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Which model format?
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I started with the quake .md2 format, reasons being there are many free(or inezpensive) 3d editors out there that support it. And it is easy to find a loader class for openGL.
I''ve recently been experimenting with .3ds, and I love it because a) 3d studio 5 rocks and b) many great high poly models are designed in 3d studio, and if they are designed in lightwave, you can use vrml to convert it.
so 3ds is better if you want high quality models, but md2 you can find lots of free character models and such.
quote:
Original post by Fend0r
i dont want any free character models because i want to do all by my own..
but the problem is, that 3ds is very komplex.. and im not a model designer
i have played around with milkshape3d and there it is quite easy to build some models..
I''ve been using both MD2 (which milkshape will export) and MS3D (the milkshape native format). Both are nice, MS3D is a bit more complex to deal with programatically, but not too bad. 3DS is a fairly complex model format, but in the end isn''t that much more complex than MS3D (IMHO). If you want to let people use 3D Studio Max, remember that 3DS is not it''s native format, it will export to it, but it is not the native file format. Really though, how many people are you expecting to have use a package that expensive for your game? Milkshape is something like ~$25.00, and most people can come up with that as opposed to the ~$3,500 for 3DS Max.
Hope that helps.
- sighuh?
there is always gmax - its free. But as you said both the 3ds format and gmax itself are a bit criptic compared to milkshape. I would use milkshape simply because its well documented, you can easily write plugins for it and if you use intel''s free sml (small matrix library) animating the format takes about half a days work of coding...but the milkshape format has its downfalls - all the animation is stuffed in the end. Not to good for making a game 
My solution is to split the format into the model component, the skeleton component, and the animation component by writing exporting plugins. That way there is no redundancy and the rpg will take up less disk space.
My solution is to split the format into the model component, the skeleton component, and the animation component by writing exporting plugins. That way there is no redundancy and the rpg will take up less disk space.
quote:
I would use milkshape simply because its well documented, you can easily write plugins for it
check out www.milkshape3d.com under the downloads section and you will find a sdk. Fiddle arount with it and in no time you will be able to write plugins for milkshape 3d. Its like making your own command to run in the program. That way you can make up your own model format and export it - or what i do is start with the milkshape format (included in the sdk) and go from there.
quote:
and if you use intel''s free sml (small matrix library) animating the format takes about half a days work of coding...
surf the net and download intel''s free sml matrix library. Its a dll with matrix functions already made (check out www.gametutorials for info on dlls) and are fast. That way you dont have to program your own matrix functions to animate the milkshape model.
quote:
but the milkshape format has its downfalls - all the animation is stuffed in the end. Not to good for making a game
The fact that all animation are stuffed into the end (as a result they run together) means its cumbersome to run, then jump and, then run again. Stuff like that needs to be modulated when you are making a game.
Also, in a game, many different characters can use the same skeleton and the same animations. So if you stuff everything into one file, you will be constantly loading it over and over...which sucks.
quote:
My solution is to split the format into the model component, the skeleton component, and the animation component by writing exporting plugins. That way there is no redundancy and the rpg will take up less disk space.
What i intend to do is write a set of plugins to break milkshape up into different sections. There will be the model section, the skeleton section, and the individual animations. That way different models can have the same skeleton and when you want to animate you just load the individual animation into the skeleton when you need it. I also plan to make it so that you can load multiple animations at once - so someone can run and wield a sword at the same time...big project
quote:
Original post by llvllatrix
What i intend to do is write a set of plugins to break milkshape up into different sections. There will be the model section, the skeleton section, and the individual animations. That way different models can have the same skeleton and when you want to animate you just load the individual animation into the skeleton when you need it. I also plan to make it so that you can load multiple animations at once - so someone can run and wield a sword at the same time...big project
What I've had my artists do is break their models into components, and model those independently. Then using XML (compiled into another file-type for the final app, XML for now) they create model assemblies with different skins. All of these get loaded at run-time (the models and the skins), and then the engine only uses one definition of each model to do all of the drawing. Even though there may be 10 of some unit with different assemblies and skins, spread out all over. They've (the artists) found it very useful and powerful. So, like you they've created several models, and then via XML they assemble them. Also included in this file is the "animation sets" with start and end times for each animation set. I can loop between the two times, so that "idle motion" is time 0 seconds to 5 seconds, and i can repeat that. Other animation sequences are time X to Y.
It is complex, but fun too. Good luck with your own project.
- sighuh?
[edited by - redragon on March 21, 2003 3:36:12 PM]
[edited by - redragon on March 21, 2003 3:36:53 PM]
[edited by - redragon on March 21, 2003 3:37:54 PM]
quote:
Original post by Fend0r
hmm...
sounds really complex..
has anybody an example source code and model of this things redragon is talking about? this would be very nice and would help me a lot..
I''d be willing to share some of the basic engine info...would like to explain a lot of it though. Should I talk to Nehe about this? It''s got a lot to it.
There are a lot of layers of design, and might be kind of dense if I just started at the model assembly layer. If I could talk to someone about the starting layer, and how it moves up into the implementation of other things, would be fun...
- sighuh?
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