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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="main.css">
<TITLE>Project::OSiRiON - Creating 3D models</TITLE>
</head>
<body>
<div class="banner">
<img src="images/banner.png" ALT="Project::OSiRiON">
<br>
Creating 3D models
</div>
<div class="text">
<p>
Like many other games engines, Project::OSiRiON supports the loading of
object geometry saved as 3D model files. The engine supports
the ASCII Scene Export format (<span style="fixed">.ase</span> files) and the Quake 3
map format (<span style="fixed">.map</span> files).
</p><p>
Modelers using 3D modeling packages like 3D Studio Max or Blender
can export their creations to the .ase format. Mappers used to
working with GtkRadiant, NetRadiant or other Quake 3 level editors,
can use the .map format directly, there is no map compiler involved.
</p><p>
The .map format can also be used as a container: it is possible
to import other models as sub-model in a .map file
(see the <i>misc_model</i> entity) and add Project::OSiRiON-specific
entities like lights, engine flares and weapon locations.
</p><p>
The engine uses submodel instancing making it possible to re-used
submodels with a minimal performace impact.
</p>
</div>
<div class="title">
Content
</div>
<div class="text">
<p>
<ul>
<li><a href="#materials">Textures and Materials</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#shaders_files">Shader files</a>
</ul>
<li><a href="#gtkradiant">Creating models with Radiant</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#brushes_and_sizes">Brushes and sizes</a>
<li><a href="#caulk">Caulk</a>
<li><a href="#clip">Clip</a>
<li><a href="#detail_brushes">Detail brushes</a>
<li><a href="#lights">Lights</a>
<li><a href="#flares">Flares</a>
<li><a href="#particles">Particles</a>
<li><a href="#groups">Function groups</a>
<li><a href="#submodels">Submodels</a>
<li><a href="#other_entities">Other entities</a>
</ul>
<li><a href="#commands">Useful commands</a>
</ul>
</div>
<!-- =============================================================== -->
<div class="title" id="materials">
Textures and Materials
</div>
<div class="text">
<p>
The engine can use TGA, JPEG and PNG images as textures and uses a simple
script based materials system similar to Quake 3 Arena shader files.
Materials make it possible to use special textures like player and engine color,
or to apply certain effects to a texture image.
</p><p>
The file <i>materials/shaderlist.txt</i> contains a list of shader files
that can be used by the engine. Each shader file can contain several materials.
</p><p>
The default shaderlist.txt looks like this:
</p>
<pre class="code">
common
colors
glass
kuroto
</pre>
<p>
On startup, the engine will read materials from the files <span class="fixed">materials/common.shader</span>
and <span class="fixed">materials/colors.shader</span>. When loading a .map or .ase file the engine
will check if a texture name matches a known material. If a match is found,
the engine will use the settings found in the material script.
</p><p>
In radiant, the materials can be used as normal textures, like you can with
Quake 3 Arena shaders. A number of default materials are already defined
and can be used out of the box.
</p><p>
The materials in the <span class="fixed">colors/</span> directory can be used to
draw brush faces with a specified color. The actual RGB color is defined
by the material script. Examples are <span class="fixed">red</span>,
<span class="fixed">green</span> and <span class="fixed">blue</span>.
</p><p>
The default set of colors is rather limited, more colors can be added by
using the <span class="fixed">common/</span> family of materials. The actual in-game
color information for these faces will be provided by the engine.
</p><p>
The <span class="fixed">common/entity</span> material represents an object's primary color.
In-game the faces with this texture will be drawn with the primary color of the entity
that uses the model. For example, a player's ship will have its owner's color.
Similar, the material <span class="fixed">common/entity_second</span> represents the secondary
color of an entity. <span class="fixed">common/entity_third</span> will be a mix of the primary and secondary color.
Each of these materials also has a <span class="fixed">_dark</span> variant.
