- This topic has 17 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 18 years, 9 months ago by
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Hi all,
I have a collection of my own 3d environment models – created in Max – which I am arranging into a street / town scene, for renders (static and animated) to be displayed on my website portfolio.
However, I think it would be more ‘fun’ (and more educational for me) to import these models into a game engine, and be able to interact an avatar with them, or at least explore my new world in an FPS-manner.
Naturally, I started with Half Life 2 SDK (and Unreal and Far Cry Editors). What I found was that these tools are really quite tricky to use, and require a major investment in terms of exporting to proprietry file formats, configuring external tools, creating entities, compiling etc etc etc. I’ve spent the last two evenings with Half Life SDK (and manuals), and I haven’t achieved anything. It should be noted that I am not a developer!
I’m now experimenting with Director, and with CanDo’s driving environment tool (although this prohibits use of portfolios). I really liked this though, as I simply had to export to *.w3d (via a plugin) and the rest is taken care of.
My question is:
What advice can this community offer me for creating an environment that an avatar can explore, based on my 3DS models and textures, as quickly as possible, and with the least amount of messing? Open-source 3D engines? Director source-code? SDK macros?
Thanks in advance,
Lewis
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can’t offer much that’s contructive, Lewis, other than to say that Open Source engines have even less tools and documentation available than the commercial ones!
Unreal is generally regarded as the easiest toolset to get up and running with (so far anyway)
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Indeed, I’ve messed around with UnrealEd before and I found it quite easy to use. You may want to give that a try…
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Yeti3D comes to mind, but i have never have used it
The Yeti3D engine is a software based 3D engine which was originally developed for handhelds like the GameBoy Advance and mobile devices like PalmOS and mobile phones by the Australian coder Derek J. Evans.
Officially there are ports available for the GameBoy Advance, GP32, PocketPC and the Nokia Series 60 mobile phones. Desktop ports include Win32, DirectDraw, OpenGL and Linux. Console ports include the Sony PlayStation? (PSone) and the Nintendo GameCube?. [/quote:f6bd983f3e]
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Getting models into unreal is painless, you can use UnrealED to import it and then just place it in a test map. Load up the test map and there you’ll have it your model in all its glory, the obvious down fall of the Unreal engine(with UT2004) is no support for Normal maps…
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Some great pointers there guys. Thankyou one and all. Will try Unreal tonight. I think I have a bunch of VTMs from Buzz that relate to this, so I’ll give it a whirl.
Much obliged.
L.
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I would agree with the general consensus that UnrealEd is one of the better editors, with a less steep learning curve. Good luck! :)
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Hi Lewis,
> although this prohibits use of portfolios
You can use the app for portfolio usage, if you don’t mind the banner at the top of the page ( this also helps promote our product ). I’ll change the text on the app to make this a bit more obvious.
Do you have a URL to the example level you made using the car app?
Also, drop me a pm and I’ll get you a free license file for it, to remove the banner. ( this goes for any artists on the gd.ie boards, pm me and I’ll send you a license file for free, so you can use it for personal usage / showing your low-poly portfolio online. This in turn will, of course, help promote our Irish developed app, a win-win situation ;) )
Regards…
Mal -
just might take u up on that mal, thats a real cool app u have
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Thanks Mal, appreciate the response.
I’ll work out how to upload the environment that I have (need to read the instructions) – do I just FTP the .w3d file or the .exe as well?
L.
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Hi Lewis,
You upload everything in the main folder ( not the sub folder ), except for the .EXE, then point to the index.htm file.
Your best bet is to make a subfolder on your website, then copy the files into it, and just point to that sub-folder in a web browser.
Mal
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Ta Mal. Watch this space :)
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Quest3D is good too. It can even create an exe too.
I say go with Mal’s though :) -
Played around with UnrealEd II last night. Certainly seems much simpler than Half Life 2 Editor.
I’ll pick up the latest UnrealEd at the weekend, along with any books on the subject I can find.
It’s wierd how each of these editors has their own bizarre UI feel. For example, despite looking like 3ds Max, the drag viewport works in the opposite direction to Max. Most disconcerting! And I still haven’t worked out how to move a model on any axis. Will stick with it though, as I love the way it compiles quickly in order to test.
L.
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Easiest way to see your levels in an FPS stylee? If you have Max 7 use the new FPS cam or download GLB2.2 from http://www.Maple3d.com if you use Max 5
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I do have 7 Pete. Will look into the FPS cam. Thankyou!
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:wink:
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depending on what type of interaction your looking for, you should definitely give Macromedia Director (A.K.A Shockwave Studio) a spin.
First of all there is full working versions available from Macromedia website (30-Day trial, and all they need is a serial to register after that point. ).
Then just export your models (includes support for key-frame animation) as a SHOCKWAVE w3D, and import it into Director.
It’s drag and drop stuff. there are loads of tutorials on the web, and the latest version even implements rigid bodies via HAVOK.
If you used Flash, Dreamweaver, or any of the Macromedia family you will find working with this stuff a piece of cake. And when your done, and your level and model is looking the way you want it, just export as shockwave.
I still have some notes/tutorials I prepared for teaching this stuff, lying around. If your interested or stuck, drop me a mail and I’ll send the stuff on to you.
Cool enough?
-B
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