Torque Constructor vs. TrueSpace and others

#1 Pretty sure most of these packages only let you create real animals, not imaginary ones.
so, unicorns are in, pegasi are out.

but seriously,
TGE has two fundamentally different types of 3D shapes: buildings, and everything else.
Constructor is probably your best tool for making buildings and other large objects which a player will be inside for TGE, and it's pretty much not meant at all for people or creatures.

For people, creatures, trees, etc, you probably want another tool like 3DMax or what-have you.
For buildings, i would highly recommend constructor.

#2 Constructor is a BSP Editor -- like Quark or Valves' Hammer Editor, as opposed to all the other apps you listed that are mesh editors. Two different animals, to coin a phrase.

Constructor is mostly appropriate for architecture (houses, bridges, etc.) if you want to use Torques' .DIF BSP structure, the other apps for humans, creatures, organic objects, etc. if you are wanting to end up with DTS objects.

Constructor cannot be used for animation, rigging, etc. Again that is what apps like Truespace, 3DS Max, LightWave, Maya, Blender, Milkshape, LightRay, etc. are designed to do...each to a greater or lesser degree.

edit: beaten to the post! =)

#3 Also, to add to this, having used trueSpace for 10 years and even written a map-exporting plugin for it (creatively named mapExporter): Constructor beats trueSpace (and probably every other app) hands-down for making buildings for TGE/TGEA. The other apps are all great for making 3D models, animations, etc, but the types of tools are fundamentally different, and if you want to get into art, you'll have to use two apps.

As for which 3D app to use: Try them all. They all have different ways to work with things, and you'll like some, hate others, and love at least one- but it's all very personal as to which, so getting opinions from others on that is like asking other people who you should marry ;)

My two cents...

#4 Ted, then maybe you can answer this basic question about trueSpace and the mapExporter (I had just upgraded to 7.51 during the recent sale, so this thread caught my attention):

Does the map it would output work in TGEA, or just TGE?
Can you go from TS to Constructor to TGEA?

Not that I am short of tools to use, but I like those with APIs I can understand (like TS and MilkShape) as opposed to those that are written in Geek++ (like maya).

<* Wes *>

#5 I believe the map exporter exports valve220 .map formatted files (or perhaps Quake 2/3, Ted would be the one to answer specifics of the format). You should be able to run them through map2dif/map2dif_plus or load them into Constructor. If it supports Q3 maps, make sure that you are not using curved surfaces as they are not supported in TGE/A's DIF format.

#6 It's the Valve format, as that was the documentation that I was going off of when I wrote that, if memory serves (been a couple of years). Like I said before though, Constructor is much better than my plugin for a lot of reasons, and rather than enumerate them (which would depress me regarding mapExporter's lack of current relevance), I'll just say that I'm not even selling it anymore, because it's been superceeded by Constructor's abilities.

I understand your want of a single app to work with these things, and if I ever activate that part of my brain that understands the math needed to break objects down into convex shapes, then I'll upgrade the plugin and put it back up for sale. I like the idea myself of being able to do work in trueSpace and then have an automated process to break the geometry down and spit out a .map file, but Constructor is the best bet now.

#7 Thanks for the reply, Ted.

I am mainly in the experimenting-with-pipeline-tools-to-avoid-doing-any-real-work mode here, so I will just remember your advice while I set about on a different crusade. :)

<* Wes *>

#8 I haven't used trueSpace since version 5. I liked it well enough for simple models and animation. The texturing was fairly intuitive to me. I sold it for Lightwave, which I feel has a better modeler and animation tools. Though I've never been as good at texturing with LW as I was with tS. If you're looking to work with game artists in general, last I knew it was actually 3D Studio Max that was the most commonly used.

#9 Okay, now that that situation is cleared up, how does Contructor rate with Quark, the map-making (interior) editor for 3d - game worlds. I've used maybe three or four times, and it seems like a building modeler as well. If you have that to make youir buildings, why would you need contructor, or if you have contructor why would you need Quark.

#10 They do the same thing. Radiant (Quake), Hammer (Half-Life), QuArK (multi-engine modding), Constructor (Torque/Multi-engine modding), 3D World Studio all use the same concepts for creating geometry. Like Max, Maya, Lightwave, etc, use the one that works with your engine and your workflow.