Ziemanskye on 17/2/2009 at 22:32
That depends on how complicated the object is, but as long as it's fairly simple in how it's made, you can just drop a Weld Vertices modifier on the stack and have it seal itself - you can check in an Edit Poly form of the object (might also work in Edit Mesh, but I try not to use them because I don't like them)- select Borders and drag over the whole object: you're hoping to select nothing because the object is sealed right.
Ziemanskye on 18/2/2009 at 18:40
Just capping the holes can sometimes leave you with bizarre micro-polygons and occasional illegal faces when you export, but frankly, it works. Just remember if you deliberately leave holes in a mesh it wont cast shadows, so you've got to seal it (and maybe BF the gaps if you didn't want that bit visible/rendered/whatever)
Still, you've learnt something new :p
Judith on 18/2/2009 at 19:01
Oh, I've learnt quite a few things, accidentally.
First thing, I can finally see my Ion Shader in perspective viewport, with all the results from the material, diffuse and normal. Heck, you can even see how the cubemap behaves on your mesh and adjust its transparency :) It was so simple all along. All you have to do is create your own Ion Shader material, apply it to a mesh and click the "show in viewport" button,
but while you're in the shader properties, not one level upper in the material property tree. If you go up one level, everything will go black on your mesh.
Second thing - you can define your collision manually, without using the HKConvexMaker, which is often buggy or makes things too complicated. After creating your mesh, make a simple box-shape, align it to dimensions of your mesh and give it a name like
HKConvex_YourMeshNameHere. After that you just select your mesh and export it to tim file. If Max will seek for the mesh with your name and HKConvex_ prefix and associate those two meshes on export. Just remember to put the pivot of the collision mesh in the same place where the original mesh (usually 0, 0, 0). After that you can even move it away, so it doesn't cover your original mesh - max will export it correctly anyway.
Quote:
Just remember if you deliberately leave holes in a mesh it wont cast shadows, so you've got to seal it
That was the problem, I got rid of the unnecessary faces at the bottom and inside, to keep the triangle count as low as possible.
Renzatic on 20/2/2009 at 06:37
I have no idea what I could use this for. It's too high poly to be used in just about anything, and it's too complex an object to make a decent low poly model for. Even so, I thought it was a cool looking gate when I saw it, and I had to try and make it myself. (
http://users.chartertn.net/greymatt/arty.jpg) I've got about 3/4ths of it done.
One cool thing about all this is it's gotten me interested in Art Nouveau again. I've always found the style to be kinda eerie. The architecture flows and bobs in alien ways, incomparable to anything else, and the art is surreal and unsettling ways you can't quite put your finger on. The more extreme examples, specially in the right lighting, can be...damn...straight up nightmare fuel. I'm surprised no one has tried making an FM based around it all yet. It'd fit in Thief/TDM pretty well.
Hell, I might give it a go.
Judith on 20/2/2009 at 09:20
Quote Posted by Renzatic
I have no idea what I could use this for. It's too high poly to be used in just about anything, and it's too complex an object to make a decent low poly model for. Even so, I thought it was a cool looking gate when I saw it, and I had to try and make it myself. (
http://users.chartertn.net/greymatt/arty.jpg) I've got about 3/4ths of it done. Hell, I might give it a go.
It's absolutely lovely! :wot: I think I'll send you a whole pack of pictures taken from the art nouveau album, so you could have additional source of inspiration ;) Btw. If you manage to keep the tris count under 5000 it would be suitable as an optimized game prop in UE 3.0 for example. You don't use such things often in a level, and the engine has no polygon limit, in theory. It starts optimizing meshes only above some insane values, like 15 000 or sth.
Ziemanskye on 20/2/2009 at 18:10
Actually Ren, there any chance I could get a copy of that to try and optimise in Max. I'm curious, and while I'm not afraid of 5000 polygon objects for thief, it is a bit excessive (and you don't want to use them too much, but really, how many gates do you need in a level?)
Renzatic on 20/2/2009 at 18:37
Quote Posted by Ziemanskye
Actually Ren, there any chance I could get a copy of that to try and optimise in Max. I'm curious, and while I'm not afraid of 5000 polygon objects for thief, it is a bit excessive (and you don't want to use them too much, but really, how many gates do you need in a level?)
Sure. Let me finish up the other half and I'll send it your way sometime this weekend. To give you a fair warning, by the time I'm done with it, the whole thing will probably take up about 14,000 quads. I made it as a high poly SDS model first and foremost, and never had any intentions of putting it as is into a game.
The one good thing is most of the polys come from constraint loops for when I subdivide it. You could cull those down and maybe (real maybe) get it below the 5000 mark.
Renzatic on 20/2/2009 at 21:53
Quote Posted by Beleg Cúthalion
Well, if I had the time I would have started myself. I Agree about the creepiness (The Cradle however, looking closely, is not too much Art Nouveau itself as I always thought, but it's kind of the same direction) and some of the TDS artworks really hint that as well
Those shots come close, but I'm leaning more towards the more distinct forms of architecture. The (
http://users.chartertn.net/greymatt/horta.jpg) Horta Museum, or this shot Judith sent me of(
http://users.chartertn.net/greymatt/nouveau.jpg) whatever this place is are the most inspiring examples. Mix it with a bit of steampunk like you suggested, and I bet we'd end up with something really wild.
