Medieval4D - Collada Export
by 6 · in Artist Corner · 06/24/2011 (9:20 pm) · 39 replies
Hi,
I'd like to introduce everyone to some software I'm writing called Medieval4D. It's being written in Blitz3D and is a tool and art set used for the quick creation of Medieval type structures. To build your models you simply select an object such as a wall, window, door etc and add it to the 3D scene. Each object also has a number of specific pre-built textures you can then apply to it.
Medieval4D is still a work in progress with quite a few fixes and changes to implement, but I've just added in a collada export function so finished models can now be imported in Torque3D. Once a finished model is imported to T3D you can then add Normal and Spec maps, ( included with Medieval4D), in the Material window as you see fit. Below are some pics of some test scenes I've been working on.
An early adopter licence for Medieval4D is available for purchase for just US$30, ( although this price will increase from the 1st July), and with this you will get access to free upgrades to later versions when they are available. You also get access to the structures catalog, so even if you don't have time to create models from scratch you can copy/paste existing models from there.
For more details on Medieval4D, please visit my website at www.modbox4d.com
For specific details, see these links:
Overview of Medieval4D
Export disabled demo version
View the structures catalogue
Change/bug list
Buy now
Let me know if you have questions.
Thanks
6
I'd like to introduce everyone to some software I'm writing called Medieval4D. It's being written in Blitz3D and is a tool and art set used for the quick creation of Medieval type structures. To build your models you simply select an object such as a wall, window, door etc and add it to the 3D scene. Each object also has a number of specific pre-built textures you can then apply to it.
Medieval4D is still a work in progress with quite a few fixes and changes to implement, but I've just added in a collada export function so finished models can now be imported in Torque3D. Once a finished model is imported to T3D you can then add Normal and Spec maps, ( included with Medieval4D), in the Material window as you see fit. Below are some pics of some test scenes I've been working on.
An early adopter licence for Medieval4D is available for purchase for just US$30, ( although this price will increase from the 1st July), and with this you will get access to free upgrades to later versions when they are available. You also get access to the structures catalog, so even if you don't have time to create models from scratch you can copy/paste existing models from there.
For more details on Medieval4D, please visit my website at www.modbox4d.com
For specific details, see these links:
Overview of Medieval4D
Export disabled demo version
View the structures catalogue
Change/bug list
Buy now
Let me know if you have questions.
Thanks
6
#2
having played with the demo, i'm pretty impressed, which is impressive itself because i'm amazing at being negative about everything.. its a gift.
To me it shows that it has potential already even in its current state, when its finished and polished and if a few more features are added this would be an ideal replacement for those of us who were brought up on BSP editors, it offers the simplicity of those editors with DAE export, which none of my old editors do yet.
While theres some minor issues, such as number of textures and meshes which bumps up the drawcalls, a few minutes in your 3d editor of choice fixes this problem :) either way, lots of time saved, especially for non expert artists.
06/28/2011 (6:00 am)
I'm surprised theres been little comment about this so far, more people need to try it out.having played with the demo, i'm pretty impressed, which is impressive itself because i'm amazing at being negative about everything.. its a gift.
To me it shows that it has potential already even in its current state, when its finished and polished and if a few more features are added this would be an ideal replacement for those of us who were brought up on BSP editors, it offers the simplicity of those editors with DAE export, which none of my old editors do yet.
While theres some minor issues, such as number of textures and meshes which bumps up the drawcalls, a few minutes in your 3d editor of choice fixes this problem :) either way, lots of time saved, especially for non expert artists.
#3
Thanks for the feedback guys. There are still a number of things to fix, and I'm writing a new gui at the moment which will allow for new objects and textures to be added much more easily. This means you can add your own model objects and textures too.
Just one thing to mention, the collada export binds all the separate objects that share the same texture into 1 single object. So the the number of number of objects in a collada file will be the same as the number textures in that file. In other words if you build a house out of say 20 objects but only use 2 textures, then the collada file will have 2 objects with 2 textures.
cheers
6
06/28/2011 (10:06 pm)
Thanks for the feedback guys. There are still a number of things to fix, and I'm writing a new gui at the moment which will allow for new objects and textures to be added much more easily. This means you can add your own model objects and textures too.
