Observation and a few more questions
by Jon C · in Torque Game Engine Advanced · 10/07/2005 (3:07 am) · 4 replies
Hi all, I'm back again with several more questions from myself and one of my Artists:
(Not really a question, but more of an observation)
1. There needs to be a way to buy "lesser" licenses that "attach" to a main account, so artists can access hidden resources and the forums.
None of these artists will be programming, but they need to access the forums and resources to ask questions. (Not to mention the documentation)
I'd gladly pay $50 for each of these accounts, but not much more than that - there are over 10 artists on my team that need access and I just can't afford $2,500+.
2. Using http://www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=view&qid=5802 as reference, neither myself nor my artist could find a 'materialMap.cs' in any of the examples.
Artist:
(Not really a question, but more of an observation)
1. There needs to be a way to buy "lesser" licenses that "attach" to a main account, so artists can access hidden resources and the forums.
None of these artists will be programming, but they need to access the forums and resources to ask questions. (Not to mention the documentation)
I'd gladly pay $50 for each of these accounts, but not much more than that - there are over 10 artists on my team that need access and I just can't afford $2,500+.
2. Using http://www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=view&qid=5802 as reference, neither myself nor my artist could find a 'materialMap.cs' in any of the examples.
Artist:
Quote:
Question from a TSE newbie
Ok heres a list of questions I have so far working with Maya and torque so far
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~robertjamesw/work/problem.jpg
3. I have missing faces on my model after exporting from Maya, this shows up in the show tool and in the Torque Engine. I previously had missing faces caused by missing triangle edges in my model, I have fixed these holes and checked my model for more missing edges and cannot see any. It seems to me this is caused by the model not being double sided, but the model IS double sided upon export so how can I make sure the DTS file is double sided?
4. Second question is about bump mapping for TSE, I realise TSE uses "Normal" maps for making bumps. What I have been doing is adding the Normal map in the bump channel of my lambert in Maya before I export it. Is this the right way to export a model with a Normal map?
5. Can the show tool show Normal maps?
6. I have managed to get my model in TSE engine by loading it as a object from example\demo\data\shapes\ but the Normal map bumps are not visible. Is this because I have to make a material for the object via the MaterialMap.cs file as I have seen in more than one material on how to assign materials in TSE. The problem I have with this is I HAVE NO MATERIALMAP.CS in example\demo\data\. I thought perhaps the structure of TSE may have changed somewhat in the last year and maybe thats why I dont have the files listed in this tutorial http://www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=view&qid=5802
7. I have seen some Terrain editors you can download and install to work with TSE. My question is is there not a Terrain Editor inside TSE already? I have been able to play around with the Terrain in the demo game, adding textures, and moving hills up and down etc, could someone please explain the differences between that function and a Terrain Editor add on.
8. If I want a shiny reflective surface on part of my model but not all (for example say a piece of armor with leather and metal parts) Do I need to make a different UV Map for the metal parts and the leather parts before exporting so that I can add a Reflective shiny shader to the metal part of my model in TSE?
9. How do I setup Hammer/worldcraft with TSE? All the tutorials I seem to find are either dead links or refer to having HL1 or HL2 installed. I DO NOT HAVE HL installed can I still use Hammer for TSE? if so where do I point hammer to when it asks for .wad files directory? it will not run without this.
#2
10/07/2005 (7:08 am)
TDN will theoretically allow for the idea you suggest, but honestly it shouldn't be necessary--90% of the questions asked have answers in public forums (by design--all of the artist forums are fully open to the public, as well as the artist documentation). 
#3
2. It looks like this file is missing in CVS. I don't have it either. It's in the download demo, but since only DSO's were distrubted in the demo, there's no source. Can a GG employee look into why example\demo\data\materialMap.cs is missing in CVS?
3. I don't think you can make the model double sided upon export, but honestly there are only a few very rare cases where this is necessary. Turn off double-sided in Maya and fix the normals. If you have areas that you need to be double sided then I'd suggest duplicating that portion of the model and flipping the normals; that'll make it so only that specific area is two-sided... but the only reason you need this is if you have triangles that must be visible from both sides. If your artist is farily new at making models for games, gently remind him to create polygons using vertices going clockwise. In some cases Maya (well, any 3d modeler) also cannot determine the correct normals and those problems will have to be fixed manually.
7. It depends on if you're using the Legacy terrain or Atlas terrain. If you use Legacy, the terrain editor is in the game and works just fine. There is no terrain editor for Atlas built into Torque, so you have to use external terrain editor / creator.
9. If you were using Quark I could help :P
Edit: Sorry for the bold... I'm not yelling, I'm just wanting to make sure that line doesn't get missed :P Thanks.
10/07/2005 (8:06 am)
I'm just filling in the gaps of some of the unanswered questions... hopefully this helps a little.2. It looks like this file is missing in CVS. I don't have it either. It's in the download demo, but since only DSO's were distrubted in the demo, there's no source. Can a GG employee look into why example\demo\data\materialMap.cs is missing in CVS?
3. I don't think you can make the model double sided upon export, but honestly there are only a few very rare cases where this is necessary. Turn off double-sided in Maya and fix the normals. If you have areas that you need to be double sided then I'd suggest duplicating that portion of the model and flipping the normals; that'll make it so only that specific area is two-sided... but the only reason you need this is if you have triangles that must be visible from both sides. If your artist is farily new at making models for games, gently remind him to create polygons using vertices going clockwise. In some cases Maya (well, any 3d modeler) also cannot determine the correct normals and those problems will have to be fixed manually.
7. It depends on if you're using the Legacy terrain or Atlas terrain. If you use Legacy, the terrain editor is in the game and works just fine. There is no terrain editor for Atlas built into Torque, so you have to use external terrain editor / creator.
9. If you were using Quark I could help :P
Edit: Sorry for the bold... I'm not yelling, I'm just wanting to make sure that line doesn't get missed :P Thanks.
#4
www.garagegames.com/mg/forums/result.thread.php?qt=32490
10/13/2005 (12:55 pm)
The materialMap.cs file is not there because it is no longer needed. Materials map to textures inside the Material definition now by using the "mapTo" parameter. See this thread for more details:www.garagegames.com/mg/forums/result.thread.php?qt=32490
Torque Owner Stefan Lundmark
5. Try? I think it does but not 100% sure.
6. Yup, you got that right. In case there is no such file, make one and execute it before you load any models. It should be there though, or in another folder.. maybe the server folder?
7. No, the terrain editor does not yet work with TSE. It will do in the future. I don't understand the last question in that segment.
8. Read the documentation man, it's all in there. You need to apply two different layers with textures via the material system.
9. You'll have to construct your own .wad files and modify them as soon as you want to switch to another texture or a different set already. Hammer is not recommended because it's not supported and Valve might knock your door if you get successfull and they can tell that you've used their license.