Any Tips for Torque Skeletons/Rigs in MAX
by Matthew A. Kegley · in Torque Game Engine · 10/21/2005 (11:04 pm) · 4 replies
I'm looking for detailed explanations on character rigging with torque. I just cant seem to do the rigging part correctly. I try and use the orc player max file as a base and rig my mesh up to it but when I go into the game the player model is invisible, and most times, dragging in the dirt. Anybody know any good torque player rig construction tutorials, other than the simple_character one on torkgamedev?
About the author
#2
10/22/2005 (10:26 am)
I've made rigs for all sorts of games Quake 3, JK2, JKA, Freedom Force, BF1942, & NWN, but when I try to export my rigs to torque, it appears there is some sort of step missing in my rigging when it comes to torque. Okay, let me get this straight, there generally isnt too many rules when it comes to dts player models right? Do the bones have to be named something other than the standard Biped names? The mesh doesnt have to have any special name does it? Do I need a multires:: for my mesh?
#3
2: The mesh name IS very important! It must be followed by a positive integer, and a dummy object named detail, followed by the same number must be included as well. Both the mesh and the dummy will be parented by the root object of your scene, which can be almost anything. Some use Bip01 as the root, others simply use another dummy and name it start, root, base, whatever.
3: Multires is used only for LOD. Avoid it, don't try to learn it yet, don't bother including it in your scene. Once you are comfortable with exporting into Torque, then you can go back and work on some LOD via multires.
If you have rigged meshes made for other games already, you should be able to get them into Torque with a very minimal amount of effort. Let's say your model is 'judy', and the mesh is named 'judy' as well. Create 2 dummy helpers. Name one root, the other detail256. link them, with root being the parent. Rename your mesh to 'judy256' and link that to root as well. Create a box object that completely encloses the mesh, name it bounds. There are quite a few minor rules to learn about bounds, but for simplicity, just link it to root as well for now. Export with all default settings. You should have a model now that Torque is able to load. Playing the animations is another few steps, but for now just get good at this one.
10/22/2005 (12:21 pm)
1: bone names are irrelevant. The only hard rule here, is the names must be the same in the dts, as in the dsq, or else the dsq will not load. The model will regardless though, and the console will usually let you know if there's a problem with the naming in the dsq.2: The mesh name IS very important! It must be followed by a positive integer, and a dummy object named detail, followed by the same number must be included as well. Both the mesh and the dummy will be parented by the root object of your scene, which can be almost anything. Some use Bip01 as the root, others simply use another dummy and name it start, root, base, whatever.
3: Multires is used only for LOD. Avoid it, don't try to learn it yet, don't bother including it in your scene. Once you are comfortable with exporting into Torque, then you can go back and work on some LOD via multires.
If you have rigged meshes made for other games already, you should be able to get them into Torque with a very minimal amount of effort. Let's say your model is 'judy', and the mesh is named 'judy' as well. Create 2 dummy helpers. Name one root, the other detail256. link them, with root being the parent. Rename your mesh to 'judy256' and link that to root as well. Create a box object that completely encloses the mesh, name it bounds. There are quite a few minor rules to learn about bounds, but for simplicity, just link it to root as well for now. Export with all default settings. You should have a model now that Torque is able to load. Playing the animations is another few steps, but for now just get good at this one.
#4
10/22/2005 (12:31 pm)
Yeah, I guess there are little quirks with player models for every game engine you have to get used to. Thanks 
Torque Owner Erik Madison
If Max is your weapon of choice, disk 2 has some pretty great tutorials with numerous example files. Those are, in most cases, much better than the ones on the net.