ART - Environmental Models

[Guest drewid]

Only by grabbing verts and typing in U co-ords I think.

 

There may be tuts on 3dcafe.com or highend3d.com

Lots of people like Texporter, but I've never used it myself.

[Guest Jim69]

k, I figured out the skinning, I got a couple more adjustments 2 make and I recon its finished, unless someone has got some more ideas of what I could do. I have converted most of the textures bar 1 2 the .PNG format in the power of 2 convention. Here y'ar

[j'ordos]

I've gone over all my meshes again, converted them to edit. meshes, and uploaded them again at the beginning. Some have been edited, so they have less faces now. The oil tanks are not included yet, enough done for today. I'll add them later, or does only one have to be uploaded? If so, the low-or high- (well, relatively ) poly version?

 

Edit: this is what bench looks like now

Edited July 24, 2003 by j'ordos

[Cubik]

I just love Texture Maker, check this out

5 min work, 256x256, extremly dirty and dented brick texture:

[Breunor]

Those are looking good guys. Jim, I think the bricks behind the back boards needs to be scaled smaller. Right now each brick looks like it's 2-3 feet long, rather than 8 inches. When building houses, definitely use standard blocks pieced together, that will allow uniform pieces to be damaged and destroyed. I have pieces linked on the assetlist for walls, window sections, and doorways, if you want to use them. If not, just make sure you use the 1m wide by 2.5m tall standard sizes for stuff. Those textures I linked above should fit right into the wall sections I made too, scaled to fit just right last time I was playing with them. So as long as a new texture matches the old ones for scale, you should be able to mix and match.

 

Here's a question for everybody. Regarding the alpha channel/transparency thing, could that be used for fences too? I expect it could, and that would really help reduce polys there. I should have a fence chunk on the assetlist, but I think it takes too many polys to be used all over.

[Guest Jim69]

I have actually got a basic fence texture that could be used as an alpha texture at home, I'll upload a pic of it in action with some grass. How big r the chunks gonna be? I could add a model like grass with fence on one side.

 

I'll also reduce the brick size when I get home, I know how 2 do it without using the unwrap modifyer so it should be a doddle.

 

Edit: Ignore last line in first paragraph, I'm a little tired and didn't read ur post properly I'll have a crack in a couple of hours.

Edited July 24, 2003 by Jim69

[j'ordos]

Here's the bus shelter. Has a 128*128 texturemap, 56 polygons. From now on I'll upload all these meshes and maps to the xenocide member ftp-site, I'll just use this thread for a pic and occasional question

[Cubik]

What? Nowhere to sit ?

[j'ordos]

Better?

 

BTW F12 is soooooo useful, how did I ever live without it? :o

Edited July 24, 2003 by j'ordos

[Guest Jim69]

Whats F12?

 

Edit: I have now finished the Basketball Court, rdy for ur critisism Here y'ar

 

It's 264 Poly's with the fence and posts, I deleted the bottom off of everything as u can't c it in game.

Edited July 24, 2003 by Jim69

[Breunor]

The grass/ground texture will probably be provided by the landscape generator, not sure in regard to a terror site though, since these tiles will cover it all. To save polys I suggest just making a single box for the ground, just 2 polys for now. That's easy enough to change later on. Also, for those who are making items that will sit directly on the ground (like the b-ball court), consider making it in multiples of 15x15m blocks. This doesn't apply to items like the bus shelter or dumpster, they'll sit on the road/sidewalk model or other models. But a building or ball court would not. The grid system for the terror site battlescape is currently based around 15m squares, so we want to be able to put items into that grid easily. Make sure that it's not 14x13m for example. So for each item perhaps start with a ground tile of 15m square, and build from there. If it requires a larger area, make it 15x30, or 30x30 for the largest area.

