I have tried out Lightwave 6 for a while and I like it, but is it suited for game development? What I mean is the saved model files, are they easy to decode and use with DirectX? Or can I save in another format? Another question: What''s the deal with UV texturing? Is it better/worse than traditional texturing with a plain image to wrap around my object?

LW is fine for game dev, we use for evething (models, maps) but animating. you have loads of formats to export including 3ds which can be read almost everywhere else.
Of course more companies still use Max or Maya.

UVWs is what''s used in games. It''s better or worser depending on what''s used for.
For low poly models it''s better since most of the detail and shading has to be painted, and you can''t do that when you just throw a misc texture on a model.

For hipoly models it''s often a pain, plain cube mapping or whatever works usually better there, since all the details are modeled and the shadows are added when rendering an image, unlike in games where the shadows are very rough and don''t define the shapes and anatomy properly (and derefore have to be skinned/painted using an UVW skin).

Okay, thanks!

Then how good is the UV texturing tool included in Lightwave? Can I use the procedural textures within LW when creating an UV texture?

[edited by - Rimfaxe on July 31, 2002 9:30:18 AM]

Well, i make the UVs with an external tool but everyone i know that does them in LW is pretty hapy with them.

A procedural texture while creating the UV ? guess you want a checkerboard while doing the UVW ? can be done yes.