Which one u choose DIF or Terrain or Combo ?
by Silvia Steven · in Torque Game Engine · 02/08/2006 (11:16 am) · 4 replies
Please guys, excuse me for the long post but I guess this
is gonna help beginners like me if it gets some attention and answers,
This issue has been taking control of my brain for a while.
If one wants to use Torque and its associated tools to build
a game, then he would mostly face the challenge of creating the
content. if u want a tree or a character then u use a DTS model.
if u want a room then u use a DIF structure. if u want a mountain then
u use the terrain editor. I could understand that but the thing
that I have no idea how is it implemented is for example:
creating a road on the terrain, what is this ? is it a DIF structure ?
if that is the case then how one could align it with the terrain ?
if we can align, we are rendering the road and the terrain beneath it,
is not this a problem ? another question is could we build the road
by just editing and texturing the terrain ?
another example is : the structures and the mazes used in marble blast ?
what usually are these ? DTS or DIF ?
let us assume we want to model a small collage of two buildings separated by
some open area that consists of a flat basketball field and some other grassy
non uniform garden, is the area in between the two buildings gonna be a terrain
or DIF structures or some combination ? if combination then I can not image
how that is implemented?
thanks allot, I really appreciate your time and business
is gonna help beginners like me if it gets some attention and answers,
This issue has been taking control of my brain for a while.
If one wants to use Torque and its associated tools to build
a game, then he would mostly face the challenge of creating the
content. if u want a tree or a character then u use a DTS model.
if u want a room then u use a DIF structure. if u want a mountain then
u use the terrain editor. I could understand that but the thing
that I have no idea how is it implemented is for example:
creating a road on the terrain, what is this ? is it a DIF structure ?
if that is the case then how one could align it with the terrain ?
if we can align, we are rendering the road and the terrain beneath it,
is not this a problem ? another question is could we build the road
by just editing and texturing the terrain ?
another example is : the structures and the mazes used in marble blast ?
what usually are these ? DTS or DIF ?
let us assume we want to model a small collage of two buildings separated by
some open area that consists of a flat basketball field and some other grassy
non uniform garden, is the area in between the two buildings gonna be a terrain
or DIF structures or some combination ? if combination then I can not image
how that is implemented?
thanks allot, I really appreciate your time and business
#2
I am right now in the phase of learning how things work together rather than learning how to
Create the individual items such as models and interiors. Such stuff is purely artistic and need artists.
by the way, I would like to ask, if roads, yards or stairs are located above the terrain, is not it difficult
to align them with the terrain. I guess there is going to be cracks, what do u think?
02/10/2006 (7:53 pm)
That was really helpful, thanks allotI am right now in the phase of learning how things work together rather than learning how to
Create the individual items such as models and interiors. Such stuff is purely artistic and need artists.
by the way, I would like to ask, if roads, yards or stairs are located above the terrain, is not it difficult
to align them with the terrain. I guess there is going to be cracks, what do u think?
#3
02/11/2006 (3:37 am)
Just sink them slightly into the terrain. If you create the dif with this in mind you shouldn't have a crack problem. It sort of ties in with real life, i.e. buildings have foundations etc.
#4
02/11/2006 (8:22 pm)
Thanks allot, I really appreciate that. 
Torque Owner Cisor
Creating a road on the terrain:
The terrain doesn't have enough detail to paint a good road so most implementations I've seen use Dif road segments to do this. You align the Dif segment to the terrain (and to the next road segment) using the ingame editor (right mouse button allows you to rotate the Dif - I think).
Only the Dif road is rendered. The TGE engine scenegraph realises the terrain under the Dif road is out of site, so doesn't render it.
The structures and mazes in Marble Blast:
I haven't played marble blast, but I'd assume most structures are difs (because the engine is geared to renedering BSP trees efficiently), unless they are concave which means they would have to be DTS's.
The basketball field:
If you want the lines you need on a basketball court you will be best served by a Dif. If only a flat surface without lines/detail is required, flattening the terrain may suffice.
It is quite easy to implement a flat Dif. You flatten the terrain under it, and then position/align the Dif. (Rince and repeat until you are happy).
The best thing to do is just play around with this in the editor until you are familiar with the functionality. (F10 to bring up the ingame editor).