Does T3D have an non-render wall?
by Scott Peal · in Torque 3D Professional · 10/02/2009 (10:24 am) · 12 replies
I was looking at the Crysis videos and saw a wall you could place in the World Editor which told the engine to not render any models or collision detection behind it. This was a technique to increase performance.
Does T3D have the same item? OR is this not needed as the engine uses a different technique to accomplish the same goal?
How it can be used: For buildings with high polycounts and number of models inside. And where the LOD distance is pretty close between rooms. We would place this item inside our walls. This would allow for high resolution models inside the room while not impacting performance by not rendering items or collision detection outside the room.
Does T3D have the same item? OR is this not needed as the engine uses a different technique to accomplish the same goal?
How it can be used: For buildings with high polycounts and number of models inside. And where the LOD distance is pretty close between rooms. We would place this item inside our walls. This would allow for high resolution models inside the room while not impacting performance by not rendering items or collision detection outside the room.
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#2
Also for exteriors, if my understanding is correct, terrain acts as an occluder, as if you have a mountain, it will occlude anything behind it.
10/02/2009 (12:55 pm)
IIRC, those walls are commonly known as "occluders", and although torque doesnt have them, you have portals for interiors, as Jaimi said.Also for exteriors, if my understanding is correct, terrain acts as an occluder, as if you have a mountain, it will occlude anything behind it.
#3
10/02/2009 (1:42 pm)
Torque 3D has a Portal and Zone object you can add to your scene from the World Editor (no longer just limited to interiors). 
#4
10/02/2009 (1:44 pm)
Didn't someone make an occluder back in TGEA? Can't remember if it got released as a resource or just a show off thread. 
#5
The idea was to add occluder bounds primitives to the scene graph Container object (with the terrain being a special type of occluder). You can then just do getContainer()->isOccluded( getRenderWorldBox() ) to check to see if your SceneObject or any other bounding box is fully occluded.
This doesn't replace zoning... but it will help within zones or outdoors.
10/02/2009 (4:18 pm)
I actually started messing with adding occluders in T3D this last weekend. If i can get them working right then i'll slip them into 1.1.The idea was to add occluder bounds primitives to the scene graph Container object (with the terrain being a special type of occluder). You can then just do getContainer()->isOccluded( getRenderWorldBox() ) to check to see if your SceneObject or any other bounding box is fully occluded.
This doesn't replace zoning... but it will help within zones or outdoors.
#6
10/02/2009 (7:21 pm)
Guys, I really dont know what to say. What a hell of a job! 
#7
10/02/2009 (7:26 pm)
There is an occlusion object as a resource somewhere out there. We added it in as a supplement to portals/zones. Useful in maze like zones as you can put it between some walled off areas to block everything behind it from rendering it without putting in zones and portals. Use both objects and 1 or the other works better in some situations (can even use it inside of zones).
#9
@Tom: this would be an awesome item for adding in the next release.
I am not sure portals will work for us as the rooms are not closed off. If you are in a room, we would still want you to see through the window and doors to terrain and objects outside. Unless I am misunderstanding what a portal is? I thought a portal took the avatar to another location on the map. We just want to block objects in the next room from being rendered. This would allow us to increase the poly count in each room. In theory :)
10/02/2009 (8:11 pm)
Wow guys. Good information. Thank you.@Tom: this would be an awesome item for adding in the next release.
I am not sure portals will work for us as the rooms are not closed off. If you are in a room, we would still want you to see through the window and doors to terrain and objects outside. Unless I am misunderstanding what a portal is? I thought a portal took the avatar to another location on the map. We just want to block objects in the next room from being rendered. This would allow us to increase the poly count in each room. In theory :)
#10
That's my understanding of it. As I see a building could have a zone inside of it, where windows and doors would be portals, that expose the outside geometry.
Someone tell me if I'm wrong, I haven't used them.
10/02/2009 (10:28 pm)
When a player is inside of a Zone, they only render the geometry inside of that zone. Portals are zones to "outside" or geometry outside of that zone.That's my understanding of it. As I see a building could have a zone inside of it, where windows and doors would be portals, that expose the outside geometry.
Someone tell me if I'm wrong, I haven't used them.
#11
10/03/2009 (3:40 am)
@Brett - You have it exactly right.
#12
10/03/2009 (9:40 am)
Thanks Brett. That helped to clear it up. That explanation would be great for the docs. 
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