Torque Terrain + 3DS MAX buildings = good combination?

#1 Thats going to be tricky. You only get 9 collisions for everymodel. The collision boxes need to be convex. Concave collision boxes usually get deleted or filled in. You can make it work by chopping your model up into peices that cover 9 nine collisions then exporting each piece and reassembling them in the editor. You won't get any lighting in the model. you also won't be able to seperate it with portals.

I would rather try it with WC3 or Quark.

Matt

#2 Isn't there an exporter that allows you to make interiors with 3ds max?

I think it takes the max files and makes them .maps, then you use map2dif to make it a dif so torque can use it.

#3 that'd be cool ... anybody has an idea where could it be?

#4 I found some Quake MAP exporter plugin.
Anybody has experience with it?

#5 Oh yeah - you can try stuff out using the Realm Wars demo. It's Torque-based... a good way to try stuff out before you buy.

#6 Hm, QuakeMap exporter is not working with 3DSM 3.0 and higher :/.

#7 Heres some info on it. Its called max2map.

www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=forums&page=result.thread&qt=7166
www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=forums&page=result.forum&qtm=max2map

I've never used it before, I just remembered reading about it when I saw you're thread.

#8 Jiri,

I know your feelings about Quark beeing working with 3DMAX since years. I wanted to do all with MAX but it wasn't really good for interiors (building) in torque and much job and learning to tweak it so it works all the way. I had tryed Quark, and was really discouraged by that tool. It's a great tool, but for "old timer" max users, it's, hmmm, well ... feeling to drop back to the first 3D studio ever released . I then tryed Valve Hammer, then pass around 1/2 day to study it, and I like it much for my interiors. I can now do buildings in about the same time it would have take me with max, but without having to retouch everythings to make it compatible :) So, I use valve hammer for my interiors, and do all my models, deco, etc, with MAX.

Note : For those Quark's lovers, I don't say it is not good, please don't think this is what I mean here, it's just a different approch to do things that 3Dmax users are used to. But I'm sure if a max user have enough time to study it, he will probably do the same with both prog.

Have a good day

#9 Alright Gilles, I'll test that Hammer out.

But I have question: how can I import texture files (*.jpg, ...) into one WAD file?

#10 You can use MAX2MAP for Max4, which can found here

But you better have a good system in place for using it. Almost anything can be turned into .map format but trying to convert those into a DIF file is very difficult. Max does not use a forced grid. If your grid points are floating point numbers (ie 200.0234) then dif will round them out to the nearest whole value and your geametry will get screwed up. Also you have to use individual blocks for everything. You almost have to know the procedures that WC or Quark use for building geometry so you can follow them.
A front end utility for map to dif can be found by searching the resources section.

My suggestion is get used to Quark and really try to use it for your stuff as much as possible. Quark is free for use and has no liscense restrictions on it. Hammer does. You can not use it for anything other than Valve related media (I believe). Quark is really a backwards tool but does have some functionality and you can build just about anything you want with it once you learn to use the tool. The biggest problem is the lack of flexibilty map3dif allows. Maybe some of these things will get resolved sooner or later.

good luck
Matt

#11 Textures can be compiled in to WADs by using a program called Wally. Sorry I don't have a link

#12 So many helpful replies in such a short time ...
I heard much about Torque community and it turned out to be truth.

I really thank you guys.

#13 ...or buildWad, in the TGE sdk

#14 Well ... I created building within that Hammer thing (imho GREAT tool - thx for tip Gillese), then I compiled it into DIF format.. So far, so good.

Then I imported this building within Realm Wars game. First problem: there are no textures (yes, I placed them in the same directory as a .dif file). Second problem: when I try to enter the building, whole game crashes and kicks me to the Windows.

Am I missing something?

#15 Aha, I just clicked Relight Scene and everything works just fine.

#16 Wally is definitely the BEST tool for creating WAD files. It also acts as a Paint program own its own, though I never use it as such.

www.telefragged.com/wally/

It's also great at converting images in almost any format into the highest quality 256 color bitmap images which the HL engine uses, although this really doesn't matter since Torque will simply use the PNG files of the same name :)

The Valve Hammer Editor aka World Craft, is a great tool although not nearly as powerful as max. One thing max users might have trouble with is the seeming limitations of the editor, however once you learn the program, you can create most things with it that you would in max, they just usually end up being much higher poly and a lot harder to make.

If the buildings are gonna be for a FPS game, I say use Hammer. If they're simply prefab buildings that you're not really going to be going inside (for a racing game maybe), use max.

Also remember that although the Torque engine currently doesn't properly light DTS files made in Max, you can always get your programmer to fix that problem :P

-TorQue[MoD]

#17 Gilles? How do yo create doors in Hammer?

#18 What version of valve hammer / world craft do you use? Where do you get it? is this the one? Version 3.4?

www.valve-erc.com/?news_id=1017637437

#19 yes, that's the version I have

#20 Doesn't the WorldCraft license still restrict it's use to only making Half-life levels?