Obsidian Games
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Thanks again GusM!
I have another update to share. I've added detail maps to the exporter -- you can view the example image by visiting here, and scrolling to the bottom of the page (image 12).
Detail maps allow the model to contain a second texture on top of your base texture, to give more detail to the model. I've set it up so that you can add them to either standard textures or IFL textures. The example on the site contains one of each. Enjoy!
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I apologize for the lack of updates these past few weeks. I've been trying to get into contact with Garage Games regarding the licensing of the exporter, but have not heard back from them yet. Hopefully I'll hear back soon, and can work on getting a beta released.
In the meantime, I've been touching things up, and working on new features. I just finished adding IFL support, so you'll be able to export animated textures. I put an example up on the gallery page of my website, so feel free to take a look (image #11) and download the zip file.
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Looks great Chris, nicely done! And thanks for the plug too, it's always cool for me to see what people are able to do with the exporter. Just goes to show how great A:M is for doing this kind of modelling.
Good point also regarding the FPP & hooks, and trying to model without them. I really wish there were something I could do on the plugin side, but unfortunately by the time A:M hands off the list of polygons, the FPPs and hooks have already been converted to polys, and are indistinguishable from the rest of the polys.
Anyway, are these models just test models, are are they part of a larger project? If so, I'd love to hear details.
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I've uploaded a zip with four files -- the Thom model, Thom image, Eddie model, and Thom_sequences. You can
I haven't done any texturing work on Eddie, so he will show up without color. You can see how the Thom skeleton doesn't quite fit him, but the Thom animations play pretty much the same. Again, if they had been designed from the start to use the same skeleton, it wouldn't be a problem.
Also, another quick exporter update. The exporter now allows you to choose the file name to export to (previously it forced itself to the A:M project name), and you can also check & uncheck the model and sequence boxes on export to exclude any objects that you don't want to export (previously it ignored these selections and exported everything). It will also now automatically change the file extension (dts or dsq) depending on what type of export you choose (model only or model+sequences = dts, sequences only = dsq).
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Thanks, dirkk, I hope I can get that A:M sale for you!
AMXdtsPlus should definitely do what you're asking. I just tested fitting the Eddie model on the CD to the test skeleton I created for Thom. It's not quite a perfect fit, as they were not designed to use the same skeleton. However, once I exported the Eddie model to dts, I was able to use Thom's dsq animation on it, and it worked well. It would have worked better had both models been designed to use the same skeleton, but this should be easy to overcome by designing models to use the same skeleton from the start.
If there's interest, I'd be happy to upload the model to my website. Just let me know and I'll put it up there.
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Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do about that one. As it says in the faq, single textures per polygon is a limitation of the .X format, and not AMXtex. If Microsoft extends the base .X format to allow for it, I can certainly add it to the exporter, but until then, one texture per poly is the way it is.
I would imagine that it has to do with keeping the .X model data as simple as possible, and making it load and display faster in real-time (as opposed to having to render multiple textures per poly, which would slow it down).
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Thanks again guys, I appreciate it. Especially during this slow-going phase of programming, it's nice to have the encouraging words!
As for map and dif export, I haven't given it any thought yet. Once the DTS exporter is stable and has been released, I may take a look at it. I haven't done any work with the existing map/interior tools yet, so I'm not sure how those programs and formats work. Also, I'd know that Garage Games is coming out with the "Torque Constructor", so I'd like to see how that goes. It's certainly possible though.
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Sorry myAM, but without knowing you, it's hard to know what your programming knowledge is. If you don't know C++, then it would probably be best to use one of the commercial game-making packages (there are a few threads in this forum covering some of them).
As for other 3D extensions, check out this link for a small sampling of them. Seriously though, almost all major game companies use their own format(s).
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I just wanted to check in and let everyone know that work on the DTS exporter is still going well. I'm still in the middle of cleaning up the code, but I have made some progress that's worth sharing.
