Working on gun tower equipped with guns rather then cannons...

[Angstromicus]

Doesn't observation change the quantum state because of the subatomic particles (photons, electrons?) used in labs to observe them?

[Red Devil]

People/critters change their behavior only if they know you are there. 

Same with SA particles.  If you move something within their field of influence, they change their behavior, much like when you get close to an 'electric' charge and a spark jumps to your finger.

Ooooo, it's alive... 

[Avatar]

Everything is alive...

-Av-

[BNG Da BZ Fool]

Quantum is nice, but back on topic pleez. So the recessed floor is basically just eye candy and serves no real purpose. I noticed the lod thing when I was working on an assault tank variant; ended up deleting it from the odf as the regular ass. tank would reappear in the distance instead of my variant; guess I'll redo the odf and substitute that xsi file with a simpler one of my own design to help reduce the work load on the cpu thingy.

I understand now about the simpler lod referring to the lesser poly model in the odf. I also figured out what GH said some time back about optimizing the model by reducing the poly count by erasing excessive polyies and vertices. In gsl this is done by right clicking an object and using the erase vertice/face tools. Individual faces can also be separated as well essentially this results in single faces remaining where they can be reassembled in a sort of empty shelled object. Like that used to make cockpit objects and many other such objects. GSL triangulates all faces (per x save/export settings) so that bz2me can read the file; otherwise it locks up and stops responding until the faces are triangulated.

The way I texture is directly in gsl using it's own built in utility that applies uv mapping, unwraps it within another window where the uv can can broken up into smaller objects for separation, positioning, and output to any paint program. The nice part is that I can apply the partial complete texture to my models while I'm working on them in the modeler. Only problem there is I'm currently using ms paint; a totally inadequate product. I have gimp but don't really know how to use it. I have another advanced program called ixla artist that I've used in the past and guess I'll give that a whirl as it supports more advanced painting tools. Planar uv mapping seems to yield the simplest uv map layouts like those used by the textures included with the mods I've dl'ed so far. Texture maps of 512x512 seem to be more then adequate for detail painting, but I wonder if I should just go with 256x256 as bmp files seems excessively large in size. Does BZII support the jpeg format? Is the pic format any smaller then bmp files? what about tga files? Tanks in advance for any feedback on these issues...BNG     

[mrtwosheds]

Lithunwrap is good for uv mapping.
.bmp is much too big, it is best not to use them in the game.
I use photoshop to create skins, save as .pic and then convert to .dxtbz2 for the game. results are great.

[Avatar]

I can't stress enough how important a well-made LOD model is, even on today's monster rigs.  If you do it right nobody will ever notice the change...



Just keep in mind a few things:

1. No animations in LOD models.  Things that move, like the slow turning a GT does, will 'snap back' to straight when the LOD model is switched in.
2. No collisions needed.  LOD models don't need the collision stuff.
3. Watch your pivots.  Aligning the pivot of the LOD and the Original is what keeps it all lining up properly.

In the shot above the final LOD model, which will only be seen from across a map, even uses it's own 64 square texture.  I usually try to keep to the same texture, but in some cases it's better to actually take a snapshot of the original object at the correct distance and use that for the object texture.  You can simulate a LOT more detail that way.

Then there's the old ways...  BZ1 used models that were many pieces, and just dropped pieces as you moved away.  You can do almost the same thing now, just make your model with 'extra' pieces that you can replace with textures for the LOD versions.

-Av-

[BNG Da BZ Fool]

Bummer neither ixla or gimp support the pic format, but xnview can convert files to pic. There are 3 pic formats it converts to. Is it the softimage version that bzii supports? What's the dxtbz2 thingy? I recall hearing of it but will it work for both bzii 1.2 and 1.3? Also is there a free version of photoshop available? Tanks...BNG

[Avatar]

The PIC in question is the Softimage version...  Apple uses it too but it's a different format.

DXT textures are what 1.3 uses, and when the time comes all you need to do is convert all of your existing textures using a BAT file.  It's pretty easy, really, and DXT pre-processes the 'mips' versions, or smaller versions of the textures for further away viewing, so it saves on processing power to use them.

Not all video cards support them but only the older ones have troubles with them...

-Av-

[Red Devil]

Which one is the LOD version???

   

[Avatar]

In mine?  The left is the whole thing, the middle is LOD1, and the right is LOD2.

I forget the exact poly counts but the left is ~500, the middle is around 180, and the right is 30-something.

Sloar once told me that one of the secrets to EPIC was proper Lods for everything.  At full viewing distance most things just need to 'hint' at what they represent, give you the idea of what you're looking at rather than any real detail.  Even on a monster rig such things help, as you never want to deliberately waste polygons no matter how powerful your rig.

-Av-

[BNG Da BZ Fool]

Apparently, bz2 must support jpeg as I used it on my spiral ramp thingy and it appeared just fine in the map editor. I also converted a ton of existing texture files to dxt after I pointed converter to my gamespace folder and hit go. Only bummer now is I don't have dxt file viewer any suggestions where I can get my grubby little hands on one? I really enjoy modeling for the game and anybody that needs a helping hand on a mod can feel free to pm me anytime as I'm hooked for life on this silly video game. PS: I've learned more about 3d model making appy's in the last 2 years then I ever imagined. I may try my hand at gmax (down the road) again as I have another game called c&c renegade that I'd like to make some models for too...BNG

[OvermindDL1]

Never use jpeg for textures, the lossy compression jpeg does leaves bad artifacts that are very often very noticeable.  DXT was designed to be a lossy texture but keeping it looking relatively decent.

[mrtwosheds]

Also is there a free version of photoshop available?

There are site rules against telling you the answer to this question. Arrr that damn parrot just sh*t down my back again..

[OvermindDL1]

Oh, also, as dealing with above, near all of your thoughts on quantum computing are wrong, it is not as ambiguous as you think, mostly it is just treating individual atoms as bits instead of (comparatively very large) transistors, and with bits having 5 states instead of two.

[mrtwosheds]

Oh, also, as dealing with above, near all of your thoughts on quantum computing are wrong,

Eh? who me?
I'm no scientist, just read a few things here and there, no claim to be right or wrong, just like throwing opinions about, to see if I get interesting responses. 5 states you say?

Oh yes there is a free version photoshop, I seem to recall that it will work for one month, which would be insufficient for your requirements.