Reality Factory

I have been programming 3D games for about 2 years now and stumbled across RF.

This could be the perfect tool for me. Currently I am using the excellent Blitz3D.

Anyway, is it possible to import my levels from Milkshape 3D into RF.

If so how would I go about this.

Thanks in advance.

You have to use RFEditPro in order to apply textures set lightmap scale, place entities, lights, etc.

So why go through the trouble of dealing with an exporter when it's just as easy to build in RFEditPro and texture, place entities as you go.

Plus when you import geometry it imports it all. So if you were to say make one small adjustment to the level you would have to re-import the level. Delete your current level. Re-apply all the textures, etc.

It's just asking for a lot of extra hassle withot gaining any real functionality.

So I have 3d levels with detailed static vehicles, trash cans, lamp posts etc etc.



I can do all this in the level editor ?

The models I create in 3D packages start from drawings, then vertexes, then faces. This means generally they are quite detailed.

I am happy to use the level editor if I can get the same result.

I am new to this product so appreciate your help.

Welcome to the Realityfactory forums
I don't know how much you know about realityfactory so I'll tell what I know. You can probably make that detailed of level it might take longer thou. But I think milkshape will export to the 3dt format right? If so export the level its self as 3dt and then import it into rfeditpro. Then you take the trees and stuff and export them to the bdy format, then you use the actorbuilder that come's with the Realityfactory package you can download from this page to combine the 3d model in the bdy format and any motion files mot. that you might want to go with it. Then the actorbuilder combines them in to the file format act. Then you take and set the act file as a pawn in rfeditpro. I would advise reading the RealityFactory manual here! or downloading it here! I hope that helps.

This is actually something I looked into doing awhile back. There are so many problems with it that it's not worth the hastle.

First off, all level geometry has to be convex and closed. This means no dips in the geometry. for example, you cant do this:
_
|
/
\
_|

and closing the geometry is a nightmare in itself. Then, there are issue with the exporter, with the texture coordinates, and various other complications.

After about 2 weeks of trying, my conclusion was that the best way to build a level in RF is to create the basic geometry (IE floors, walls, etc.) in RFEditPro, and for any detailed objects use Static Meshes (SEM's). Static Meshes do not have to be closed or convex, and are created through the same process as .act files, so it really is a lot more simple. But, there are still some bugs with clipping and lighting, but most of these are easily solved.

RF FAQ http://terrymorgan.net/rffaq.zip

Demos, Tutorials http://terrymorgan.net/download.htm

exactly. to summarize:

- Basic stuff (streets, sidewalks, building fronts) should be made in RFEditPro or other BSP-compliant (QuArK, Qoole, 3DGS WED...) editor.
- Complex stuff should be copied and pasted from your whole MS3D map into a new file, compiled into RF actors seperately, and place in RFEditPro. Example:

Select all faces of one of your lightposts in ms3d
Copy
New file
Paste
Fix UV mapping
Export to .BDY
Compile in RF (details can be found in manual)
Place as StaticMesh in RFEditPro
Repeat for each prop