One of the bugs that I've been working on fixing has to do with multi-LoD (level of detail) models. I recently found that while multi-LoD export worked for standard (non-boned) meshes, it was broken for skinned (boned) meshes. Either nothing would export, or only one LoD would actually animate (the others wouldn't move). I just figured this one out, so now it can export and animate multi-LoD skinned meshes.
I haven't updated the Thom model download to show this yet, but I will try to do so in the near future.
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There are way too many game model formats to list here. Pretty much every major game publisher uses it's own model format, sometimes using a different or multiple formats for each game.
There can be a lot of reasons for this -- they might want to keep their format secret, they might need specific information in their format that is not available in other formats, etc.
If you're looking to make a game using A:M, your best bet is to figure out what will work best with your game engine and then go from there.
Are you creating an engine from scratch? If so, the model format that you use is up to you, as you can code all of the model loading & display routines yourself. You could even create your own model format, and use the A:M SDK to export model information to your format.
If you're using an existing game engine, then you should find out what model formats they support. A:M has exporters for a number of formats -- 3ds, obj, act, x (which I wrote), with more being added (and I'm sure I've forgotten some). If your game engine uses one of these formats, you can export directly to the engine. If not, you may be able to export from A:M, and then use a model converter (there are a number of these on the net) to convert to a format that you can use in your engine.
As for animation, in most cases you'll do all of your animation inside A:M. You then export that to your model or animation format, and use it in your game. Some game engines may allow you to tweak or change animation settings inside their editors, but for the most part, you should be able to use A:M for your work.
In any case, this forum should be a good resource for any questions that you might have while using A:M for game modelling.
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Sorry, my crystal ball's in the shop.
Which one is giving you a problem? -
No, that page is up to date. Is there any particular limitation that's giving you a problem?
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Yes, that's the only way it does it. AMXtex appends animations to the end of .X model files.
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It's going well. I don't have anything new to show off at the moment though, as I've had to take a break from adding new features.
All of the features that I've added to this point were to show that they would work, but they don't necessarily all play nicely together. Right now I'm going through the code and trying to fix that -- cleaning up the code, fixing bugs, plugging memory leaks, etc. It's a slower process than adding new features, as I have to hunt down exactly where everything is happening. As I said though, it's going well, so hopefully I'll be back to working on new stuff soon.
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GusM - That's great, I'm glad to hear that everything's working on the Mac. Thank you for testing it out and posting your results, it's good to know that everything's working on both platforms.
That's true about the bone setup. I will probably try to do that at some point down the road, once my work on testing A:M-exported actions is complete. Having the stock Torque skeleton would definitely make a good resource for A:M'ers.
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No problem, I'm just trying to keep track as to whether or not there's any interest in AMXtex on OSX (I'm guessing not, but you never know).
And I've replied to your PM.
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SandGroper - I'm not aware of any problems with the MED editor, though I don't have a 3D GameStudio license, so I can't test it. I don't recall anyone reporting any problems with AMXtex and MED to me.
On page 2 of this thread, triath5147 talks about using it, and since his team has finished a game using AMXtex to get their models into 3D GameStudio, it would seem that they work well together. That's about all I've heard though.
If you're aware of any specific problems with it, please let me know and I will see what I can do.
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I've uploaded two new images to the AMXdtsPlus gallery page. Both of the images are taken directly from the Torque FPS demo game, and show off some of the recent progress with the exporter.
What I've done in these scenes is replace the default orc character with the Thom character. Thom only has two actions right now, idle and run, and both are very basic. They work in-game and get the point across though, which is what I was aiming for. Thom also has a weapon mount point, so he can hold the default crossbow. Additionally, when he's running, he will leave behind footprints and clouds of dust, courtesy of the trigger option. You can see this in one of the pictures if you look closely.
