Game Development Community

Which to use for buildings, Quark or Milkshape?

by Jeremy Den Hartog · in Artist Corner · 05/03/2004 (8:34 am) · 6 replies

Hello,
I am new to Torque and so I have a couple pretty basic questions. The first of which was of course my topic title - which to use for buildings, Quark or Milkshape (any advantages or disadvantages)? Of course I should (and will) specify a little more. When I say 'buildings' I mean city buildings (like houses, skyscrapers, etc) which for the most part will not have 'interiors' for players to walk around in. Any help is appreciated. Also, anyone have any good tutorial links for either program related to making buildings?

Thanks,
Bigworm
(Jeremy DenHartog)

#1
05/03/2004 (8:40 am)
For me, I would choose Quark.
#2
05/03/2004 (4:15 pm)
Quark. Milkshape cannot output .dif format.
#3
05/04/2004 (1:17 pm)
Thanks for the replies guys. Now I have another question though. Whats the advantage of using the .dif format? Would there be any advantage over the .dif format by using the .dts format with the Synapse Gaming: Lighting Pack?
#4
05/04/2004 (4:24 pm)
DIF format supports complex collision. DIF format supports portalization. Lighting issues aside, DIF format is designed for use as large objects that players can enter into or move around on easily.

DTS is designed for extremely simple collision. Usually just a couple of boxes.

Except in very rare circumstances (extremely small buildings that you won't really be walking on or going inside), DIF is the optimal format. It is the square peg for the square hole.
#5
05/04/2004 (5:41 pm)
Actually, Milkshape has a generic .map exporter that exports in the right format, except it's missing a few things in the header, which can be added by hand by comparing with a TGE valid .map file.
Then, you can run it through map2dif and use it in TGE.
Just did it with a simple box :)
Of course, you have to respect map2dif's restrictions on modelling :
I'm going to investigate this a bit further, but I totally can see myself using Milkshape to do programmer placeholder art as .dif rather than use Quark :)

Map file exported by MS3D :
// Generic Map Export created by MilkShape 3D
// Plugin from Rick J Kelley AKA Rat (c) 2003
{
"classname" "worldspawn"
// Brush Name: Box01
// Material Name: Material01
{
( 20 -20 21 ) ( -19 -20 -19 ) ( -19 -20 21 )  Material01 [ 0 0 0 1 ] [ 1 0 0 0 ] 0 1 1
( 20 20 21 ) ( 20 -20 -19 ) ( 20 -20 21 )  Material01 [ 0 0 0 1 ] [ 1 0 0 0 ] 0 1 1
( -19 20 21 ) ( 20 20 -19 ) ( 20 20 21 )  Material01 [ 0 0 0 1 ] [ 1 0 0 0 ] 0 1 1
( -19 -20 21 ) ( -19 20 -19 ) ( -19 20 21 )  Material01 [ 0 0 0 1 ] [ 1 0 0 0 ] 0 1 1
( 20 20 21 ) ( -19 -20 21 ) ( -19 20 21 )  Material01 [ 0 0 0 1 ] [ 1 0 0 0 ] 0 1 1
( 20 -20 -19 ) ( -19 20 -19 ) ( -19 -20 -19 )  Material01 [ 0 0 0 1 ] [ 1 0 0 0 ] 0 1 1
}
}

the same .map with the additions (in bold) to make it TGE friendly :
// Generic Map Export created by MilkShape 3D
// Plugin from Rick J Kelley AKA Rat (c) 2003
{
"classname" "worldspawn"
[b]"min_pixels" "250"
"geometry_scale" "32.0"
"light_geometry_scale" "32.0"
"ambient_color" "0 0 0"
"emergency_ambient_color" "0 0 0"
"mapversion" "220"[/b]

// Brush Name: Box01
// Material Name: Material01
{
( 20 -20 21 ) ( -19 -20 -19 ) ( -19 -20 21 )  Material01 [ 0 0 0 1 ] [ 1 0 0 0 ] 0 1 1
( 20 20 21 ) ( 20 -20 -19 ) ( 20 -20 21 )  Material01 [ 0 0 0 1 ] [ 1 0 0 0 ] 0 1 1
( -19 20 21 ) ( 20 20 -19 ) ( 20 20 21 )  Material01 [ 0 0 0 1 ] [ 1 0 0 0 ] 0 1 1
( -19 -20 21 ) ( -19 20 -19 ) ( -19 20 21 )  Material01 [ 0 0 0 1 ] [ 1 0 0 0 ] 0 1 1
( 20 20 21 ) ( -19 -20 21 ) ( -19 20 21 )  Material01 [ 0 0 0 1 ] [ 1 0 0 0 ] 0 1 1
( 20 -20 -19 ) ( -19 20 -19 ) ( -19 -20 -19 )  Material01 [ 0 0 0 1 ] [ 1 0 0 0 ] 0 1 1
}
}
#6
05/05/2004 (5:10 pm)
Quote:Actually, Milkshape has a generic .map exporter that exports in the right format, except it's missing a few things in the header, which can be added by hand by comparing with a TGE valid .map file
Thanks Nicolas, I learn something new every day!