products/trueSpace/ts75/Brochure/truePlaces.asp?SubCate=S2forum)
It's the Palm on the left in the image on the upper left of the page.:)
Nice additions above by the way!
Hope that helps, and see you tommorrow early!;)
- 3dvisuals dude |
Post by theuns // Aug 20, 2007, 12:02am
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theuns
Total Posts: 519
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hi 3d, tnx again for the info :)
will check in the link you gave me and already dl'd the opensource tool, must say the samples looks gorgeous but the program isn't very user friendly, so i'll have to go read how it works first... |
Post by theuns // Aug 20, 2007, 9:30pm
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theuns
Total Posts: 519
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i'm not too happy with the palm leaf roof, although the idea was nice, it doesn't look that hot...
i did an alternative roof as a test to see what looks better... what do you guys think? |
Post by jayr // Aug 21, 2007, 4:56am
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jayr
Total Posts: 1074
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i think the wooden one looks much better. |
Post by theuns // Aug 21, 2007, 5:45am
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theuns
Total Posts: 519
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i tend to agree, unless i get a better substitute for the palm leafs, something more realistic and less uniform... |
Post by 3dvisuals dude // Aug 21, 2007, 5:59am
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3dvisuals dude
Total Posts: 1703
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i tend to agree, unless i get a better substitute for the palm leafs, something more realistic and less uniform...
Yep... the wood does look better I think too. Too bad about the palm issues, but it was worth a shot anyway! Hahaha!
It was cool meeting you in truePlace just now too, and I'll look forward to seeing you tonight at the Script Hookup meeting!
This will give you a great opportunity to see just what all these recent developments could do for you with a scene like this one.:D
See you there!
- 3dvisuals dude |
Post by theuns // Aug 21, 2007, 2:50pm
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theuns
Total Posts: 519
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i will experiment with the ngplant generator you told me about and see if i can use it, will definately some of those plants else were in my scene if not for the roofs...
Looking forward to tonights meeting... IF TP FINISHES LOADING... been sitting on 'waiting for cntx transfer' like forever... :( |
Post by 3dvisuals dude // Aug 25, 2007, 11:27am
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3dvisuals dude
Total Posts: 1703
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Well you made it last Tuesday Theuns, so I'm hoping you won't miss next Tuesday's Script Hookup!
It will definitely amaze you what's happened in one week here in Interactive Scene Development, the pace at which these big things are happening here has my head spinning like Linda Blair!!! Hahaha!:p
We haven't seen you posting here though since that last meeting, so I'm hoping you're not still wandering around in truePlaces looking for a way out!:D
See you soon here I hope,;)
- 3dvisuals dude |
Post by theuns // Aug 26, 2007, 10:17am
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theuns
Total Posts: 519
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I don't know if I will be able to make the next meeting but I'll try... it sure was fun, even though I didn't really understood how it all hung together since I havent looked at scripting at all yet... first wanna focus on the new immersive contest entry...
speaking of which, I do have a few things I still need to do the scene, but I've been experimenting with different roof cover and tried out a few plants from ngplant... they look great but they are very high polygon, might just render some images for alpha mapping instead of using the objects themselves though...
roof coverings, i did find another wood plank texture that fits better with the current floor boards and support beams i currently use for the platforms so i'll do some renders for those... once i've replaced the palm roofs [which werent really practical since they would have to replace them all once they palm leafs died] ... i need to place some furniture in the blister house i made since visitors would be able to walk inside it...
another thing i need to do is a 180 degree background scene since u will be able to look out in any direction if you can walk around in the scene... anybody have a quick and easy idea to achieve this other than setting planes with picture on them?
i will do some posts this week as i finish off the scene for the 3rd... |
Post by 3dvisuals dude // Aug 26, 2007, 10:34am
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3dvisuals dude
Total Posts: 1703
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I don't know if I will be able to make the next meeting but I'll try... it sure was fun, even though I didn't really understood how it all hung together since I havent looked at scripting at all yet... first wanna focus on the new immersive contest entry...
speaking of which, I do have a few things I still need to do the scene, but I've been experimenting with different roof cover and tried out a few plants from ngplant... they look great but they are very high polygon, might just render some images for alpha mapping instead of using the objects themselves though...
roof coverings, i did find another wood plank texture that fits better with the current floor boards and support beams i currently use for the platforms so i'll do some renders for those... once i've replaced the palm roofs [which werent really practical since they would have to replace them all once they palm leafs died] ... i need to place some furniture in the blister house i made since visitors would be able to walk inside it...
another thing i need to do is a 180 degree background scene since u will be able to look out in any direction if you can walk around in the scene... anybody have a quick and easy idea to achieve this other than setting planes with picture on them?
i will do some posts this week as i finish off the scene for the 3rd...
