Meshes or BPS?
by Matt "Mr. Pig" Razza · in Torque Game Engine · 11/07/2005 (10:11 am) · 7 replies
I'm wondering which is better to use in torque. Most new engines removed BPS and only allow Meshes (3d Models) in there games. Are meshes faster in torque then BPS objects or are BPS objects faster. Which are better, why? I'm trying to decide how our team will go about making maps for our game.
Thanks-all input is welcome,
Pig
Thanks-all input is welcome,
Pig
About the author
#2
11/07/2005 (12:06 pm)
What new engines are you talking about? All the indoor engines I know of still use BSP.
#3
If you are using TGE, you'll need to use BSP via the DIF format, so you'll want to pick up QuArK or 3d World Studio.
11/07/2005 (12:17 pm)
Indeed, indoor engines typically use BSP.If you are using TGE, you'll need to use BSP via the DIF format, so you'll want to pick up QuArK or 3d World Studio.
#4
I have long-term plans for doing such thing.
11/07/2005 (1:08 pm)
Unless you feel like coding a new indoor/static/walkable mesh-based format into TGE. I feel our levels are vastly limited by the CSG design, when it comes to doing finer UV or anything that is supposed to look curved.I have long-term plans for doing such thing.
#6
11/07/2005 (1:54 pm)
New engines do use meshes. UE3 and the Reality Engine only support meshes. Thanks for the comments guys. I got the answer I wanted. :D
#7
Currently I use CSG brushes (BSP) to block out a level, then add lighting and portals, script the gameplay (NPCs, waypoints, puzzles, etc), and finally playtest. Afterwards I can go through and beautify the level by replacing the CSG with textured Static Meshes. I guess in newer engines those Static Meshes would be normal-mapped as well. This workflow is based on what I have read is standard industry practice on current engines and it works well.
It would be a dream to be able to do this all from within Torque (importing the static meshes from XSI). I think Constructor is the first step towards this.
11/08/2005 (6:15 am)
I have been learning level design using UnrealED 3.0 with Unreal Tournament 2004 and it was not long before I was using Static Meshes in place of CSG. Older engines support this and levels can even run faster using this method since Unreal 2+ only stores one instance of each Static Mesh in memory, no matter how many times you use it in a level. The key is to reuse a Static Meshe as much as possible, so build them with the mindset that they will be used like tilesets. For example a walkway could have stairs, straight, curved, and intersection pieces.Currently I use CSG brushes (BSP) to block out a level, then add lighting and portals, script the gameplay (NPCs, waypoints, puzzles, etc), and finally playtest. Afterwards I can go through and beautify the level by replacing the CSG with textured Static Meshes. I guess in newer engines those Static Meshes would be normal-mapped as well. This workflow is based on what I have read is standard industry practice on current engines and it works well.
It would be a dream to be able to do this all from within Torque (importing the static meshes from XSI). I think Constructor is the first step towards this.
Torque Owner Cinder Games
well first you should read the differences FAQ.
That said, i'm not using DIF. I think it's a rather silly approach to making levels. I'm constructing all of my "levels" as multiple DTS files and combining them together. Using tricks like sethidden, or setfade, i don't feel i have much to worry about with overdraw. I'm also not making an FPS game so the view distance won't be that high.