Just one thing to mention, the collada export binds all the separate objects that share the same texture into 1 single object. So the the number of number of objects in a collada file will be the same as the number textures in that file. In other words if you build a house out of say 20 objects but only use 2 textures, then the collada file will have 2 objects with 2 textures.
cheers
6
#4
I was looking for your own forums to add feedback, but either you dont have one, or I really suck at this whole looking for stuff on websites.
ok, feedback and wishes.
A forum for feedback on your site would be nice :)
Labels and tooltips in the gui would be helpful.
Implement ctrl-z... you have no idea how many mistakes I make in any given 60 second period.
scaling 2 axis at the same time, personally I had a hard time with the roof, partially because I may have a jittery mouse and partly because I had to scale 1 axis at a time which throws out the angles considerably.
Labels on the editable boxes and the widget, i use at least 3 different apps that all have different versions of X Y and Z only one of which actually tells me which axis is x y and z, my life is hard.. :p
export: would it be possible to have a specific torque export button that exports both textures and a materials file, this is born part from laziness and part from having to rename every single texture i use in torque because torque is dumb when it comes to materials and textures, it doesn't know we have folders for a reason, it doesn't care that you separate those textures and give them a special meaningful unique material name, it replaces all the textures in your material with the first file it finds without actually looking at the pathing information you give it. As such i now have to use double prefixes for all textures applied to models.
A hotkey to rotate a wall into a floor and some more textures for floors, and on the same subject, having the object display on top of the grey plane would be nice, or convert the plane into a grid so we can see the floors. :)
06/29/2011 (3:35 am)
Ahh, i didnt actually inspect the collada thing, honestly... xml just looks like raw data to me, when i look at it my eyes glaze over the same as when my wife starts to discuss house decorating.I was looking for your own forums to add feedback, but either you dont have one, or I really suck at this whole looking for stuff on websites.
ok, feedback and wishes.
A forum for feedback on your site would be nice :)
Labels and tooltips in the gui would be helpful.
Implement ctrl-z... you have no idea how many mistakes I make in any given 60 second period.
scaling 2 axis at the same time, personally I had a hard time with the roof, partially because I may have a jittery mouse and partly because I had to scale 1 axis at a time which throws out the angles considerably.
Labels on the editable boxes and the widget, i use at least 3 different apps that all have different versions of X Y and Z only one of which actually tells me which axis is x y and z, my life is hard.. :p
export: would it be possible to have a specific torque export button that exports both textures and a materials file, this is born part from laziness and part from having to rename every single texture i use in torque because torque is dumb when it comes to materials and textures, it doesn't know we have folders for a reason, it doesn't care that you separate those textures and give them a special meaningful unique material name, it replaces all the textures in your material with the first file it finds without actually looking at the pathing information you give it. As such i now have to use double prefixes for all textures applied to models.
A hotkey to rotate a wall into a floor and some more textures for floors, and on the same subject, having the object display on top of the grey plane would be nice, or convert the plane into a grid so we can see the floors. :)
#5
The roof sections can be tricky as there are so many different ways of making them. I'll have to make a video tutorial on the best way to create them, but basically I set the corner of the roof to the corner of a wall, then scale the model out to the opposite side of the buildings. From there you can adjust the length to what you need. Its a bit difficult to explain in text though.
For the collada export, I'll probably keep it generic as it is now, but I was thinking about writing a small app to build a material automatically for T3D so I'll take a look at that too. I actually really like T3D and want to do more with it so making a material file specifically for medieval4D textures would benefit me to.
As for the object displaying on top of the ground plane, most objects should do this already, or at the least it should appear on the nearest object you point your mouse at. The problem you might be seeing is because some objects have there 'center point' right at the top of the object and its this point that is aligned to the plane. The center points are created that way because thats where the scaling occurs from. I'll have a think about a way of correcting that issue.