</p><p>
There are two special material that will cause the brush faces to be ignored
by the engine: as explained above, the <span class="fixed">common/caulk</span> material can be used
on hidden faces. The <span class="fixed">common/clip</span> material is reserved for future use
brush faces using this texture will be ignored as well.
</p><p>
For .ase models, the material name inside the .ase file is interpreted as an osirion material.
If you'd use a material called <span class="fixed">common/entity</span>, those model faces will rendered using
the object's primary in-game color, regardless of the actual material settings in the .ase file.
Note that the actual <i>ase material name</i> is used, not the name of the diffuse texture
used by that material.
</p><p>
If a model material has no special definition, the engine will try to load the texture with the same name,
like the material <span class="fixed">models/cargo/crate/crate</span>.
</div>
<!-- =============================================================== -->
<div class="subtitle" id="shader_files">
Shader files
</div>
<div class="text">
<p>
Shader files contain material definitions: each material is defined by its name,
and for each material a number of flags can be set to tell the engine how to handle it.
</p>
<p>
for example, the definition of the <span class="fixed">textures/common/caulk</a> material:
</p>
<pre class=code>
// material name
textures/common/caulk
{
// image used by the map editor
qer_editorimage textures/common/caulk.tga
// polygons using this material are ignored
ignore
}
</pre>
<p>
This material has the name <span class="fixed">textures/common/caulk</span>,
this means the rules for this material have to be applied to each model face that uses it.
In Radiant, this means every patch or brush with the <span class="fixed">common/caulk</span> texture
(note that Radiant doesn't show the <span class="fixed">textures/</span> prefix). For .ase files,
it means every triangle with a material that is called <span class="fixed">textures/common/caulk</span>.
</p>
<p>
This material has the <span class="fixed">ignore</span> flag: model geometry with this material will simply
be ignored.
</p>
<p>
A second example is the <span class="fixed">textures/common/entity</span> material:
</p>
<pre class=code>
// material name
textures/common/entity
{
// image used by the map editor
qer_editorimage textures/common/entity.tga
// use entity color
entity
}
</pre>
<p>
This material has the <span class="fixed">entity</span> flag set: it means model geometry with this material
will be rendered in entity color. For spaceship this means player color.
</p>
<pre class=code>
// material name
textures/ship/plating_entity
{
// use entity color
entity
// use a texture, texture name and material name don't have to be the same
texture textures/ship/plating
}
</pre>
</div>
<!-- =============================================================== -->
<div class="title" id="radiant">
Creating models with Radiant
</div>
<div class="text">
<p>
The .map models for the game were created with NetRadiant,
in theory any editor capable of exporting Quake 3 .map files could
be used. Support for files which can be used with NetRadiant or GtkRadiant 1.5
are included in the data distribution. Refer to the file INSTALL on where
to find them and how to install them. No map compiler is necessary,
the engine reads the .map files directly.
<p></p>
You can also use the NetRadiant distribution from
<a href="http://ingar.satgnu.net/gtkradiant">http://ingar.satgnu.net/gtkradiant</a>.
Note that it does not include the Project::OSiRiON support files by default.
<p></p>
This sectio will not explain how to use the editor. Consult google
for numerous tutorials on this subject. All basic brush editing
techniques for any Quake-engine based game can be used.
<p></p>
The main difference with other games is that you are not creating
a map for a 3d-shoot'em'up, but obviously, an object that has to be
loaded into a space game.
<p></p>
Because there is no map compile involved, and the engine is fundamentally
different, some points should be take under consideration.
</p>
</div>
<div class="subtitle" id="brushes_and_sizes">
Brushes and sizes
</div>
<div class="text">
<p>
The engine only supports brushes only, patches will be ignored. A large number
of complex brushes is supported, but I advise not to go below grid size 1.
As with any engine it is still possible to create brushwork that gets
messed up due to rounding errors.
<p></p>
When the model is loaded, the bounding box is calculated. The model will
be automaticly centered around the center of the geometry. All visible faces
will be converted to triangles. At the moment the practical triangle count
limit for a model is between 20,000 and 30,000 brushes. The engine is
capable of handling a lot more, but think about the fact that a large station
might be placed in a system filled with player ships and other objects.
