What Do You Think,Will I Manage To Make It?

[metal_head]

I'm making a level in an old ruin temple,and while searching for textures I found this,it's a map for quake 3:
http://simonoc.com/images/design/maps_q3/mg3v12l.jpg
I know that quake 3 is a completely different game,using completely dfferent engine and I know it can take loads of details whitout slowing down the framerate,but will I be able to make something like that in Genesis?
Any suggestions and advices?

[Allanon]

You can download and use all the textures from the Jet3d engine freely. They have some good temple textures that were used in the Jet3d demo level.



The bitmaps are in the globalmaterials folder. All the ACT files can only be used with the Jet3d engine.
http://jetpp.sourceforge.net/jet_media.zip

[metal_head]

Thanks,I got the permission from the author to use the textures from the picture,I gave a link.But take look at the details,I want to make a game with a fast framerate,and for such details I'll have to give away some frames from the framerate,don't you think?

[Danimita92]

Not at all. Look at what Zidane managed to do:
http://img381.imageshack.us/my.php?image=luzqz9.jpg
The trick is using FarClip.

[metal_head]

WOW! that's really cool! How did he make al this? Was it using brushes or using a terrain generator?
hmm,you say farclip,ha...yeah I have farclip in all my indoor levels,but that's an outside level and I have a skybox,it won't look very well (skybox + farclip ).At this point the level I made (that was the one I posted in my game thread) has a terrible framerate and it's not tomething big or complicated at all. I'm terrible at making outside levels I know that Genesis isn't good for theese type of levels.

My goal first before the temple is to create something like this :

IU got the permision from Simon (the author) to use the textures,so I have all the textures I need to make something like that,but look at theese details (and that's a map for quake 3) I will never be able to make such soomth and detailed levels without framerate slowown.

[Danimita92]

Zidane also uses both Skydome and farclip, and that's an outdoor level. The terrain is a staticmesh

[metal_head]

He's a magitian than ,I can handle an indoor framrate,but outdoor,everything in his screenshot looks so smooth and high-poly.. I can't imagine making something like this and have a good framerate.I'll try,but I just don't think I'll make it. But how did he make all this? was it a terrain generator,a 3D model or brushes? do you know or I'll have to ask him personaly ?

[Danimita92]

I told you, it's a staticmesh, probably from a terraingenerator. I think separating the actual model into smaller parts helps the framerate

[metal_head]

Oh,sorry man I didn't see it well,I'm gonna aski him for details,bercause I really want to make something like this! Thanks!

[Jay]

metal_head, the screen you posted is not high-poly. It's low poly with very detailed textures and lightmaps. Maybe it uses normal mapping too and I am almost sure there is multitexturing....

However it's not high-poly. It's technically doable (without the multiexturing part, but you may be able to fake that with additiononal textures)

[metal_head]

Too bad RF doesn't support multitexturing (it doesn't right?) I was thinking of faking it with walldecals,but for example the circular hole on the left of the screen? look how smooth it is,if I try to make this with cut brushes the framerate will get slow.I got all theese vine,mushroom,stone,sand etc. textures,so I'll see what I can do,my goal is as I've said many times to make the framerate really fast,becasue I want to make a dynamic game,I'm not very sucessful with that,but after all Genesis isn't a very fast engine.

[Veleran]

These screens are simple,even for rf,expect it wont have the shadows.
If you use small staticmeshes,LOD,and farclip plane with fog (skydome script's skyfog better).
The framerate drops when you have nt use one of these three.

There is a vertex type blurred shadow the terrain can have,and i dont recomment it because it cuts down frames as all shadows.
If you can wait,i will post later a simple screenshot of a terrain part showing what kind of shadow you can get on the ground from a rock.

You just have to make extra work for the lower poly versions for larger distances.Example:Have a 1500 faces base tree actor,with a 230 faces LOD2 or LOD3.

If you have the time,and are a hardcore modeler,in the future you could make more detailed versions for the close distances base actors (so the actors wont look too triangulated close to the camera).

I dont know how you do this in milkshape,but in max,you can divide each edge manually,and then lower the old "spiky" vertices and move outwards the nearby vertices you created by edge divide.
This way you can add vertices only to the parts they need it mostly-the outline,the face,the limbs joints etc-instead of subdividing the whole mesh.

[metal_head]

I'm using LODs for only a few models in my game and they are some high-poly characters (by high- poly I mean about 3000 polys).I'll have a farclip in the level. I don't use skydomes,because I don't like the way they are shown,the skyoxes move with the player and the skydomes don't.Maybe I'll make the level out of several Static Meshes,put farclip and make LOD versions of all the level parts.

[Veleran]

That is what the staticmesh shadow looks like.One pic shows the size of the quad division of the test terrain (1024/1024,32x32 segments , 2048 faces)
with the rock and the mound seperate meshes.
This simple terrain is nt textured and was made just to show the shadow.
If the ground had more subdivision the shadow would be a little sharper,but with lower framerate.

[Veleran]

Pic1- the ground casts shadows too-avoid it.pic2 no ground self-shadows.