Interior Guide Pack

I noticed that the official documentation (or any documentation for that matter) is many times overlooked and people are looking for shortcuts, trying many tricks to save time. Dif /interior making came to my attention lately in this regard, so I decided to pick up Constructor and give it a test. My point is to prove that Constructor is not only production ready but also fun. And it is; if you have some tricks in your sleeve the interiors can come out really nice and fast; Add static shapes decals, a couple of dts models for transparency or for the sake of detail and you have a go; Valve is using this method with success so why won't we? I mean, bsp is cheap, has lightmaps (and aoc lately), better collision information.. so why not?

Now, I know it ain't easy to make round shapes and intricate arches. But that doesn't mean is impossible. And when you really need something ultra curved and super round, you can always use the dts shape instead.

Here's a very light comparison chart, Torque Constructor versus Valve's Hammer:

Hammer has :
a. support for transparency (talking about bsp brushes here)
b. decal support (no need for extra geometry)
c. many many years of product life tested by thousands of community members.

Torque Constructor can do pretty much the same (if not better) - let's not forget LOD available for DIFs - and come up with about the same results.

a. transparent areas can be replaced by dts shapes
b. decals can be created with dts shapes as well at no significant cost (if you don't go crazy about 'em)
c. Constructor is a very young product so let's talk in a few years.

Probably the only thing Constructor can't do right now is level design the hard way - a full level exported directly in torque. But that's not such a big thing since torque has terrain support and is a lot better than Valve's so far.

So let's see what can we come up in a guide for those out there looking for a shortcut (or a nudge to pick up Constructor already):

Creating a simple DIF object, setting up materials, export configurations, using shapes and reference shapes. A few highlights in the 'this is not how it's supposed to be done' area maybe, you know, the usual. Constructor has this Lightwave feel to it and some people are consfused about it's purpose in life - let's be clear about it, it is not a high end 3d modeling program, it is a BSP editing app. For those unsure about BSP, please look up binary space partition on the web - a good read from the infant days of the industry : )

Sounds easy and fun. I think we need more guide packs around here to make people more interested in what's going on. Content is easy to find/come up with - custom content is what most people are looking for. And the best way to achieve that is to grab the tool and do it yourself. Come on, it ain't that hard. There was a time only genius freaks could make a textured sphere. Now any programmer can steal the artist's job with the aid of today's tools.

So here's what I am working on: a warehouse (shots below) and an airfield hangar (no shots now). I am trying to showcase Constructor and also show that with a well thought initial design, things can really speed up and the results can be nice.



Light tweaks ~ export your dif with custom light information



Interior shot ~ nice looking sky through those windows



Decals! Red Team spawns here...



More decals! the transparent catwalk is a dts shape

You can pick up constructor right now and give it a try.

Apparatus