Interior Modeling Software

#1 I have/use 3D World Studio from www.leadwerks.com. Works good but its still beta.

#2 Just checked out leadwerks site, screenshots were nice and I see they have a Torque link, also within my budget. Thanks SM3, never heard of it til now, I'll definately look more into it.

#3 Well, I believe it used to be CartographyShop version 5. They changed the name for some reason.

And your welcome! It beats Quark that's for sure.

#4 Why would you want to use 3d world studio instead of the built in map editor that comes with Torque? I'm a complete noob, so go easy on me ;)

#5 Torque's World Editor is nothing more than a tool used to place map objects in the map, it doesn't create the objects themselves. To create buildings (interiors) or other solid geometry models you need a BSP modeler like Quark, 3D World Studio or Constructor.

#6 Jonathan,

TGE doesn't have a .map editor but a mission editor. You have to create your .map geometry, stuff like buildings, bridges etc..etc. and then transform them from .map to .dif format with a converter. Then you can use the built-in mission editor to put all the items together and create a world (or a .mis) file that you load as your level.

#7

Quote:It beats Quark that's for sure.

What do you like better about WS over Quark? Just curious as we're starting an FPS project and looking seriously at Quark 6.5 Alpha. Thx.

#8 To me Quark doesn't touch Catography shop(WS) an anyway. I will never forget the time I installed quark. I started it up and I sat there staring at the screen for a moment then closed it. WS is user friend and to me flow nicely. That is to me anyway.

#9 I edited my post...

In all fairness Quark does what it says its supposed to do. Like others have said it comes down to personal preference. For me, 3DWS is easier to use than Quark and has some features that Quark doesn't have.

If you'd like to see for yourself, there is a trial version on the www.leadwerks.com site for 3D World Studio.

If Torque Constructor was finished I think (and still may) I would have gone with it instead of 3DWS. I will give Constructor a try and see if it feels better to me when its released.

Steve

#10 @Jeff: It really depends on what people feels comfortable using. I use Quark, Gamespace and 3d World Studio. Others also use Worldcraft/Hammer, Deled and 3dsMax. We have been using 3d World Studio for the last 6 weeks. It is alot easier to use than Quark. If you are looking into using 3d World Studio... it is an early adopter release. Things that you want to consider is: cost, platform, and ease of use. Quark is free. When the Constructor comes out, we will be switching to it. 3D World Studio does support other game engines that I have, so it wasn't a waste of money for me to purchase.

#11 Jeff,

Did you understand my explanation about why use 3DWS instead of the built-in editors? It can get confusing when you first learn about Torque. Especially since they call DIF's interiors and they aren't really what you think that means, interiors of something.

Steve

#12 Strange nobody's commenting on constructor which should be comeing out soon.

#13 @Master Treb: LOL... that 'soon' can be a long wait. As I said above: "When the Constructor comes out, we will be switching to it." As GG members have said to use alternate dif tools til then. Quark is mainly recommended because it is free, Constructor will not be(price unknown at this time). If you spend time waiting on the Constructor to come, it may be a long time before your game gets started/completed. They are not going to release it until it is 100% done. Any tools that save .map files should be able to be imported into Constructor. The Constructor will be the best tool to use because it is built for Torque and from the Torque platform.

Here is a resource that is really great to use with 3D World Studio: DIF viewer for 3D World Studio. This extends the use of 3D World Studio with Torque. Watch the quick Clip of it. This was what made me to make the final decision to purchase it.

#14

Quote:Did you understand my explanation about why use 3DWS instead of the built-in editors?

Yup. BTW, was very glad to see the improvements in the TGE 1.4 editors over 1.3 too...

Thanks for the comments guys. I remember Cartography Shop from it's BlitzBasic only origins and some of the "issues" it had then. Sounds like they've been cleared up and the product is useful. The other reason I was asking is "time investment". Like most Indies, we're a small group with limited time resources so trying to make the best choice early on is important. Quark has added new features in 6.5 that are attractive as well.

I've held a Torque license for almost 2 years and have just recently gotten time to seriously consider producing a game... Cheers.

#15 Another editor that wasn't listed here was Radiant, but that requires a hefty licensing fee.

Also Constructor is getting close (no promises). I use the beta quite often now, and am very happy with it.

Lastly, there are a number of plugins for 3DS Max and Truespace/Gamespace, but I recommend those as a last resort, as they can get sticky/iffy if your not extremely careful.

#16 Did somebody say "Constructor" ?

#17 Any info on how things are going with the Mac (PPC) version of Constructor?

#18

Quote:Another editor that wasn't listed here was Radiant, but that requires a hefty licensing fee.

Radiant was recently released under the GPL.

However, that doesn't stop the fact that it is an inferior, and hard to use editor. Hopefully constructor is getting close.

#19 Actually, only the version of Radiant included in the Q3 GPL package is released, which is an early MFC version. GTK Radiant is still licensed for commercial projects. But there's nothing stopping people from using the GPL version or modifying it to use a cross-platfrom solution except if the solution they choose is not GPL compatible.

#20 The Mac version of Constructor was just shown off at MacWorld last week =)