Badlands Rally (Beta on page 20 - post 384)

[0xsergy]

I'm trying to work on a Blender based solution involving a displace modifier to mimic the terrain. if it works, it then would actually be possible to mod on the map, ie make meshes that would exactly match the terrain. But I have scaling issues right now. Maybe somebody had done it before, to make mesh roads perhaps ? I didn't find anything in a the wiki (I didn't search too much on the forum though) I'll let you know if I make it through.

Edit : Yes, a light map should do.

Can't you import a heightmap straight into blender and it'll create the "terrain" for you(in 3d)? Or is that a 3ds Max feature only, I'm not sure.

[JohnV]

Can't you import a heightmap straight into blender and it'll create the "terrain" for you(in 3d)? Or is that a 3ds Max feature only, I'm not sure.

Hmm I haven't tried that, but maybe you can't, since tatanovitch is working on this

[aljowen]

Yeah, I know But unfortunately it seems it's the only way...

Edit: Aha, there is another way! I will make a separate map that will have the heightmap of this map, and nothing else That will not be too heavy for toolkit to handle And then I will copy the coordinates of the objects I will add, to the original map.

L3DT may do it but i don't know whether it can import .mesh files in any way.

Actually it cant but when searching around about it i found this: http://www.bundysoft.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1678 .It mentions something called "rasterise" and it does here to http://www.blitzbasic.com/Community/...hp?topic=61379 maybe it could help but since i have never worke with a .mesh before i couldn't say

[JohnV]

L3DT may do it but i don't know whether it can import .mesh files in any way.

Actually it cant but when searching around about it i found this: http://www.bundysoft.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1678 .It mentions something called "rasterise" and it does here to http://www.blitzbasic.com/Community/...hp?topic=61379 maybe it could help but since i have never worke with a .mesh before i couldn't say

Thanks a lot for the help! I will check this out.

[0xsergy]

Yup, I can do it in Max. What I could do for you(to make your life easier) is import your heightmap for you, convert it to an editable poly, export it as .obj or something Blender supports and then you can go placing everything in Blender(which is easier imo). Up to you.

2 million polies just killed my netbooks graphic card. Hahaha.

[JohnV]

Yup, I can do it in Max. What I could do for you(to make your life easier) is import your heightmap for you, convert it to an editable poly, export it as .obj or something Blender supports and then you can go placing everything in Blender(which is easier imo). Up to you.

2 million polies just killed my netbooks graphic card. Hahaha.

LOL

The mesh export can actually be done too with world machine, but never tried it before. So, your help will be appreciated I will send the heightmap to you, but wanted to ask something first:
About adding objects in blender, will they be added properly ingame? Or there will be a problem with scaling as tatanovitch mentioned? Also, how will I add the coordinates then? Are they done automaticly from blender?

[0xsergy]

LOL

This can actually be done too with world machine, but never tried it before.

About adding objects in blender, will they be added properly ingame? Or there will be a problem with scaling as tatanovitch mentioned? Also, how will I add the coordinates then? Are they done automaticly form blender?

In Max, for example, an objects default "pivot point" is compared to the coordinates, 0, 0, 0, and if you move it they'll increase/decrease/rotation/everything accordingly. Then once you've placed the object you just take the coordinates and put them in the .terrn file. An even easier way that I'll use whenever I get time to work on one of my maps is to create one HUGE object(size of the map basically) and place the objects however I want in this. Then all I have to do is specify, in the .terrn file, 0, 0, 0 for that single object(more like a bounding box with objects inside it). This is the easiest/laziest way imo and as far as I know it should work fine. I don't know if you'll understand this as I don't think you have Blender/Modeling experienced. This is the best way I can explain it. The large box that the other "objects" are inside won't be contactable or visible. It'll only be visible in something like Max or Blender. Another way I just thought of is to place the objects how I like in Max, connect them all(once I'm done with singular placing) so they're one big object, and take the coordinates that the object will be at(give or take the center of them all combined) and use those in the .terrn file. Both ways will probably work.

Can World Machine place meshes?

[JohnV]

In Max, for example, an objects default "pivot point" is compared to the coordinates, 0, 0, 0, and if you move it they'll increase/decrease/rotation/everything accordingly. Then once you've placed the object you just take the coordinates and put them in the .terrn file. An even easier way that I'll use whenever I get time to work on one of my maps is to create one HUGE object(size of the map basically) and place the objects however I want in this. Then all I have to do is specify, in the .terrn file, 0, 0, 0 for that single object(more like a bounding box with objects inside it). This is the easiest/laziest way imo and as far as I know it should work fine. I don't know if you'll understand this as I don't think you have Blender/Modeling experienced. This is the best way I can explain it. The large box that the other "objects" are inside won't be contactable or visible. It'll only be visible in something like Max or Blender. Another way I just thought of is to place the objects how I like in Max, connect them all(once I'm done with singular placing) so they're one big object, and take the coordinates that the object will be at(give or take the center of them all combined) and use those in the .terrn file. Both ways will probably work.