And as for the forum, a few others have asked for one too so I'll look into setting one up soon and let you know.
Again, thanks for the feedback, I do appreciate it.
Cheers
6
06/30/2011 (1:51 am)
There's some good points there Bloodknight. Most of the things you mentioned like the undo, labels etc are on the cards for a revamp when I get the new GUI underway.The roof sections can be tricky as there are so many different ways of making them. I'll have to make a video tutorial on the best way to create them, but basically I set the corner of the roof to the corner of a wall, then scale the model out to the opposite side of the buildings. From there you can adjust the length to what you need. Its a bit difficult to explain in text though.
For the collada export, I'll probably keep it generic as it is now, but I was thinking about writing a small app to build a material automatically for T3D so I'll take a look at that too. I actually really like T3D and want to do more with it so making a material file specifically for medieval4D textures would benefit me to.
As for the object displaying on top of the ground plane, most objects should do this already, or at the least it should appear on the nearest object you point your mouse at. The problem you might be seeing is because some objects have there 'center point' right at the top of the object and its this point that is aligned to the plane. The center points are created that way because thats where the scaling occurs from. I'll have a think about a way of correcting that issue.
And as for the forum, a few others have asked for one too so I'll look into setting one up soon and let you know.
Again, thanks for the feedback, I do appreciate it.
Cheers
6
#6
Make sure to have a read through Appendix 1 of the T3D collada docs. Many of the T3D material settings are supported directly in the dae file (including the normal and specular maps).
07/01/2011 (6:23 pm)
Hi 6,Make sure to have a read through Appendix 1 of the T3D collada docs. Many of the T3D material settings are supported directly in the dae file (including the normal and specular maps).
#7
07/21/2011 (9:42 pm)
This would be fabulous for our needs since we can build many buildings with few textures and fill a large world easily. Is it possible to import our own textures into the program? If not, this would be a nice addition, even if it means resizing and copying/pasting to a file.
#8
Unfortunately, at the moment Medieval4D doesn't allow you to add in your own textures, but that feature is being worked on right now. I'm actually in the middle of rebuilding the gui and fixing a number of issues that were bugging me. I'm not sure when this new version will be ready for release, but it will likely be a number of months away.
I'll be traveling to the UK for 5 weeks soon to, so the new version will include a heap of new textures too :)
If you register on my site for updates I'll let you know as soon as it's ready.
Thanks,
6
07/26/2011 (2:10 am)
Hi Teila,Unfortunately, at the moment Medieval4D doesn't allow you to add in your own textures, but that feature is being worked on right now. I'm actually in the middle of rebuilding the gui and fixing a number of issues that were bugging me. I'm not sure when this new version will be ready for release, but it will likely be a number of months away.
I'll be traveling to the UK for 5 weeks soon to, so the new version will include a heap of new textures too :)
If you register on my site for updates I'll let you know as soon as it's ready.
Thanks,
6
#9
I was testing out the demo and am not sure if it is particular to the demo or my machine, but when I paste the code in for the structures you have listed on the website I get a memory access violation and the program quits.
08/01/2011 (10:52 am)
I'll definitely be purchasing this tonite as I am 3d model challenged :PI was testing out the demo and am not sure if it is particular to the demo or my machine, but when I paste the code in for the structures you have listed on the website I get a memory access violation and the program quits.
#10
I haven't heard from anyone else about this issue, but I know it does happen if the model code can't find a particular Texture or 3D model to load, so I may have created a new m4d model that works in the latest release but not in the demo version. I'll check the demo tonight and see whats going on.
Thanks for bringing this crash issue to my attention.
Cheers
6
08/01/2011 (1:41 pm)
Hi Chris,I haven't heard from anyone else about this issue, but I know it does happen if the model code can't find a particular Texture or 3D model to load, so I may have created a new m4d model that works in the latest release but not in the demo version. I'll check the demo tonight and see whats going on.