Well I do hope you can make the next Tuesday meeting, it will cover a lot of ground but there will be stuff I'll be introducing there which is great new stuff for all of us and will require no scripting knowledge to utilize and enjoy at all, although having some gives you even more control over stuff of course.
Regarding the background, I created and uploaded a free skydome scene recently that will enclose any truePlay scene as well as a few textures specifically made for it which offer a failrly good variety of choices in mood, from serene to alien!
There are two related threads which each have links within them to the other, so here's the texture thread and if you follow the link in there it will take you to the skydome object which you can also download.
http://forums1.caligari.com/truespace/showthread.php?t=3454
Of course you don't HAVE TO use these, they're just handy if you want to is all.
Hope that helps,
- 3dvisuals dude |
Post by theuns // Aug 28, 2007, 3:00am
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theuns
Total Posts: 519
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Thanks 3D, will have a look at it...
for now, I've added a backdrop picture...
in this image, i've added a lift for the domocile area, this will link to the previous scene where the lift comes down through the passenger disembarkment platform... |
Post by 3dvisuals dude // Aug 28, 2007, 5:43am
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3dvisuals dude
Total Posts: 1703
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Thanks 3D, will have a look at it...
for now, I've added a backdrop picture...
in this image, i've added a lift for the domocile area, this will link to the previous scene where the lift comes down through the passenger disembarkment platform...
All I can say to this is that this will obviously be one completely awesome place to explore inside truePlay... I can't wait!
Way nice job Theuns, on the backstory as well.;)
- Mark / 3dvisuals dude |
Post by theuns // Aug 28, 2007, 8:14pm
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theuns
Total Posts: 519
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Thanks Mark :)
It does actually need a lot of tweaking just in terms of texture alignment and quality but I've tried not to spend too much time on that yet because I prefer to get the design and geometry done first...
I know some might say that it will be a lot more work to do it afterwards but for me personally, if I get bogged down struggling with textures early on in the design, I loose my creative drive to come up with a nice design and even loose interest in the whole scene as a result....
and I've found once I've got a nice configuration for a particular texture, its easy to just paint simular objects with that config and maybe just adjust the UV for each...
Ps. I have downloaded the sky dome and the textures but did not have the time to test it yet, I assume it will work fine for older versions of trueSpace as well, hey Mark? |
Post by 3dvisuals dude // Aug 30, 2007, 10:00am
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3dvisuals dude
Total Posts: 1703
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Thanks Mark :)
It does actually need a lot of tweaking just in terms of texture alignment and quality but I've tried not to spend too much time on that yet because I prefer to get the design and geometry done first...
I know some might say that it will be a lot more work to do it afterwards but for me personally, if I get bogged down struggling with textures early on in the design, I loose my creative drive to come up with a nice design and even loose interest in the whole scene as a result....
and I've found once I've got a nice configuration for a particular texture, its easy to just paint simular objects with that config and maybe just adjust the UV for each...
Ps. I have downloaded the sky dome and the textures but did not have the time to test it yet, I assume it will work fine for older versions of trueSpace as well, hey Mark?
On the skydome it's a definite "maybe." Hahahaha!
I'll get one working for you somehow in ts7.51 and trueplay, then just let me know what textures you want for it and we're golden.
As discussed previously I should have the initial truePlay version done for you this weekend and I'll put some dx9 color textures on it which you can have replaced later with image-based DX9 textures which will work fine in truePlay or online.
- 3dvisuals dude |
Post by theuns // Sep 2, 2007, 10:20am
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theuns
Total Posts: 519
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added some furniture to the home structure so that it wont look to bare... |
Post by theuns // Sep 2, 2007, 10:25am
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theuns
Total Posts: 519
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lets try that again >:( |
Post by 3dvisuals dude // Sep 2, 2007, 10:32am
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3dvisuals dude
Total Posts: 1703
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lets try that again >:(
Awesome!!!
That looks a whole lot better!
As you know I've been having some difficulties with the existing conversion work, they are minor difficulties though, the only real impact they have is on how long it will take to finish the conversion. Since the time required for me to do this so close to deadline may be an issue and given that everyone else currently entered into the competition has also at some point mentioned the fact that the deadline might prevent their finishing some aspect of their entry, I posted a question to all intrants in that thread today asking if you would all like to extend that deadline by two weeks.
Please post a reply to that question in that thread since such a decision should be at least a majority if not unanimous, and since you are an actual entrant in the competition and I am not. Thanks.
Two more weeks would give everyone, including you and I, loads of tome to really make each entry shine and be very interactive as well.
It would also provide additional time for those who have not entered yet to do so if they wish, and the more the merrier!