 

BTW, I just chose 15m blocks based on typical road widths where I live. I know some cities have different widths, so this is really a choice that's up for discussion. Does 15m work for everyone, or should it be different? Remember that line of site ends at 16m in the original game, and v1 will use that system. 15m is also a good divider IMO for standard building widths, so it seemed like a good choice. But if everyone agrees a different standard should be used, then we should decide that now. I prefer the 15m because it lets you see something across the street, but if they're just a step or two into a building or between them you wouldn't.

[Guest Jim69]

Sounds fine 2 me, I can create a path around it covering that distance. How big is that in 3DSM, I don't know how to tell real distance in it?

[Breunor]

FYI everyone, I posted some info Red Knight gave out regarding textures in the asset list, in the upper text section. Just the things we've been discussing, keeping textures small, how much memory does one take up, that kind of thing.

 

As to the scale, there is a scale block on the assetlist and linked here. It is scaled to 1m*1m*2.5m tall. If you're not using Milkshape, it will be rotated 90 degrees on the X axis, as Milkshape flips the Y and Z axis. Technically the block is 40 inches square by 100 inches tall, but that's close enough to the metric version that it works. So everybody should consider what the size of their model is, and scale it to that block. This will save me lots of import/scale/export time! Also make sure to snap the bottom of the model to the axis plane, that also saves some time.

 

Thanks!

[Guest Jim69]

K, I'll scale that, get some path around it so that it is 15m by 15m and repost. Where should I put the zip file containing .3DS and .PNG files? Should I just post it here?

 

Edit: 258 Poly's now. Here's the scaled model with grass around it to make it 15m x 15m. I've got the zip of 3ds file and if u want me 2 post it let me know.

Edited July 24, 2003 by Jim69

[j'ordos]

here's that second bench with a texture on it (64*64), already uploaded to ftp.

Edited July 24, 2003 by j'ordos

[GreatGold]

K, I'll scale that, get some path around it so that it is 15m by 15m and repost. Where should I put the zip file containing .3DS and .PNG files? Should I just post it here?

I'd put it in the public FTP server, there are instructions there on how to link a URL also.

 

Gold

[Guest Jim69]

Is there a post on how to access FTP server, I got CuteFTP so if u got the info I can set it up and just post images here.

[GreatGold]

Check you PM's.

[Vaaish]

K, I'll scale that, get some path around it so that it is 15m by 15m and repost. Where should I put the zip file containing .3DS and .PNG files? Should I just post it here?

 

Edit: 258 Poly's now. Here's the scaled model with grass around it to make it 15m x 15m. I've got the zip of 3ds file and  if u want me 2 post it let me know.

jim... I think the court looked better w/o that grass around it. Maybe increase the width of the court itself and put in 4 goals so we have a double court?

[Guest Jim69]

OK, I can do that. I wasn't crazy about the grass either I was just getting it to the right size. I'll get a double court posted when I get home if I get time b4 I go out.

 

Thanx 4 the info Micah, when I sorted out the model I'll upload a zip with the model and txtures.

[Breunor]

Correct, just upload the zip to the ftp server and then edit you shot to include a link to that zip. I'll eventually move the links in the assetlist to point to the zips as well.

 

I'd also suggest a double court, but also keep this one, just remove the brick walls perhaps, and it can be a 'suburban' ball court.

[Guest Jim69]

k, it'll prob be 2morrow tho, I'k goin out 4 the nite night now when I get back 2morrow I'll post 2 versions, one with the 2 brick walls and one all fences.

[Guest Jim69]

OK, got back from town early so I did a little work on the court. I doubled it up the courts and adjusted them so that the model is now 15m/\2. Here's the screengrab, unless ne1 has ne comments I'll upload it 2 the FTP 2morrow and consider it finished.

 

Then I'll texture the desk+comp+moniter, get a screenshot and upload that 2.

 

Here's the pic:

[Vaaish]

OK, got back from town early so I did a little work on the court. I doubled it up the courts and adjusted them so that the model is now 15m/\2.  Here's the screengrab, unless ne1 has ne comments I'll upload it 2 the FTP 2morrow and consider it finished.

