CrimsonDagger on 30/9/2024 at 12:19
Quote Posted by Force
Thank you for your feedback! .
Hey Force! I gave it a try, and it works decently. However, it feels like the performance is somehow capped, or something major is affecting the FPS, besides having the entire map open in the background.
That said, I'm really glad you're developing it!
I have a bit of a strange request though. Is there any way to add an export feature to OBJ/FBX from the viewer? I'd like to tweak some models in Blender, but DromEd can be a bit cumbersome for that. The whole process of exporting and applying textures is quite tedious. It would be amazing if there was an option to export textured maps/objects directly. I think an Export function would be a great addition overall!
Force on 30/9/2024 at 20:29
Thanks for the feedback, CrimsonDagger!
Yes, the performance of the current version od viewer is very weak, despite all my optimizations. The thing is that there is a serious architectural problem now that does not allow drawing objects really fast. At the end of last year, I started porting parts of the engine to ECS architecture and even published several videos where I showed a truly phenomenal increase in performance. But in the spring of this year, I joined the translators of the Black Parade mod into Russian, which took up all my free time, and work on the engine and viewer had to be postponed a little. Now we are almost finished the translation and are preparing for release, and I will be able to return to development, as before.
While working on the translation, I had to make changes to the main version of the viewer to be able to view in-game books. This gave me the idea that perhaps I can support two branches of the program development, so that users of the viewer do not have to wait too long. The current branch - with the addition of new convenient functions, like viewing books, and the second experimental one - where I will implement a new renderer and all those things that I have long dreamed of. When the experimental one is ready, it will replace the current one.
Yes, the idea with export did occur to me. It will be possible to add it to the current branch using a hotkey, like with O to open the location of the current file, and the default path for export objects will be set through the configuration file.
CrimsonDagger on 30/9/2024 at 21:00
That's great! Congratulations on working on that. I'm sure it wasn't a small feat in itself!
Yeah, I figured the performance might be affected by the core architecture of the engine. It’s not a big issue for me personally, but I’m sure improvements in that area would attract even more interest from people.
I’ll definitely be waiting for future updates to the engine! I'm particularly interested in the possibility of exporting entire maps, and it would be amazing if they could be exported with textures too! 😏
There’s a Blender plugin by vfig that exports quite well, but I haven't managed to import the maps with the textures applied. Blender v4.1 throws an exception, and older versions of Blender just crash when trying to import a map. Here’s the link to the plugin: (
https://github.com/vfig/thiefblendercrap)
^^^ It might come in handy when you'll be working on the export feature.
I don’t fully understand how it all works, but I’m excited to see what you come up with!
Force on 1/10/2024 at 12:03
Thank you!
And thanks for the link, yes it will come in handy when it comes to working on export! ;)
And, if it's not a secret, why do you need support for importing an entire level with all objects into Blender? To transfer it to other game engine?
MayheM on 2/10/2024 at 20:14
I just discovered this, awesome. I was thinking of posting a question before seeing this post if anyone developed some kind of Noclip command for viewing missions. I could use this if I want to remember a mission or someone asking for it way easier than playing just so I can remember, it's like noclip in Source or Id engines.
CrimsonDagger on 3/10/2024 at 00:01
Quote Posted by Force
To transfer it to other game engine?
Not really, :) I'm working on a fun side project where I recreate maps from my favorite old games using Blender. It's a bit of an artistic hobby, and I share the renders with my friends.