- Mark / 3dvisuals dude |
Post by theuns // Sep 2, 2007, 10:31pm
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theuns
Total Posts: 519
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tnx Mark... I'll head over there and post a vote ;)
Ps. did you get my mail about what option would be better? using textures or procedural shaders?
in that scene above, some of the furniture was done with plain colors, like the drawers and some of the trays next to the beds... |
Post by theuns // Sep 2, 2007, 10:35pm
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theuns
Total Posts: 519
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ps. should i rather use hanging rope bridges between the platforms instead of the rope cars which needs interactive scripting? |
Post by 3dvisuals dude // Sep 3, 2007, 7:51am
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3dvisuals dude
Total Posts: 1703
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Hi Theuns,
I'm using standard DX9 shaders at first until all the parts have been shaded, and once the initial model is true-Play-ready you can walk around in it and tell me specifically what textures you may wish to apply instead of the existing DX9 shaders. Then it will simply be a matter of converting your images to DX9 texture inputs and applying them via drag-and-drop from the stack library.
Regarding the cars, I think we should try to do that with scripts first and if that proves to be too difficult in some way maybe then resort to bridges. Having cars move is easy enough via script, the only problems arise when you wish to have attached ropes move and revolve in a realistic fashion... that may require some innovative or creative new approaches.
Thanks for voting in that other thread, now I'm just waiting to see what Jayr has to say there before proceeding with several things for a couple of folks in this competition.
- Mark / 3dvisuals dude |
Post by theuns // Sep 3, 2007, 9:08pm
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theuns
Total Posts: 519
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drag an dropping textures??? KEWL! i like the sound of that :) what is the difference between DX9 textures and those used by older trueSpace versions?
the ropes should be easy to sort out, just place them in position as static and have the car just slide over them... i suppose that you could write a script that would shrink the one rope and stretch the other if it should move with the car...
would be great if it gets postponed, if not, like some one else posted, it is exciting to explore this new interactive feature... :) |
Post by 3dvisuals dude // Sep 4, 2007, 3:26am
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3dvisuals dude
Total Posts: 1703
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drag an dropping textures??? KEWL! i like the sound of that :) what is the difference between DX9 textures and those used by older trueSpace versions?
the ropes should be easy to sort out, just place them in position as static and have the car just slide over them... i suppose that you could write a script that would shrink the one rope and stretch the other if it should move with the car...
would be great if it gets postponed, if not, like some one else posted, it is exciting to explore this new interactive feature... :)
Well good news... Jayr has joined all you guys in deciding to postpone the deadline until Sunday the 16th of September Midnight (EST), which gives us all plenty of time to develop all these scenes a great deal more, which is great!!!
On the difference between textures and DX9 textures it's in the way all light factors are calculated to specifically interact with the DX9 surfaces in realtime for a DX9 Texture that sets it so very apart from it's predecessors. You can input a texture into a DX9 Shader (mathematical formuli sub-processor) as one element of it's inerent filters and call it a "DX9 Texture" (as most of us do) but it's not merely a texture at all anymore.;)
On the ropes, I follow you and thought of that earlier too, I was more concerned about the rope revolving aspect of the turnstiles and how realistic or unrealistic they may look in use. If a cable turning and coiling script exists already maybe that can be applied to make it look perfect, but if it does exist already that's way beyond my skill level to apply to the scene, so maybe one of the other Scriptors here can help you with that particular scene aspect when the time comes. The good thing is that there is now more time at least!:)
I have a lot of preparation work for tonight's truePlace Meetingroom Meeting where it appears so far at least that I may be stuck being the only speaker, so I have to get my head ready for that possibility now with a few dozen cups of Columbian coffee (nothing else cuts it:D ) and I hope to see you there!
I'll be working on your stuff for another few days after that, and will update what I have to reflect any additions or changes you make on your end in the meantime before we start determining finalized versions between you and I, then we can add plenty of mucho-cool interactive stuff to the scene as well, which is really my favorite part of the work!
- Mark / 3dvisuals dude |
Post by 3dvisuals dude // Sep 14, 2007, 3:22pm
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3dvisuals dude
Total Posts: 1703
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Hi Theuns,
As of this post time it is Friday the 14th and I'm steaming ahead on all cylinders (pun intended:D ) trying to get this puppy truePlay capable by Sunday midnight deadline. I'm not sure if I'll make it though (there are 114,037 separate objects in Cliff Colony each of which need a shader! LOL) but there's still a chance I will so I'm on it hard!
Just keeping you posted (pun not intended there:) )!
- Mark / 3dvisuals dude |
Post by frootee // Sep 14, 2007, 3:59pm
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frootee
Total Posts: 2667
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Sunday Midnight!
Oh man! I gotta hurry up!
Fropop |
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