 

Then I'll texture the desk+comp+moniter, get a screenshot and upload that 2.

 

Here's the pic:

why don't you move the fence from the center to the far side. Thats how most double courts I've seen look.

[Guest Jim69]

...And here is a test of Brue's suggestion. Which do u prefer, the left court or the right?

 

Edit: I'll add the posts if peeps like the all fence 1, personally I like the fence 1 4 the basketball court and the half fence and half wall 1 for the footie court.

 

Edit: Removed pic 4 peeps with slow connection

Edited July 27, 2003 by Jim69

[Vaaish]

it looks odd having the goal attached to an unsupported chain fence.

[Guest Jim69]

That's just coz I haven't added the supports yet since I didn't know if peeps prefered this. The backboard is supported by metal links to the fence, this does happen as there is one setup like this around my area. Plus it saves polys Just imagine the supports were on the corners 4 now.

[Cubik]

A simple fire hydrant, 344 polygons:

[Vaaish]

A simple fire hydrant, 344 polygons:

Cubic: are you sure you can't drop that poly count a bit? I don't think we will ever get very close to a hydrant and for the most part they are pretty small.

[Guest Jim69]

Right, here's the final version of the Basketball Court. It's 454 poly's now since it's a double court, and is 15m/\2. Unless ne1 has any objections I'll upload the .zip file containing the model and textures tonite.

[Aosar]

Damn, I made a rather smart looking stool(if I say so myself) with gmax, but now I can't get a screenshot of it... Rather pathetic, aren't I?

[Guest Jim69]

Soz, I'd help u but I've never used the program b4. Try rendering the object and looking 4 an export 2 file btn.

 

I've now uploaded the Basketball Hoop, I'll do the Footie goal l8r and upload that 2.

[Kenshiro]

To get a screenshot from gmax (and in similar fashion, from almost any program in Windows):

 

Maximize the render window (it's one of the buttons in the lower right hand corner) and then hit Alt-Print Screen to get a capture in the clipboard.

 

Then, paste into photoshop or your favorite drawing program and crop to size.

Edited July 26, 2003 by Kenshiro

[Aosar]

Thanks! Got it to work...

Here is a isometric(sp?) view of it. If amounts up to 76 polys. Not bad if I say so myself...

 

Edit: Would help to post the picture too... ::

Edited July 26, 2003 by Aosar

[revenant4]

Are there going to be different floor textures for in houses...eg. tile, carpet, rugs, wood, cement...would put a little life into the houses

[Aosar]

Another simple model, this time having whopping 108 polygons! :o

 

And this is all the modeling for tonight... It's a class table for livingrooms and such places...

[Cubik]

Different floor textures isn't too hard to do, and since I've got a registred copy of Texture Maker, I can whip up textures really fast. Edited July 27, 2003 by Cubik

[Cubik]

A quick example:

[Breunor]

Yes, we'll be using textures in the flooring too. I've got quite a few textures for flooring, includes wood, tile, carpet, stone, etc. There are 214 textures for floors, walls, roofing, each 48kb or so, 128x128x24bit. Zipped they're about 7.6mb. They're all in this file, if you have a slow connection be forewarned...

 

Textures

 

Edit: They're in bmp format, so before using them make sure to convert to png.

Edited July 27, 2003 by Breunor

[Breunor]

Hey Aosar, do you have the ability to export to 3ds with gmax? I remember trying the demo/shareware version when I first started, and you couldn't do it. Perhaps there are plugins?

 

The dual ball courts look good, I'd lose the fence between them though. Not an issue to have the ball go into the other court usually, compared to going out in traffic. I'd put the back borads on poles too, they'd get ripped down pretty quick otherwise IMO.

