Levels and Zones
by Andrew Nield · in General Discussion · 10/15/2009 (5:42 pm) · 2 replies
I got the T3D demo version, trying out the possibilities this engine offers.
As an unexperienced and new user to Torque, I do have some questions running my mind which remained unawnsered.
Before buying the engine with the money I'm saving up, I'd like to ask a few questions though which I'd like to know about before attempting to actually buy it.
Some may call it 'Seamless Zoning' others will call it 'fillInHere'.
For those who don't know what I'm talking about: just as far as search results go on the net, going from one 'zone' to the other without loading screens, loading the new zone as you walk in, your position on the map will stay the same as you walk (so you won't be teleported back to some specified place)
Now I wonder, after adding a small amount of terrains, and placing them next to eachother, there is absolutely nothing that will stop me from going from one 'zone/terrain' to the other.
My questions:
- Are the terrains you're adding zones?
- Does Torque3D have inbuilt 'seamless zoning'?
And, - Does seamless zoning have anything to do with multiple levels? Or are those only for I.E: dungeons and such?
Thanks! - John
As an unexperienced and new user to Torque, I do have some questions running my mind which remained unawnsered.
Before buying the engine with the money I'm saving up, I'd like to ask a few questions though which I'd like to know about before attempting to actually buy it.
Some may call it 'Seamless Zoning' others will call it 'fillInHere'.
For those who don't know what I'm talking about: just as far as search results go on the net, going from one 'zone' to the other without loading screens, loading the new zone as you walk in, your position on the map will stay the same as you walk (so you won't be teleported back to some specified place)
Now I wonder, after adding a small amount of terrains, and placing them next to eachother, there is absolutely nothing that will stop me from going from one 'zone/terrain' to the other.
My questions:
- Are the terrains you're adding zones?
- Does Torque3D have inbuilt 'seamless zoning'?
And, - Does seamless zoning have anything to do with multiple levels? Or are those only for I.E: dungeons and such?
Thanks! - John
About the author
#2
I'm not talking about a MMO ;) The idea was an offline FPS/RPG, I hear it should be less complex to write the codes for offline Seamless Zoning, is that true?
I've also got 2 new questions
Greets, John
10/28/2009 (12:43 pm)
Quote:Does Torque3D have inbuilt 'seamless zoning'?
I'm not talking about a MMO ;) The idea was an offline FPS/RPG, I hear it should be less complex to write the codes for offline Seamless Zoning, is that true?
I've also got 2 new questions
Quote:Is seamless the same as streaming between levels?
Quote:With Zoning, you mean using portals and such ways?
Greets, John
Torque 3D Owner Ted Southard
No. They are objects in a particular mission. A mission, on the other hand, may be treated as a zone.
No. It's a fairly complex task to do so, also, so if you are a very good coder, you may be able to pull it off, but to be honest, it's not needed for MMOs (I assume that's what we're talking about when we're talking about zoning and such). No one I have ever heard of has ever left an MMO because it zones instead of streams. If you do want that, then the engine (and it's price) is significantly higher-end, at least as far as that tech is concerned.
Yes and no. You can have multiple "levels" and zone to them, or you can stream them in, depending on your method, but a level and a zone are really just two words defining the same thing. The reason why "zone" is used is because MMOs are usually defined according to a map, and "zone" is a real-world term describing an arbitrary area. Level is a more game-centric term dealing with areas that may not necessarily be shown on a map, if you follow me.
Zoning can be accomplished in T3D pretty easily. If you do a search on zone you should see some threads discussing the script that gets called. But streaming is a tall order even for very good programmers.