I've also added a zip file with the newest DTS/DSQ files. They can be viewed in the Show Tool Pro, or for owners of Torque, you can run them in game. I'm not sure if it will run with the free demo, as I've only tested with the demo that comes with the TGE purchase. I think they're the same though.
I do have to take a small break from coding AMXdtsPlus, as there's a bug with AMXtex that I need to look at. I should be back to work on this soon though. If anyone has any problems with these files, or has any questions, please let me know.
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Excellent, I'm glad the image is working. As for the center of rotation issue, it looks like that was caused by the bounding box being oriented the wrong way. I found the problem when I was loading the Thom model in the game engine, and have since fixed it.
Also, just a quick update. Things are continuing to move along nicely. As I said I would be earlier, I've been working on triggers and ground transforms. Triggers weren't too difficult, and appear to be working great. The ground transforms required a bit more work than I had expected, but I think I have them working. I hope to have a few more images uploaded to the website soon, and maybe another zip file. I'll be sure to post here again when they're available.
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That's good to hear, I'm glad it's loading on Macs.
As for the color problem, do you have the image file (from the zip) in the same directory as the DTS model? It needs to be copied to the same location. Normal material colors don't export to DTS, so I had to create a yellow image and map it onto Thom.
If that doesn't work, the only thing I could think of is that ShowTool doesn't like BMP files on the Mac. You should be able to save it as another image format (jpg, png) and have it load ok though.
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GusM -- Hmm, that's not good. It may be the fact that you're using a Mac, but I was also under the impression that it shouldn't matter. The Torque code is actually responsible for creating the DTS file (once it has the info from A:M), so I'm not sure why this would be happening.
Do you get an error when you load the DTS file, or does it load ok and just not display? Also, can you see any information in the Shape Properties window (Detail level, Subshapes, Skins, etc) or Material list window in TSTPro? And does the DSQ file load ok, and show up in the sequence window?
If anyone else having trouble seeing the Thom char, either on the Mac or PC, please let me know.
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Greg - Did you mean to post this here, or in the Torque exporter thread? I'm interested to hear Mac developers' feelings on both the .X and .DTS exporters, but it seems that you're referring to the DTS exporter only.
As for porting them, I do plan to port the DTS exporter to OSX, and the X exporter if there's enough interest. I just need to get a Mac before I can start looking into porting it/them.
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I've uploaded three new AMXdtsPlus gallery images to the website. You can view them by clicking here. One shows the current working export dialog, another shows the additional properties that I mentioned earlier, and the last one shows an example animation (Thom from the A:M CD). I've also added a zip download of the test model and animation in DTS/DSQ format, so anyone that has a Torque model viewer can take a look.
dingo - The properties I mentioned do not currently have anything to do with materials. I do hope to look into that later on, but for now I'm focusing only on the initial model and animation export. And I don't have a copy of TSE yet, though I do plan on getting one at some point.
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SandGroper - Currently, I'm not looking to add any new exporters. I certainly might do more in the future, but for now, I'm focusing solely on AMXtex and AMXdtsPlus.
AMXtex 2 3DGS animation issues
in Game Development
Posted
While rigs are not recommended due to the number of bones they create (just as triath5147 described), they can still work fine. If you can avoid them though, that's definitely preferable for the speed of your model in your game.
As for the Thom issue, I really want to help with this, but I can't figure out what the problem is. I can export the Thom model from the 2005 CD and have the animations work perfectly (there are some issues with hooks and normals, but the animation works). I just picked out the Run action (also from the 2005 CD), exported Thom and then the action, and the exported .X file showed up great in the Microsoft Mesh Viewer. I also created a basic action where the only bone I animated was the "Back2" bone. After exporting to .X, it animates perfectly in MeshViewer.
I'm not sure if this is just a 3DGS issue or not. For anyone having this problem in 3DGS, can you please confirm whether or not the exported .X file works in the MeshViewer utility? If I can get the model and animation that don't work, I would be happy to take a look at it.
Thanks everyone,