 

I suggest a lower poly hydrant. Something that small, with no x-net entry, should work fine with

[Guest Jim69]

K, I'll lose the middle fence and re-upload the file. D'ja recon the court lines are necessary, I was kinda considering it last nite but I just uploaded it instead coz I was kinda tired.

 

That took the polys down 2 382, with some court lines then it would be 384.

Edited July 27, 2003 by Jim69

[Breunor]

The court lines should all be textures. You can texture one side and scale it to repeat for the other half, so the ground should just be 2 polys. I'm guessing that lots of polys are going towards the rims? What about using an alpha texture like you did for the fence? That might save a good number of polys, and let you use a smoother rim as well. It's not really an issue I guess, compared to having a building in its place, taking 10x the poly count.

[Guest Jim69]

Hmm, I might well try that, an alpha would look a lot better than a 5 sided shape, I'll give it a go a little l8r. Does ne1 know a way of distorting the court lines in Photoshop so they look a little like paint? U know, like not always consistant, sometimes having spots the paint didn't reach etc.

[Aosar]

Hey Aosar, do you have the ability to export to 3ds with gmax? I remember trying the demo/shareware version when I first started, and you couldn't do it. Perhaps there are plugins?

 

No you can't, directly anyways, I'll have to look into it. And what do you mean by demo, IIRC gmax is free. Or do you mean 3dsmax?

[Breunor]

I remember trying gmax and couldn't export to anything other than .gmax or something like that. I'm just warning you that you might be stuck remaking everything if you can't export. So it might be wise to determine if that's the case, and if so try using blender or milkshape instead. For the court lines having an inconsistent look, you could create a layer in photoshop that has just the lines, and apply a noise filter to it, that might create the look you're going for. I'm not even close to knowing anything about PS.

[Aosar]

AHA! I think I figured it out! You can download (apparrently) a plugin for gmax and then export the file as a quake 3 file and then import it into milkshape and save as a 3ds!

 

Edit: Hmm, one thing there still is, doesn't anyone know any free software that saves .3ds?

 

Edit: Whew! After a long search I found some software... Here is the stool in 3ds...

Stool.3ds

Edited July 29, 2003 by Aosar

[miceless]

Ummm, wasnt all of this covered a page or so ago in this very thread?

[Guest Jim69]

For the court lines having an inconsistent look, you could create a layer in photoshop that has just the lines, and apply a noise filter to it, that might create the look you're going for. I'm not even close to knowing anything about PS.

Me neither Just got a copy off me bro that he uses at Uni so I'm sorta like a kid in a sweet shop at the mo ( pretty much what I'm like in 3DSM )

[Guest drewid]

For the court lines having an inconsistent look, you could create a layer in photoshop that has just the lines, and apply a noise filter to it, that might create the look you're going for. I'm not even close to knowing anything about PS.

Me neither Just got a copy off me bro that he uses at Uni so I'm sorta like a kid in a sweet shop at the mo ( pretty much what I'm like in 3DSM )

or you could do the lines on a seperate layer then rub bits out, blur it a bit maybe. polys are cheaper than textures in terms of space. but if you have something like a hoop you might well get it better looking with texture anyhow.

 

The game I am doing at work has hit that point of framing out on most of the platforms, so now we are optimising the heck out of everything. The problem is that memory and speed can sometimes be mutually exclusive.

You can do something to run fast, but it's comparatively memory hungry. or else you can do something smaller using more polys and less texture , but it's marginally slower. or you can do something small _and_ fast but it looks cr&p. - oh well.

 

( mind you we are pushing 110,000 poly's in some views.)

Edited July 29, 2003 by drewid

[Guest Jim69]

Well, I finally figured out Photoshop ( thanx 4 the help Brue ) and I recon I got a nice look. What d'ja'll think?

 

Edit: Does ne1 else think that there should b poles 4 the BB hoops ( I think Vaaish suggested this )

 

266 Poly's

Edited July 29, 2003 by Jim69