ASE vs MD5 for Doom 3?

[AluminumHaste]

I see that most of the DarkMod models use ASE/LWO, whereas my tree model I just exported I used DerTon's MD5 exporter for 3DSMax 2009.

 

What's easier to get into Doom 3?

[AluminumHaste]

Okay nevermind there was an error exporting the md5anim as the tree has no bones so the script craps out damn.

 

Anyways, here's a pic of the tree in obj format.

[Crispy]

ASE and LWO are for static models. MD5 is for animated models with bones (e.g. AI characters). You don't want MD5 for a tree, unless you're making a tree beast.

 

Your choice of ASE vs LWO will probably boil down to which one you're able to export most easily. 3ds max can natively export to ASE, so try that.

 

For a complete set of instructions on getting models into the game, check out http://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php/...o_Model_for_TDM and http://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php/Modeling

[demagogue]

Thank God you're getting us some more trees though.

Those cardboard-box cutout jobs gotta go! (IMHO)

[Crispy]

It's all about poly budgets. It's really tricky to do a good low-poly tree. I thought we had some pretty good ones in the repository, actually.

 

The tree above does look good, but I bet it's pretty high-poly. And it doesn't have leaves, which are potentially a big performance killer.

[AluminumHaste]

It's all about poly budgets. It's really tricky to do a good low-poly tree. I thought we had some pretty good ones in the repository, actually.

 

The tree above does look good, but I bet it's pretty high-poly. And it doesn't have leaves, which are potentially a big performance killer.

 

This is for a single placement in the map, it's going in my cave and it's around 30k polygons, which is really high, but should be fine in the cave.

 

A friend of mine loaned me his license for Max and something called TreeSTORM which kicks ass. His studio is on hiatus for some reason (He won't tell me but I suspect that they're being shut down) so he doesn't need his tools at the moment.

 

(It's a small budget studio I'm guessing as all of them were required to purchase their own software )

 

EDIT: And I agree with you, I like most of the trees in the repository, which cardboard cutouts are you talking about?

[demagogue]

It's actually not the trees themselves, the trunk and branches. They are fine.

(Not sure I've seen them all, either, considering...)

It's the canopies, how they are in sheets and look a bit boxy. That's the "cutout boxy" look that I meant.

 

I mean, I understand good looking, low poly leaves is a hard task ... so I don't want to belittle the work that's been done ... and my wording looks harsher than I wanted to be. Leaf-sheets are better than no leaves at all, and I like the trees for what they are. I don't actually want them to go.

 

I think what I was trying to say is if there's a way to get branches and leaves on trees without the sheet look and more spherical or conical, I'd be a fan. And this tree has that kind of conical look going for it. (and yes, I understand the irony of thinking that when this tree doesn't have any leaves, lol ... I didn't think quite that far when I made that first post, so you know how throwaway it was as a comment ... although I am happy more trees are being made.) I'll also freely admit I don't know everything that goes into it, polywise, techwise, etc...

Edited April 5, 2009 by demagogue

[Crispy]

if there's a way to get branches and leaves on trees without the sheet look and more spherical or conical, I'd be a fan.

So would we all, but that's easier said than done. I believe Oblivion's trees were done similarly, IIRC. Good-looking, fast-rendering trees are hard.

[AluminumHaste]

So would we all, but that's easier said than done. I believe Oblivion's trees were done similarly, IIRC. Good-looking, fast-rendering trees are hard.

 

Oblivion used particle leaves like we can do in DarkMod, it's already been done in a few maps.

[Crispy]

Hmm, maybe we're all talking about different trees... *shrug* Do the particle trees not use leaf sheets, then? Is each leaf a separate particle (and therefore polygon)?

[demagogue]

Are there screenshots of what you're talking about, AluminumHaste?

Just so I know what we're talking about.

 

Edit: Should have known there was already a wiki article on it...

 

I like a lot of the trees in Oblivion ... and The Witcher, Gothic 3, Farcry 2 trees are great.

Is particle leaves really the main difference between trees in these games and the ones before I guess ~2006 (that had leaves on planes, Gothic 2 and the stock TDM ones...)?

 

And I was curious what the actual kind of limitation there was on making/using them in the Doom 3 engine ... Is it mostly about poly counts; would they be more kosher if they were in a room like Aluminum's cave, or non-shadowcasting light, or for higher-end systems (... as opposed to an engine issue; I guess not if you say they've been put in maps before.)

 

PS, I have a few nice TDM trees in my map now, and they're growing on me.

 

Edit2: For the record, though, is that what the trees have in games that really do trees well like Gothic 3, Farcry 2, and I guess The Witcher and Oblivion too? If I wanted to reverse-engineer some trees into TDM like those games, might it be possible, or is something more than particle leaves going on, something special or engine unique?

Edited April 7, 2009 by demagogue

[Crispy]

Ah, that's right - the particle trees do use leaf sheets, it's just that the sheets are oriented towards the viewer so you don't notice so much. Although they probably do have more polygons than the traditional modelled style, by the looks of them.

 

I love wikis.