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Plan for Akio

Name:	A
Date Posted:	Oct 05, 2005
Rating:	4.0 out of 5
Public:	YES
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Blog post

TGE Collision Enhancements, Maya2Dif Exporter, Need Artists

I've been busy with many enhancements in TGE. I guess some people are wondering why I'm putting so much effort into TGE. Well, that's because I feel TGE is the best engine available. Its scenegraph is powerful, the scripting language is powerful, and all the built in mechanics (processes) and features are just outstanding.

I'm also writing this plan to acquire artists: 3D modelers, texturing, level designers and editors. I prefer Maya user and someone who understands DTS and DIF exporters. When I say DIF exporter, I mean the knowledge of BSP modeling concepts similar to those used in Quark, Valve Hammer, and Q2Radiant.

Here are some of the stuff that I've been working on.

Below is a picture screen for TGE collision and physics enhancements. I've corrected some mistakes that I found and the physics and collision response gotten hell of lot better.
You can download the Windows demo, 6.01MB.
www.inoculousgames.com/ggposts/tgeenhancecolphysics.zip

The vehilce (buggy) is too wabbly. Here is a better car.dso file if anyone wants it. For those of you not familiar with TGE, place this file under starter.racing\server\scripts

Here is an executable that has ODE integrated, 1.27MB. Just drop the .exe file in the same folder and you can compare the physics and physics integration. The collision detection routines are exactly the same.
www.inoculousgames.com/ggposts/tge-odedemo.zip

Try it and tell me what you think.

This is a tool set created to make artists work a little easier. Eventhough it uses Maya, heavy BSP contruction rules apply using this exporter. For example, only use face UV mapping, meaning select the UV maps for the entire face and you can translate, scale, and rotate to get a perfect UV mapping. To export properly, first have your transformation frozen, and second, you must have all your texture files in the output directory. You can check whether the model exported correctly by checking the 'maya2dif.log' file in the output directory. Sorry, but I'll add an immediate feeback of the export status later. Remember the BSP construct rules.
The maya2dif exporter is for Maya 5.0, Windows only. You can download the exporter by clicking on the link below, 2.8MB.
www.inoculousgames.com/ggposts/maya2difexport.mll

The pictures below show what the model looked like in Maya then in the game.

Maya model

DIF model

Any feedback is welcomed.

And finally, my game demo. Well, it actually has one level to showcase the features of the game. Click on the link below to see it.
www.garagegames.com/mg/forums/result.thread.php?qt=35099

And, that's all folks.

Recent Blog Posts

List:	04/09/06 - max2dif exporter 12/19/05 - Enhanced Collision DLL Pack now NOT on sale 10/05/05 - Plan for Akio 09/29/05 - Plan for Akio

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Ron Yacketta (Oct 05, 2005 at 17:30 GMT)

pictures? what pictures.....

Michael Cozzolino (Oct 05, 2005 at 17:32 GMT)

You have < br > after http </br> around your download link.
Edited on Oct 05, 2005 17:32 GMT

A (Oct 05, 2005 at 17:35 GMT)

Links corrected.

Michael Cozzolino (Oct 05, 2005 at 17:49 GMT)

The collisions demo is sweet. You achieved this by fixing mistakes and your own modifications? No outside physics like ODE? Seems alot like Clark Fagot's work he mentioned basically fixing and building on Torque's existing physics.www.garagegames.com/blogs/6452/7660

A (Oct 05, 2005 at 18:03 GMT)

@Michael: Yes, I saw his blog about the time I was finalizing my TGEODE integration back in March, 2005. When I was nearly completed with the ODE work I decided to apply the same collision detection algorithm that I created for ODE into TGE, and the result is what you see in the demo.
Edited on Oct 05, 2005 18:39 GMT

Neil M. (Oct 05, 2005 at 18:14 GMT)

I tried this out the other day. I drove up a hill and the car suddenly reversed direction. Don't know how to reproduce it though.

