Plan for Matt Summers
by Matt Summers · 04/08/2004 (5:54 pm) · 14 comments
The first release of our DTS exporter for GameSpace 1.x and TrueSpace 6.5+ is complete and is now available for download. As soon as I get a chance It will also be posted here on Garage Games as a resource. The source code will be available in the next week or so once we clean it up a bit and make sure our changes to the DTS SDK won't break anything. Download the exporter here
The exporter also includes extensive documentation on how to use it and also information on the DTS feature set. The DTS info was collected from several garage games resources and compiled into the docs for the exporter so the information was all in one place. Preview the docs here
Feature wise it currently supports:
multiple materials per object, material properties, mesh sorting, tri-stripping, custom bounds, mipmap control, multiple collision objects, multiple LOS collision objects, auto Level of detail (like multires), manual detail levels, billboards and billboard detail levels, named nodes (static or animated), encoded normals, Transform animation (skeletal animation), named animations using clips, sequence priority, blend animation, and DSQ export
The remaining features will be added to the next release version of the exporter These include: ground transform animation, material animation, IFL, visibility animation, scale animation, node export control and triggers.
Here is an example of auto generated LOD objects using the Orc:
5 detail levels were auto generated by the exporter starting with original mesh triangles and reduced down to around 500 triangles. Texture coordinates are maintained as best as possible and it works on both animated and static objects.
Our additions to the DTS SDK will make it easy for the Milkshape and other exporters to add missing features like AutoLOD, tri-stripping, DSQ, mesh sorting, and more.
Torque Content Conversion
I am also currently in the process of converting the Torque content into gameSpace/ trueSpace format so users of this exporter will be able to modify the objects and export them for use with TGE.
The exporter also includes extensive documentation on how to use it and also information on the DTS feature set. The DTS info was collected from several garage games resources and compiled into the docs for the exporter so the information was all in one place. Preview the docs here
Feature wise it currently supports:
multiple materials per object, material properties, mesh sorting, tri-stripping, custom bounds, mipmap control, multiple collision objects, multiple LOS collision objects, auto Level of detail (like multires), manual detail levels, billboards and billboard detail levels, named nodes (static or animated), encoded normals, Transform animation (skeletal animation), named animations using clips, sequence priority, blend animation, and DSQ export
The remaining features will be added to the next release version of the exporter These include: ground transform animation, material animation, IFL, visibility animation, scale animation, node export control and triggers.
Here is an example of auto generated LOD objects using the Orc:
5 detail levels were auto generated by the exporter starting with original mesh triangles and reduced down to around 500 triangles. Texture coordinates are maintained as best as possible and it works on both animated and static objects.
Our additions to the DTS SDK will make it easy for the Milkshape and other exporters to add missing features like AutoLOD, tri-stripping, DSQ, mesh sorting, and more.
Torque Content Conversion
I am also currently in the process of converting the Torque content into gameSpace/ trueSpace format so users of this exporter will be able to modify the objects and export them for use with TGE.
#2
04/08/2004 (7:10 pm)
That's awesome, great stuff! 
#3
04/08/2004 (7:36 pm)
Rock. I haven't tried it out yet, but from the shots and description above... very nice! 
#5
04/08/2004 (7:51 pm)
Very cool, just gave it a whirl in the tS6.6 demo. I too would love support for earlier versions, seeing as I only have 5.1, but seeing as this exporter depends on layers I'm sure you don't want to have to totally rethink the design. I would be interested in knowing why you went with the layers though rather than something that could work in earlier versions e.g. tags in the model name or a particular grouping layout.
#6
/boils up inside!
04/08/2004 (8:12 pm)
oh i just noticed that too. damn, this makes me soo mad, especially since i bought truespace at christmas, and now 6.6 is the same price as my version 5.2 . Is there any chance with the source code, we could just start building it to work with the 5.2 SDK, and just change some minor things?/boils up inside!
#7
Besides layers the exporter also uses clips for animation, both features are only available in TrueSpace 6.5+ and GameSpace. The source code for this exporter will be available here on Garage Games shortly so someone else may choose to port the exporter to older verisons of TrueSpace, but they would have to rewrite the scene parser and the parts of the animation export to make it work.
We wrote it for the software versions that we are using (gameSpace and TS 6.6) and are making the source avaialable to the Garage Games community so that others might port it for their own needs.
04/08/2004 (8:14 pm)
Using layers gave us a very powerful way to manage all the parts of the DTS object, simplifying the development and making the exporter easier to use as a result.Besides layers the exporter also uses clips for animation, both features are only available in TrueSpace 6.5+ and GameSpace. The source code for this exporter will be available here on Garage Games shortly so someone else may choose to port the exporter to older verisons of TrueSpace, but they would have to rewrite the scene parser and the parts of the animation export to make it work.
We wrote it for the software versions that we are using (gameSpace and TS 6.6) and are making the source avaialable to the Garage Games community so that others might port it for their own needs.
#8
04/08/2004 (8:15 pm)
You rock!
#9
When the exporter is ready from prime time let me know I'll do a full on press release and RSS news feed. I've been in contact with Chris R. and want to be sure this gets explosure a widely as possible.
Thank you and Ted for all your hard work. I know that this was a major undertaking and its good to see the quality you've put into this.
Jay
04/08/2004 (10:36 pm)
Matt,When the exporter is ready from prime time let me know I'll do a full on press release and RSS news feed. I've been in contact with Chris R. and want to be sure this gets explosure a widely as possible.
Thank you and Ted for all your hard work. I know that this was a major undertaking and its good to see the quality you've put into this.
Jay
#10
So great work to all involved, mucho thanks.
04/09/2004 (4:05 am)
This is a great great resource guys. I dont use gamespace, truespace or any other space (ok, apart from deepspace), but its just a good sign in general. Having more artists capable of producing good content cheaply is a plus for ALL of us torque users, game developers in general and makes me feel happy!So great work to all involved, mucho thanks.
#11
04/09/2004 (7:04 am)
Couldn't have came at a better time. I'm buying GameSpace at the end of the month. Looking foward to use it. Already downloaded it and the docs. Thanks!
#12
04/09/2004 (11:33 am)
Kudo's to Matt! Thank you for the great work!
#13
04/09/2004 (2:45 pm)
Forgot to mention, those docs are great. 
#14
06/02/2004 (9:56 pm)
Really, really nice resource. Excellent docs, too. All in all, a very professional addition - thanks for ALL the hard work!
Torque Owner John Vanderbeck