<p></p>
The limits of map coordinates are placed on +/-16384 map units. Placing
brushes outside these bounds will have unpredictable results. The engine will
rescale models as required, therefor the actual size of the map in the editor
is not that important.
<p></p>
The front of a model points along the positive X-axis, the positive
Z-axis is up, the positive Y-axis is left. In Radiant, the nose of
a spacesip or the front of a spacestation should point to the right.
</p>
</div>
<!-- =============================================================== -->
<div class="subtitle" id="caulk">
Caulk
</div>
<div class="text">
<p>
Any brush face that has the <i>common/caulk</i> texture will be ignored on load.
Note that <i>common/caulk</i> is actually a special material with the <i>ignore</i> flag set.
</p>
<p>
Like in Quake 3 maps, all invisible brushes faces should have the this material.
</p>
</div>
<!-- =============================================================== -->
<div class="subtitle" id="clip">
Clip
</div>
<div class="text">
<p>
Any brush face that has the <i>common/clip</i> texture will be ignored on load.
Note that <i>common/clip</i> is actually a special material with the <i>ignore</i> flag set.
Clip is reserved for future use.
</p>
</div>
<!-- =============================================================== -->
<div class="subtitle" id="detail_brushes">
Detail brushes
</div>
<div class="text">
<p>
As with other engines, Osirion supports the use of detail brushes, but
with a twist: detail brushes will only be rendered if the model
is within detail range, close enough to the camera. When it is further away,
only structural brushes will be rendered. The actual detail range depends on the
size of the model.
</p><p>
This means that any object that could only been seen from close by
should be made from detail brushes.
</p><p>
This has one improtant implication: if you show the structural brushes
only (with the CTRL+D filter in Gtkradiant) there should be no obvious
gaps of caulk that were previously hidden behind detail brushes.
</p>
</div>
<!-- =============================================================== -->
<div class="subtitle" id="lights">
Lights
</div>
<div class="text">
<p>
Unlike quake, <i>light</i> entities are not used to add lighting information
to the level but to add point lights to a model. Adding a light will
render a light flare texture in the corresponding location.
</p><p>
The <i>flare</i> value indicates what texture will be used to draw the light.
The flare value is translated to a texture name, <i>bitmaps/fx/flare??</i>.
The default flare texture is <i>flare00</i>.
</p><p>
The <i>light</i> value is used to determine the size of the flare. The engine
default is 100, resulting in rather large flares.
</p><p>
The default <i>_color</i> is white, but the color can be set through radiant's
color menu (K key). If the <i>entity</i> option (spawnflag 2) is set, the
color value will be ignored and the light will be rendered with the
color of the entity it is attached to.
</p><p>
The <i>strobe</i> option (spawnflag 1) will create a blinking light. A number
of options can be set to manipulate the flashing behaviour. By default
a strobe light will be half a second on, half a second off.
</p><p>
The <i>frequency</i> value changes the number of flashes per second.
</p><p>
The <i>offset</i> value changes the moment the light will be on. Offset is
measured in seconds.
</p><p>
The <i>time</i> value sets the fraction of time the light will be on.
The default is 0.5.
</p><p>
Lights will only be rendered if the model is within detail range.
</p><p>
I also came across this usefull information: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starboard">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starboard</a><br>
In short, the green light should be on the right side, the red light on the left side.
</p>
</div>
<!-- =============================================================== -->
<div class="subtitle" id="flares">
Flares
</div>
<div class="text">
<p>
The default light entity creates omnidirectional lights. To create
a directional flare, use the <i>fx_flare</i> entity. Values for a
<i>fx_flare</i> are the same as those for a default light, with one
small diference: the size of the flare is set through the radius
value. The default flare radius is 100. Rotate the entity or set the
angle value to point the flare in a different direction.
