RE: [Algorithms] Few Questions About Racing...Again
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RE: [Algorithms] Few Questions About Racing...Again
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From: Chris B. (BUNGIE) <cbu...@mi...> - 2002-08-05 16:49:01
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I agree with Sean - it's hard to overstate the importance of having a pipeline that looks like Modeller -> Simple Export Format -> Game-Ready Content There are so many advantages to this, but I can list a few for you: - you can support multiple modelling packages easily - you hardly ever have to change the export format, so not everybody needs to learn the max/maya/whatever SDKs - you can look at the intermediate file in a text editor for debugging - you can use source control on what are effectively the 'raw form' of your assets - you can change the import pipeline and use a batch process to re-import a number of assets - the artists can feel free to upgrade their modelling package without causing too much strain (because a new exporter should be easy to write) -- Chris Butcher AI Engineer | Halo Bungie Studios bu...@bu... =20 -----Original Message----- From: Davies Sean [mailto:SD...@uk...]=20 Sent: Monday, August 05, 2002 01:52 To: gda...@li... Subject: RE: [Algorithms] Few Questions About Racing...Again >>You need to have exporter from 3rd party program. Such exporter should >>>generate data in proper format for engine (exporter-plugin is much >>better solution that exporting to standard format (e.g. obj) and next >>converting data to your custom format). I'd have to disagree with this - In my experience having a flexible intermediate format you can run extra tools on before final export is a real bonus - I guess it depends how platform specific your final file format is, but having a level of indirection between the data that artists export in, and the data the engine loads can be a real bonus if you suddenly find that you need all your data aligning, or you need to optimise the collision meshes etc. etc. - and don't want to make the artists go through the tedium of a full reexport and then chase them up to make sure they did it... I would also argue that while maya/max are great for the geometry, its often nice to have a separate tool for more gameplay related data, and an intermediate file format can be useful for this as well... -----Original Message----- From: Wojciech Wylon [mailto:ww...@ga...] Sent: 04 August 2002 21:27 To: gda...@li... Subject: RE: [Algorithms] Few Questions About Racing...Again > I have some few questions about how to make a 3D racing game. >=20 > 1.What is the best way to make the 3D environment (walls, floor, etc) ? > and > why ? > I have some options myself but I couldn't decide which is the best one. My > options are : > - Make the environment with a third party program such as Maya and > 3DSMax > completely, and then > load it as a mesh > - Generate the environment run-time with a group of polygons. > - Or Use both ? > Can someone give me a detail explanation ? We prefer to use 3rd part programs + custom plugins.=20 IMHO it is better solution for small companies (than creating editor from scratch). If you want to generate geometry after loading (e.g. Detail geometry: trees, shrubs etc.) - you can use your custom plugins to add proper functionality to 3rd party program (e.g. Additional material layers for density of shrubs on terrain). But IMHO - you should first try to generate data completely in 3rd party program... =20 > 2. If I am using third or first person view, must the polygons be rendered > everytime although > that polygon is supposed to be not viewable ? For example, if I am > using > first person view, > must the polygon that is located behind the car be rendered ? If not, > is there any algorithm > of eliminating those unnecessary polygons ? > In my question number 1, if we use the method of making the environment > as a mesh with > 3rd party program, can we eliminate unnecessary polygons ? > 3. For collision detection, for example with walls, must we check > collision > between the car > and all walls in the environment ? Is there anyway to optimize that ? > Again, in my question number 1, > if we use the method of making the environment as a mesh with 3rd > party > program, how can we know > polygons that should be checked for collision such as wall, or not, > such > as floor ? You need to be able to mark geometry - either as visible and collidable, or as only collidable or as only visible. We use custom (material) plugin to do it (but you can use more simple way e.g. not visible materials will use texture "invisible" and non collidable materials can use e.g. '_' mark at the beginning of texture name. =20 > 4. If I use 3rd person view, is there a method of removing polygons that > is > between the camera and > the car ? Because sometimes, if the car is in the corner, the car > can't > be seen because there is a wall > just behind it. I doubt that it is perfect solution for it.=20 a) You can use alpha texture (alpha on vertexes) to make transparent all things near camera.=20 b) Or you can trace the line of sight from camera to car and mark "pieces" as invisible.=20 c) Or you add more physic to camera-car interactions (e.g. treat the line between car and camera as rod that should collide with other objects). But I prefer yet another solution - tune the camera behavior till you (and all people around) are satisfied, and do not make to many tunnels ;) > 5. How to make the landscape ? I mean, if we use a city as an environment > in > bright day, the sky should > look blue with some white in it, etc....how to do that ? With a big > sphere textured ? We prefer to use box (the simplest solution). Take a Bryce (or similar program) generate 5 cube sides from one (you do not need the bottom and frankly speaking you need only upper half of cube). Create (half-) cube and texture it.=20 Problems with that solution: - it is static, - the texture density is low, - lines can appear at the edges of cube. But there are solution for all these problems... =20 Wojciech Wylon ------------------------------------------------------- This sf.net email is sponsored by:ThinkGeek Welcome to geek heaven. http://thinkgeek.com/sf _______________________________________________ GDAlgorithms-list mailing list GDA...@li... https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/gdalgorithms-list Archives: http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?forum_id=3D6188 ------------------------------------------------------- This sf.net email is sponsored by:ThinkGeek Welcome to geek heaven. http://thinkgeek.com/sf _______________________________________________ GDAlgorithms-list mailing list GDA...@li... https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/gdalgorithms-list Archives: http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?forum_id=3D6188 |