A (Oct 05, 2005 at 18:20 GMT)

@Genesis: there is a limit to where you can drive in my game demo, and the vehicles are forced (literally forces applied) to stay within the missionArea.
Edited on Oct 05, 2005 20:21 GMT

Vashner (Oct 05, 2005 at 19:31 GMT)

Hum so with Maya you can do DTS and DIF... very interesting.

A (Oct 05, 2005 at 19:39 GMT)

The vehilce (buggy) is too wabbly. Here is a better car.dso file if anyone wants it. For those of you not familiar with TGE, place this file under
starter.racing\server\scripts

Josh "GimpMaster" Hintze (Oct 05, 2005 at 20:14 GMT)

Any chance on a different version of Maya DIF exporter....say 6.0 :)

Chris \"C2\" Byars (Oct 05, 2005 at 20:54 GMT) Resource Rating: 5

I love the collisions you've enhanced. A lot. :)

Chris (Oct 05, 2005 at 21:09 GMT)

The slashes in your links are " \ " they need to be " / "

A (Oct 05, 2005 at 21:36 GMT)

@C. Wilson: Thanks. Corrected the forward slash to backward slash.

I also added a new link to another executable that has ODE integrated to TGE (see above). This integration takes a new approach to correct the interpolation problem (than my previous integration). Compare the physics between what's in TGE to this.
Edited on Oct 05, 2005 21:59 GMT

Michael Cozzolino (Oct 05, 2005 at 22:05 GMT)

I like the non-ODE version better.

Chris \"C2\" Byars (Oct 05, 2005 at 23:03 GMT) Resource Rating: 5

I like the non-ODE version better.

A (Oct 05, 2005 at 23:08 GMT)

@C2: TGE seems to have greater physics response. It's the difference in how bodies are integrated makes the difference. Just for test, I reduced the mass of the dynamic objects by about 70% and adjusted surface contact bounciness in ODE and got a similar behavior. Things need to be lighter in ODE...

Chris \"C2\" Byars (Oct 05, 2005 at 23:43 GMT) Resource Rating: 5

TGE owns.

Congratulations thus far, and once you think it's good enough to release, I'll be waiting for the source :P

Ron Nelson (Oct 12, 2005 at 03:45 GMT)

Akio, Does this mean you are reconsidering the release of the source you are developing? *Crosses fingers*

Chris \"C2\" Byars (Oct 12, 2005 at 22:58 GMT) Resource Rating: 5

*crosses fingers too*

QuangKim (Oct 25, 2005 at 04:32 GMT) Resource Rating: 4

i tried with the dif exporter for may 5, the mesh is a simple cube but
there is always an error:

Maya2dif Exporter for Torque Game Engine.
Version 1.04, Compiled - Sep 21 2005.
Inoculousgames.com, author Akio Cullum

Loading model data from maya...
path = C:/Documents and Settings/haiquang.GLASSEGG1/My Documents/maya/projects/default/scenes/
file = aaa.dif
Getting mesh data...
Found: 1 meshes.
Loading all meshes.
Successful.
Successful.
Successful.

Converting polygons to brushes...
Allocating memory for 1 brushes...
Successful.
Creating BSP... * VIS Stats
# Empty leaves: 6
Av. Links/Node: 4
Max Links/Node: 4
* BSP Stats
Total Nodes: 13
(Av./Max) Depth: 3.85714 / 6

done.
Marking active zones...done
Creating surfaces...done.
Lightmaps: Normal...Alarm...done.
Resorting and Packing LightMaps...done.

STATISTICS
- Total brushes: 1
+ structural: 1
+ detail: 0
+ portal: 0
- Number of zones: 1
- Number of surfaces: 0
Error exporting!

would you please give me more guide to use??
thanks.

