|
|
Importing Model into Quake etc
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.
Importing Model into Quake etc // Archive: Tech Forum
Post by 8-bit // Nov 14, 2006, 10:48am
|
8-bit
Total Posts: 84
|
I would eventually like to produce character models that I can then import into QUAKE 3, UNREAL etc but just wanted to
know some basic rules.
1. Is there a limit to the polygon count that the models are made from?
2. Can they be imported if they are Metaball contructions?
3. Can they have a heriarchy? That is, does the model have to be made from one single mesh/polygon?
Thanks. :) |
Post by TomG // Nov 14, 2006, 11:28am
|
TomG
Total Posts: 3397
|
MIght want to post this question over on the gameSpace forums, since that's where they are intently devoted to games :)
No harm in it being posted here too, some of the gamer types wander over from the gS forums now and then, but the gS forums are going to have a higher concentration of people who have actually done this already and can answer from experience.
Head on over and ask there too!
http://forums.caligari.com/gamespace/index.php?
HTH!
Tom |
Post by 8-bit // Nov 14, 2006, 11:54am
|
8-bit
Total Posts: 84
|
Ooops sorry. My first post and I mess up! :s |
Post by RichLevy // Nov 14, 2006, 12:16pm
|
RichLevy
Total Posts: 1140
|
I would eventually like to produce character models that I can then import into QUAKE 3, UNREAL etc but just wanted to
know some basic rules.
1. Is there a limit to the polygon count that the models are made from?
2. Can they be imported if they are Metaball contructions?
3. Can they have a heriarchy? That is, does the model have to be made from one single mesh/polygon?
Thanks. :)
1) I thought Quake3 had a 2K or so limit, but it has been a couple of years since I last converted to that game.
2) Metaball would be too dense of a mesh, best to just do some simple box modeling...
3) damn, I sure wish my memory was better than it is :D Unreal no heirachy just a solid mesh, Quake 1 and 2 heirachy yes... can't remeber for sure about Quake3 though...
I remember it being a fun game engine to get your characters into and play with. This tutorial is a good place to get up to speed with the tools inside GS 1.1, which was very similiar to TS 6.6. You will notice differences with the UV tools. http://www.caligari.com/gamespace/tutorial/video_3DBuzz.asp
This is another great place to look around to get some info about a couple of popular game engines and how to get your TS models into them. http://home.mindspring.com/~clintonr/MyTruespace/TSPlug.html
Good luck! I hope some of this info was of use to you.
Rich |
Post by Délé // Nov 14, 2006, 12:34pm
|
Délé
Total Posts: 1374
|
I can't say that I've made many game models but I did do a couple for a game a while back. Never done Quake though.
Anyway, what you are asking is pretty basic so I'll answer. If I say anything wrong I'm sure someone will correct me. :)
1. Is there a limit to the polygon count that the models are made from?For games, Yes. Games usually require low polygon models so that the game play doesn't bog down. The game that I made a couple of models for had very strict poly limits (around 300-400 I think). Though you may be able to have higher poly models with Quake, not sure. It can also depend on what objects you are making too. I think most games also require 3 levels of detail (meaning that you would create 3 models with different polygon counts). The game engine will use the mesh with the lowest polygon count when the object is far away from view, it will use the medium resolution mesh when it's at a moderate distance from view, and it will use the higher polygon mesh for close up. This keeps things running faster. Not sure if all games do this but I think most do.
2. Can they be imported if they are Metaball contructions?No, I highly doubt that it would keep the "Metaball" interaction. You might be able to collapse a metaball creation into a standard mesh but I wouldn't do that either. I think metaballs create a dense mesh if I recall correctly. At any rate, when you're low poly modeling it's probably best to model it out. It can be tricky making low poly models. Trying to achieve the shape with as few polygons as possible. I'd say it's best to have complete control over the placement of every single polygon.
3. Can they have a heriarchy? That is, does the model have to be made from one single mesh/polygon?This one I'm not entirely sure, but I would guess no (Edit: I didn't see Rich's post there....Looks like I could be wrong on this one). You can Boolean objects into one mesh though. However, if they're touching I would advise against Boolean operations as they can produce unpredictable geometry.
Perhaps a gamer could provide clearer answers, but this is how I understand things. :)
hth |
Post by GraySho // Nov 15, 2006, 3:52am
|
GraySho
Total Posts: 695
|
3. Can they have a heriarchy? That is, does the model have to be made from one single mesh/polygon?
Thanks. :)
Really depends on the game engine. You can have objects made of multiple meshes though (without hierarchy). This is highly recommended to reduce the poly count. e.g. if you use boolean union on two cubes, with an offset to each other, you'll get a mesh with 36 triangles. If you just merge them to one object, you have 24 triangles. There's a plugin called "poly combiner" that converts a glued object (hierarchy) into a single object. That means, you can have multiple meshes which are not connected to each other by edges, they just overlap. But it's treated as one object. |
Post by 8-bit // Nov 15, 2006, 11:17pm
|
8-bit
Total Posts: 84
|
Thanks for the replies. :) |
|
