Caligari gameSpace: has anyone followed this?
by Nauris Krauze · in Artist Corner · 09/25/2003 (1:00 am) · 10 replies
I was wondering - have any of you followed the development on Caligari gameSpace? I received an email from them because I had downloaded the free Truespace 3.2 awhile back.
It sounds like a sweet deal from what I just read in their websites: 3D modeling tool designed for use for games, based on trueSpace 6.6 core, supports various formats and even includes milkshape for exporting purposes.
And they're giving it away for 299 bucks (199$ before release).
I mean, it sounds a bit too sweet to be "true" :) I've been looking now for good or semi-good 3D app for learning purposes, whith possibility to test things in some Torque projects maybe.
Yeah, and affordable as well.
So I wanted some expert's opinion - how does it look, will it be worth it, are there any underwater rocks?
I'm a newbie in 3D arena as of now, so I'm being extremely cautious:)
It sounds like a sweet deal from what I just read in their websites: 3D modeling tool designed for use for games, based on trueSpace 6.6 core, supports various formats and even includes milkshape for exporting purposes.
And they're giving it away for 299 bucks (199$ before release).
I mean, it sounds a bit too sweet to be "true" :) I've been looking now for good or semi-good 3D app for learning purposes, whith possibility to test things in some Torque projects maybe.
Yeah, and affordable as well.
So I wanted some expert's opinion - how does it look, will it be worth it, are there any underwater rocks?
I'm a newbie in 3D arena as of now, so I'm being extremely cautious:)
About the author
Nauris Krauze is 2D designer/illustrator with 10 years experience in game development. Currently art director at 3Nstudio, working on games for social networks, occasionally doing some contract work.
#2
I'll wait for release, which isnt far away anyway.
09/25/2003 (1:14 am)
Thanks Jeremy. I just found that there is pretty much of info in their roundtable forum. However, it is pretty fragmented and sometimes hard to tell what is confirmed fact and what's just an idea of non-Caligari employees.I'll wait for release, which isnt far away anyway.
#3
09/25/2003 (6:48 am)
The Dark Basic Pro site had a good little blurb on it, so I think they're waiting with baited breath as well. As for concrete information on it, I haven't seen any. Personally, I'm betting that it's basically TrueSpace LE which will allow people to get their feet wet, and make them salivate for the full TrueSpace upgrade. 
#4
09/25/2003 (9:36 am)
Sounds like there answer to GMax, personally I never liked the Calagri interface, and I worked with it when it was an Amiga product. The GUI is very cumbersome and not really aimed at production work like some other products are. I question its usefulness if you have to use Milkshape to export stuff anyway?????
#5
11/21/2003 (6:51 am)
I actually got gameSpace for the pre-release special pricing. The interface took a while to get used to after having toyed around with 3DS Max but I have to say, it's a very powerful tool for creating and texturing models. It's a polygon only modelling tool but the modelling functions are great. It's very easy to make complicated looking shapes and you can easily reduce the LOD of your objects with the click of a button. I've created and textured models on 3DS Max for a couple years and I can make more complicated meshes with gameSpace quicker. I'm not saying which is better but for myself, I've had good results using gameSpace. Another strong point is it's texturing functions. It's very easy to create UV coordinates for you objects regardless of shape. You can also "bake" lighting to your textures if you want to put lighting detail by texture. Also, the SDK is much simpler than 3DS Max. It took me weeks to create pluggins for 3DS Max but should take shorter with gameSpace. 
#6
www.garagegames.com/mg/forums/result.thread.php?qt=14015
we currently just have animation left and are working hard on it.
Later,
Matt Summers
Dark Industries
http://www.darkindustries.com
11/21/2003 (7:54 am)
We're working on a DTS exporter for both Truespace and GameSpace, check out this post for more information:www.garagegames.com/mg/forums/result.thread.php?qt=14015
we currently just have animation left and are working hard on it.
Later,
Matt Summers
Dark Industries
http://www.darkindustries.com
#7
im looking for a 3ds max pluggin for gmax
any help would be appreciated thankx gene
02/07/2004 (5:58 am)
Hi guys im looking for a 3ds max pluggin for gmax
any help would be appreciated thankx gene
#9
the dts exported, and it exports your texture map for you, etc. Although I have yet to see how it looks in Torque. It seems full featured enough (and I do own TrueSpace 6.5 anyways)
03/01/2004 (9:31 pm)
There is a built in DTS exporter and gameSpace 1.5 comes with a "Level Editor" which is a map exporter (which I'm working on exporting one properly but map2dif is choking on it)the dts exported, and it exports your texture map for you, etc. Although I have yet to see how it looks in Torque. It seems full featured enough (and I do own TrueSpace 6.5 anyways)
#10
Mark Owen built a DTS exporter that supports just about everything that the MilkShape exporter does you'll find it under resources if you search for "GameSpace".
The GS 1.5 level editor suffers from being rushed to release. It still has many bugs that need to be fixed. (I'm on the beta team) Just because it exports a .map file doesn't mean the file has valid geometry in it. It will export just about anything even if map2dif will choke on it. so check your geometry.
Sometime in the next few weeks we will be releasing our DTS exporter with full source to the Torque community. It will have full DTS support, the only hang up has been caligari's screwed up skeletal animation. Here's some of the documentation for our exporter, the docs aren't finished yet but it gives you a good idea of what it does and what the GS 1.5 one is missing.
Later,
Matt
03/02/2004 (6:01 am)
The DTS exporter that ships with GS 1.5 is missing about 80% of the features the DTS format supports. Right now you are better off using the milkshape exporter than the one in GS 1.5.Mark Owen built a DTS exporter that supports just about everything that the MilkShape exporter does you'll find it under resources if you search for "GameSpace".
The GS 1.5 level editor suffers from being rushed to release. It still has many bugs that need to be fixed. (I'm on the beta team) Just because it exports a .map file doesn't mean the file has valid geometry in it. It will export just about anything even if map2dif will choke on it. so check your geometry.
Sometime in the next few weeks we will be releasing our DTS exporter with full source to the Torque community. It will have full DTS support, the only hang up has been caligari's screwed up skeletal animation. Here's some of the documentation for our exporter, the docs aren't finished yet but it gives you a good idea of what it does and what the GS 1.5 one is missing.
Later,
Matt
Torque Owner Jeremy Alessi