The Old Apartment
by David Mac · 05/13/2009 (9:32 pm) · 2 comments
This is my latest creation for our online store. It is a modular apartment building. Each floor is individually placed allowing the developer to create buildings with as many floors as they like, or even create unique profiles by positioning the floors laterally as well.
It is still a work in progress. I have yet to create the doors and windows. I intend to attempt to poratlize it so that larger structures can be assembled without an excessive drain on the CPU/frame rate of the game engine. I also want to light it. These last two depend on how well it imports into Constructor, as Lights and portals don't export well into TGE directly from Deled Pro.
The floor plan includes a central hall, kitchen, bathroom, livingroom, dining area, 2 bedrooms, a walk in closet, and a balcony. Plenty of sniping spots.
I also plan on including several placeables with the Module such as chairs, tables, beds, barbeque's, etc.
I'm also planing a post apocalypse version done in the style of Fallout 3, but that probably won't be ready for a few weeks yet.
I'll be creating 20 unique floor markers that can be manually placed so players know what floor they are on. I'll also be creating an empty shell, so developers with a whole lot of content can strategically place where they want the fully interactive interiors to be.
I've had no luck porting these to Collada unfortunately. So no normal maps. I could bump map them for TGEA though if there was an interest.
As always, constructive criticism is welcome. Please keep in mind the design constraints... Each floor is <2000 polys (hopefully of portaled goodness!) I've TRIED to limit the number of textures, but for 2 semi-unique apartments, the number crept up there a little. I would like to vary the exterior a bit more, but that would mean MORE textures.
Oh yes! and our existing content for TGE is available at www.golemgraphics.net Just follow the links to our store.
Thanks for reading!
It is still a work in progress. I have yet to create the doors and windows. I intend to attempt to poratlize it so that larger structures can be assembled without an excessive drain on the CPU/frame rate of the game engine. I also want to light it. These last two depend on how well it imports into Constructor, as Lights and portals don't export well into TGE directly from Deled Pro.
The floor plan includes a central hall, kitchen, bathroom, livingroom, dining area, 2 bedrooms, a walk in closet, and a balcony. Plenty of sniping spots.
I also plan on including several placeables with the Module such as chairs, tables, beds, barbeque's, etc.
I'm also planing a post apocalypse version done in the style of Fallout 3, but that probably won't be ready for a few weeks yet.
I'll be creating 20 unique floor markers that can be manually placed so players know what floor they are on. I'll also be creating an empty shell, so developers with a whole lot of content can strategically place where they want the fully interactive interiors to be.
I've had no luck porting these to Collada unfortunately. So no normal maps. I could bump map them for TGEA though if there was an interest.
As always, constructive criticism is welcome. Please keep in mind the design constraints... Each floor is <2000 polys (hopefully of portaled goodness!) I've TRIED to limit the number of textures, but for 2 semi-unique apartments, the number crept up there a little. I would like to vary the exterior a bit more, but that would mean MORE textures.
Oh yes! and our existing content for TGE is available at www.golemgraphics.net Just follow the links to our store.
Thanks for reading!
About the author
#2
The challenge lay with the way the MAP/DIF format uses tiled textures. This often prevents adding fine detail because the textures are tiled across the entire surface. So to get more detail, you either have to create more texture files or add in more surfaces (AKA increase the poly count).
If I were to use a DTS style non-tiled UV map for a surface (on the lower kitchen cabinets for example), then that is the ONLY surface I can use that texture on. (OK, MAYBE I could work it in to 2 or 3 more surfaces, but still...) There are over 1500 surfaces in this model. Even if only a fraction of those were visible, that's still WAY too many surfaces to uniquely texture.
I splurged with the stove, using 2 texture map files, one for the front and another for the top. I could have combined them, but the resolution would suffer and using 2 gave me some very precise control to eliminate stretching or unusual deformations/blurs etc. I also used a separate texture file for the bathtub bottom. The use of these were strategic detail placements, the game resource equivalent of sitting down with a tub of Ben & Jerrys. But you can't do that all the time or you end up bloated ;D
I'm hoping that the creative use of lighting and placeable objects will off-set the economic use of texture files and polys to make more visually compelling scenes.
Thanks for your input!
05/17/2009 (3:01 pm)
Agreed! Greater detail and a generous poly count generally improve the look. It's a tech/resource trade-off though. I can make movie-grade CG interior scenes that look fantastic!, they are going to crash Torque though! Would you as a developer be OK with 35 or more texture files per model? The challenge lay with the way the MAP/DIF format uses tiled textures. This often prevents adding fine detail because the textures are tiled across the entire surface. So to get more detail, you either have to create more texture files or add in more surfaces (AKA increase the poly count).
If I were to use a DTS style non-tiled UV map for a surface (on the lower kitchen cabinets for example), then that is the ONLY surface I can use that texture on. (OK, MAYBE I could work it in to 2 or 3 more surfaces, but still...) There are over 1500 surfaces in this model. Even if only a fraction of those were visible, that's still WAY too many surfaces to uniquely texture.
I splurged with the stove, using 2 texture map files, one for the front and another for the top. I could have combined them, but the resolution would suffer and using 2 gave me some very precise control to eliminate stretching or unusual deformations/blurs etc. I also used a separate texture file for the bathtub bottom. The use of these were strategic detail placements, the game resource equivalent of sitting down with a tub of Ben & Jerrys. But you can't do that all the time or you end up bloated ;D
I'm hoping that the creative use of lighting and placeable objects will off-set the economic use of texture files and polys to make more visually compelling scenes.
Thanks for your input!
Torque 3D Owner fiammybe
Nice idea for a model: apartment buildings are very widespread and will be in much demand.
Cheers,
D.