Can World Machine place meshes?

A have a little experience of Blender, but have quite a long time to use it. I now remember about coordinates, I didn't think of this before I will use this way to place objects, thanks. I will adjust the size of the mesh heightmap in blender so 1 blender point will be 1 m for the map and that way I think the coordinates will be accurate. Also, connecting objects to be one object is a very good way. I will try exporting the heightmap as a mesh with World Machine, and if I find it difficult I will send it to you Thanks for your interest.

[0xsergy]

A have a little experience of Blender, but have quite a long time to use it. I now remember about coordinates, I didn't think of this before I will use this way to place objects, thanks. I will adjust the size of the mesh heightmap in blender so 1 blender point will be 1 m for the map and that way I think the coordinates will be accurate. Also, connecting objects to be one object is a very good way. I will try exporting the heightmap as a mesh with World Machine, and if I find it difficult I will send it to you Thanks for your interest.

Yes, that's what I did in that test^. The map is actually 2049^2m so I made the plane the same size as well as 256m height so it should be identical. Also, joining them has two advantages. Much less .terrn writing of the positions and a lower chance of mesh stealing(since it requires more work to separate them again).

[JohnV]

Pff, I exported the heightmap as mesh from World Machine, but I was waiting over a half an hour for blender to import the map's mesh and I gave up. (actually my brother needs urgently to use the pc). I will try using just the lightmap in toolkit to add objects, I hope toolkit can handle this. If I still have problems, maybe I will send it to you to add the objects with 3ds max, if you want and have time of course.

[0xsergy]

Pff, I exported the heightmap as mesh from World Machine, but I was waiting over a half an hour for blender to import the map's mesh and I gave up. (actually my brother needs urgently to use the pc). I will try using just the lightmap in toolkit to add objects, I hope toolkit can handle this. If I still have problems, maybe I will send it to you to add the objects with 3ds max, if you want and have time of course.

I might be able to squeeze it in but I'd prefer to have you do it as I've got a few ongoing projects that I'd like to finish. No offense is intended, it's just that I'm very busy now. Also, I wouldn't know where you would like to place them anyways. Like I said before, I could take your .raw and convert it to an .obj or something for you to import into Blender where you could place them and get the positions(or join, if you'd like).

[Brickman]

If you still got problems with toolkit, I can give it a try since I have 0.37 still. Just a pain to tell me where to add objects

[rrrrrrrrr9]

Just wondering, but why did you cross out your fps readings? Also are the roads an alpha splat layer or are they just drawn onto the terrain?

[JohnV]

I might be able to squeeze it in but I'd prefer to have you do it as I've got a few ongoing projects that I'd like to finish. No offense is intended, it's just that I'm very busy now. Also, I wouldn't know where you would like to place them anyways. Like I said before, I could take your .raw and convert it to an .obj or something for you to import into Blender where you could place them and get the positions(or join, if you'd like).

No offence, I understand You are not obliged to do it. Also about the placing of the object I thought that it would be difficult to tell you where excactly to put them but if it was the only way I would try it However a 2049x2049 lightmap can be handled in toolkit so there is no prob

---------- Post added at 08:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:15 PM ----------

Just wondering, but why did you cross out your fps readings? Also are the roads an alpha splat layer or are they just drawn onto the terrain?

It is alpha splatted. The heightmap is 2049x2049 with approximately 0.5 m each pixel, so in order to have a quite good detailed road line I used a 4096x4096 alpha map. I did a trick with photoshop in order to make the lines. Anyway, it is quite complicated to explain it, I need to show you how I did it which is quite difficult with writing

Edit: About the FPS readings, I don't know what's wrong, I didn't cross out them

Edit2:I found what was the problem, it happens when I switch to my language. When it is in english, the fps readings are working fine.

Is there a possibility to draw roads on the terrain? Because I didn't know it.

[aljowen]

Is there a possibility to draw roads on the terrain? Because I didn't know it.

I think he means opening the texture file in paintshop or paint.net ect and just painting the roads on.

[JohnV]

I think he means opening the texture file in paintshop or paint.net ect and just painting the roads on.

I see. I did it quite different, with a trick that saved me a lot of time.

[aljowen]

How do you make it so that 1 pixel on the map has a certain texture.

Example:
On your map you can see the squares where the pixels are but each individual pixel has a different texture making the map look really cool

[0xsergy]

How do you make it so that 1 pixel on the map has a certain texture.

Example:
On your map you can see the squares where the pixels are but each individual pixel has a different texture making the map look really cool

It's just two colours he alternated between such as Tatanovich suggested a little while back(I think).

[JohnV]

I use only 5 detail textures, on for each kind (rock, sand etc), but the color (not the texture) is different on each pixel and that makes tiling unnoticable

I finished the mesh of the wooden hut in blender Now doing the texture, for which I would like advices, since I do it for first time. I already had some errors but I solved them. However, the progress is quite slow