Subject: [Nel] Landscapes without 3DSMax

From: "Paul Siegel" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2001 17:14:17 -0500

Hi everyone -

I'm wondering if there's a way to build landscapes without 3D Studio Max.
That's some pricey software just to do level editing.  Is anything
available, or being worked on?  Or am I going to have to learn how to
rewrite the max plugins for Blender?

Paul

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From: Tony Hoyt <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2001 08:41:20 -0500

> rewrite the max plugins for Blender?

  Blender is my choice as well for a good free alternative 3d editor. 
I'm not sure how you make plug-in's for Blender other then with python
but if you can do it, I wish you all the best of luck. I think the
problem with doing a port is that if your not able to see the original
in action or see what library calls it's makeing, etc.  It's going to be
rough going.  But if your serious about it, I'm willing to give a hand
although I don't have 3D Studio Max as well.

  Tony

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From: "Cyril 'Hulud' Corvazier" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2001 15:13:03 +0100

Hi Paul,

> rewrite the max plugins for Blender?

The NeL 3d library has several user level.

Using the user interface (all u_headers.h in the 3d lib) of the library, you
can only
load and display a landscape. This level is used by the game developper to
abstract
the game engine from the technology implementation.

Using the 3d lib at lowlevel (all the others header files) allow you to
quilckly create patches and
landscape zones. It is really simple to export some bezier quad patches from
Blender
(does blender have bezier patches ?) into a .zone file using a small plugin.
Simple C++ classes
are provided to "Builb" the ".zone" c++ objects. Then serialisation is used
to save them
in binary files.

The hardest part is the patch painter that allow you to paint tiles, vertex
color and
displacement map over the landscape zone patches. At nevrax, this is done by
the artists using
a 3dsmax plugin (nel_patch_paint). If you can't use 3dsmax, you can perhaps
generate
the painting or rewrite a little ingame zone painter or why not, a blender
painter plugin...
You have to know that the painter algorithm that put tiles over the
landscape is not trivial at all.
If you are short on time, a good solution is to generate painting, as most
of the heightfield
landscapes do.

The postprocess to weld the zones together and compute the lighting will
stay the same
as far as you generate ".zone" files.

>
> Paul
>
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From: Markus Ewald <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2001 13:02:07 +0100

> although I don't have 3D Studio Max as well.

There's also a free landscape modeller at
-> www.geofrac2000.com

It was once commercial and its interface is very much like that of 3dsmax.
The author discontinued the project and made it available for free, but it's
still worth a look. You can use standard algorithms (perlin, etc.) for
landscape generation, create mountains and craters or just paint with the
raise/lower-tool. Realtime 3D-display just like 3dsmax as well.

>   Tony

-Markus-

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From: Dim Segebart <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2001 12:49:30 +0100

And more:
http://terraform.sourceforge.net/
http://ftp.arl.army.mil/brlcad/
http://www.planetside.co.uk/terragen/

Saturday, December 15, 2001, 1:02:07 PM, you wrote:

>> although I don't have 3D Studio Max as well.

ME> There's also a free landscape modeller at
->> www.geofrac2000.com

ME> It was once commercial and its interface is very much like that of 3dsmax.
ME> The author discontinued the project and made it available for free, but it's
ME> still worth a look. You can use standard algorithms (perlin, etc.) for
ME> landscape generation, create mountains and craters or just paint with the
ME> raise/lower-tool. Realtime 3D-display just like 3dsmax as well.

>>   Tony

ME> -Markus-

ME> _______________________________________________
ME> Nel mailing list
ME> [email-masked]
ME> /mailman/listinfo.cgi/nel

-- 
Dim Segebart                         mailto:[email-masked]