Thanks for bringing this crash issue to my attention.
Cheers
6
#11
08/02/2011 (8:05 pm)
Brilliant! I'm chuffed... I had a few crashes, but I managed to export a model and it worked in T3D! Thanks for dreaming this up, 6! 
#12
08/05/2011 (12:51 pm)
Great work 6! I hope you're putting up ads on game developer sites. A lot of people would love to buy a tool like this. 
#13
As already mentioned, having the textures put into the model folder on collada export would really help the workflow..... creating the material file is not such a hassle with the T3D material editor so long as the textures are handy.
Enjoy the UK :)
Cheers,
Andy
08/07/2011 (4:25 am)
Just purchased this and it is a great tool.As already mentioned, having the textures put into the model folder on collada export would really help the workflow..... creating the material file is not such a hassle with the T3D material editor so long as the textures are handy.
Enjoy the UK :)
Cheers,
Andy
#14
12/04/2011 (10:07 am)
I finally had a chance to play with the demo and this is a wonderful program. I signed up for the updates and will be following the progress. I am especially looking forward to more textures!
#15
Thanks for bumping this thread :)
Development on Medieval4D is still progressing but it is going slower than I thought it would. I have most of the stuff working for adding in your own Textures and models, but I'm basically re-writing it from scratch to fix up many design 'mistakes' I originally made. Once the new version is ready I'll send you an email.
Thanks
6
12/11/2011 (8:43 pm)
Hi Telia,Thanks for bumping this thread :)
Development on Medieval4D is still progressing but it is going slower than I thought it would. I have most of the stuff working for adding in your own Textures and models, but I'm basically re-writing it from scratch to fix up many design 'mistakes' I originally made. Once the new version is ready I'll send you an email.
Thanks
6
#16
01/12/2012 (1:56 pm)
This is a really cool program. I wanted to ask that if i buy it now, would i need to pay for and updated versions?
#17
Updates to version 1.x will be free. There are some more details regarding this here:
modbox4d.com/licence.html
As mentioned in my earlier post, I'm working on a new version at the moment which fixes several issues with the current version so once this is ready you'll be able to download it for no extra cost.
Later on there will also be extra art packs available for creating Castles, Bridges, Cathedrals etc, but these will be at an extra cost, although how much these will be is yet to be determined.
Thanks
6
01/13/2012 (1:08 am)
Hi Joshua,Updates to version 1.x will be free. There are some more details regarding this here:
modbox4d.com/licence.html
As mentioned in my earlier post, I'm working on a new version at the moment which fixes several issues with the current version so once this is ready you'll be able to download it for no extra cost.
Later on there will also be extra art packs available for creating Castles, Bridges, Cathedrals etc, but these will be at an extra cost, although how much these will be is yet to be determined.
Thanks
6
#19
Just PM me at admin@modbox4d.com if you have any questions/issues/suggestions etc.
As a side note, here is a link to the current buglist/restrictions in Medieval4d, as well as what I'll be updating on the software.
modbox4d.com/changeList.html
About half the features on the Change List have been completed such as better 3d Gizmo's, grouping of objects, database storage, ability to add your own textures and models, and the TreeView menu. I can't say when this will be released though as there are a hundred little bits and pieces yet to add in.
6
01/13/2012 (10:27 am)
Thank you :)Just PM me at admin@modbox4d.com if you have any questions/issues/suggestions etc.
As a side note, here is a link to the current buglist/restrictions in Medieval4d, as well as what I'll be updating on the software.
modbox4d.com/changeList.html
About half the features on the Change List have been completed such as better 3d Gizmo's, grouping of objects, database storage, ability to add your own textures and models, and the TreeView menu. I can't say when this will be released though as there are a hundred little bits and pieces yet to add in.
6
#20
01/14/2012 (1:15 pm)
I have a question about the exporting to dae. Do the textures export as a UV map for the entire model? 
Torque 3D Owner Alexander Krause
Coming soon...