</p><p>
Setting the <i>entity</i> option (spawnflag 2) will assign the entities
primary colour as flare colour.
</p><p>
Use the <i>engine</i> option (spawnflag 4) to create a flare that
lights up depending on engine power.
</p><p>
The direction of the flare can be set with the <i>pitch</i>,
<i>yaw</i> and <i>roll</i> keys. The <i>angle</i> key is an alias for <i>yaw</i>.
The <i>angles</i> key allows you to to set pitch, yaw and roll angles in a single key value.
</p><p>
Flares will only be rendered if the entity is within detail range.
</p>
</div>
<!-- =============================================================== -->
<div class="subtitle" id="particles">
Particles
</div>
<div class="text">
<p>
Add a <i>fx_particles</i> entity to attach a particle system to the model.
They can be used to add effects like trails and smoke. A particle system
must be defined in <i>particles.ini</i> before it can be used.
</p><p>
The <i>script</i> value must be set to the label of the particles script.
</p><p>
Setting the <i>entity</i> option (spawnflag 2) will assign the entities
primary colour as particle system colour.
</p><p>
Use the <i>engine</i> option (spawnflag 4) will assign the models engine colour
as particle system colour.
</p><p>
The axis of the particle system can be set with the <i>pitch</i>,
<i>yaw</i> and <i>roll</i> keys. The <i>angle</i> key is an alias for <i>yaw</i>.
The <i>angles</i> key allows you to to set pitch, yaw and roll angles in a single key value.
</p><p>
Particles will only be rendered if the entity is within detail range.
</p>
</div>
<!-- =============================================================== -->
<div class="subtitle" id="groups">
Function groups
</div>
<div class="text">
<p>
Brushes can be grouped together into funcion groups. These groups can be used
to create moving parts in a model.
</p>
<p>
<i>func_door</i> will be used to create animated doors (not implemented)
</p>
<p>
<i>func_group</i> an editor utility to group brushes together.
</p>
<p>
<i>func_rotate</i> will create a rotating set of brushes. The center of the rotation
is automaticly calculated as the geometrical center of the group.
The rotation axis can be set with the <i>pitch</i>, <i>yaw</i> and <i>roll</i> keys.
The <i>angle</i> key is an alias for <i>yaw</i>.
The <i>angles</i> key allows you to to set pitch, yaw and roll angles in a single key value.
</p>
</div>
<!-- =============================================================== -->
<div class="subtitle" id="submodels">
Submodels
</div>
<div class="text">
<p>
<i>misc_model</i> can be used to add a submodel.
</p>
</div>
<!-- =============================================================== -->
<div class="subtitle" id="other_entities">
Other entities
</div>
<div class="text">
<p>
<i>location_cockpit</i>, <i>location_dock</i>, <i>location_turret</i> and <i>location_cannon</i> are reserved but have not yet been implemented.
</p><p>
<i>location_cockpit</i> will be used to indicate where the cockpit of a vessel is located
and will be used to place the camera in cockpit mode.
</p><p>
<i>location_dock</i> will be used to indicate the location of docking ports.
</p><p>
<i>location_cannon</i> will create an attachment point for a cannon. Cannons are forward
shooting guns.
</p><p>
<i>location_turret</i> will create an attachment point for turrets. Turrets point upwards or downwards.
</p>
</div>
<!-- =============================================================== -->
<div class="title" id="commands">
Useful commands
</div>
<div class="text">
<p>
The client has a built-in model viewer, you can view any model
by executing the <span class="fixed">testmodel<span> command:
</p>
<pre class="code">
testmodel maps/colonial/alexandria
</pre>
<p>
You can load all models referenced by the game at once by executing the <span class="fixed">r_loadmodels</span> command.
This makes it easy to find missing models, missing textures or to spot other related problems.
</p>
<pre class="code">
r_loadmodels
</pre>
<p>
Use the <span class="fixed">list_model</span> command to get a list of currently loaded models:
</p>
<pre class="code">
list_model
</pre>
</div>
</body>
</html>
|