A (Oct 25, 2005 at 04:51 GMT)

Looks like the error results because there are no surfaces to export as shown in your log. Typically, this occurs when the normals are reversed in your model. The contruction rules are the same as what's found in map2dif since that's the code base for this exporter. I believe the docs can be found on this site. Keep those same rules in mind when constructing in Maya.

edited typos
Edited on Nov 10, 2005 18:24 GMT

QuangKim (Oct 25, 2005 at 06:51 GMT) Resource Rating: 4

sorry I'm newbie. so I think I should read the doc first.
Thanks. ;-)

QuangKim (Oct 26, 2005 at 04:14 GMT) Resource Rating: 4

I think you have a great work...now I can use Maya to export dif file, Thank a lot.
The collision with DTS object is very good.
I wonder why Torque Team dont improve it???
I'm trying to improve it,but I dont know where to begin...
@Akio Could you please tell us some infomation about torque collision bug???
Thanks

Jason Farmer (Oct 26, 2005 at 14:21 GMT)

Crossing fingers, toes and eyes.... urm, can't see now...

I'm really excited about the work you're doing, Please please please release the source either as a resource or a pack :-)

Jason Farmer (Oct 26, 2005 at 22:55 GMT)

I just played the racing demo and I'd like to say, WOW... This is just what I've been looking for... you've got loads of physics enabled object in the mission all behaving beautifully..

Chris \"C2\" Byars (Oct 29, 2005 at 00:09 GMT) Resource Rating: 5

It is exactly what I want too. Asked Akio himself, and says it's better off just to wait until it is released officially here. :( I want now! :P

Adrian Tysoe (Nov 03, 2005 at 02:43 GMT)

I'm hoping to port my racing game that uses ODE over to torque for better portability. This looks like it's a very good start at ODE integration. The one problem I see in this implementation is the initial collision with ODE objects where you have a sudden impact/delay/stutter before the physics kicks in.

@Akio, Any chance of getting to play with the source files and seeing if anything workable can be done? If your interested in checking out my current ODE racing game. I have a self running demo avaliable on my current plan. I'm currently looking for a useable physics solution to take my game past the prototype stage and onto other platforms other than just windows.

Teaser image to spark your interest

Blog with demo

www.garagegames.com/blogs/5605/9096
Edited on Nov 03, 2005 02:45 GMT

A (Nov 03, 2005 at 03:05 GMT)

Screen shot looks great.

Matt Huston (Nov 10, 2005 at 16:48 GMT) Resource Rating: 5

Just tried out your demo. Definately a large step forward for torque collision physics. I'd be interested in seeing if I could get more 'realistic' results out of it. I know you're testing more arcade style game while my game I would like to be more sim-quality physics. The only problem I see is what Adrian mentioned, how the cones "stop" you so suddenly.

Do you think that is possible with your changes?
Edited on Nov 10, 2005 16:54 GMT

A (Nov 10, 2005 at 18:11 GMT)

There are actually two demos: 1) enhanced collision and 2) ODE. While the physical response (integration) are different, the collision response are same for both -- same algorithm. The stickiness that you're describing is characteristic of a networked behavior.

And what does that mean exactly? Well, the behavior or actions that occur on the client side are superceded by the server, making the client responses negligible. Meaning that, whatever occurs on the client side happens on the client side but the outcome is always determined or controlled by the server. The stickiness that you seen is a collision that first detected and occurs on the client side and then occurs on the server side some small delta-t later. Hence, the stickiness.

If you want to have a smoother transitions between server and client, you can change these settings (with cost):

$pref::Net::PacketRateToClient = "10";
$pref::Net::PacketRateToServer = "32";

A (Dec 06, 2005 at 01:56 GMT)

This message is for

Josh "GimpMaster" Hintze

Hey Josh,

If you can provide me the libs, I can create the version that you want.

Luke *V8motorhead* Jones (Apr 05, 2006 at 23:04 GMT)

Are you going to release any source for others to play with?

Anthony Potamitis (Aug 28, 2006 at 15:50 GMT)

links dont work, domain name needs re registration!
Really interested in this.

Alex Huck (Oct 30, 2006 at 02:14 GMT)

It seems a porn site has bought the domain of those links...

Viren Thambidorai (Mar 14, 2007 at 11:58 GMT)

Links dont work, Really interested... as i want to implement ode into my demo.. can you get the demo with source files..

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