Lightwave Models To ET Terrains

(Griff_43) #1

I have been working with 3d modeling and scene setup for a while now. One area I am into is level design for various games. Most which simply require the LWO object to be coded in to the main code unlike quake or ET whichrequire conversion to the .map .bsp formats. Where GTKRadiant is very counter productive in terrain design, I find lightwave and Zbrush pick up the slack however to date I have found no way to impliment these into Wolf ET. Can this be done?

(sodsm live) #2

there’s bound to be q3 engine export plugins for lightwave as there is for most any half way decent modeling app. google>lightwave md3(or ase) export

(kamikazee) #3

Using 3D apps for terrain has been done before.

For example, Detoeni, the author of Alpine Assault is known to have tweaked his terrain with 3DSMax.
He actually made his terrain as a map first, then converted it to .ASE and tweaked it. I guess you can skip the first step.

The main problem is to get Lightwave to export your terrain mesh as a format the map compiler and map editor know. AFAIK, only .ASE and .MD3 are supported, so you might have to use some extra tool to convert from one format to another. I have seen only one MD3 exporter for Lightwave 7, and it’s end results weren’t that good.

Once you do get an .ASE file or MD3 file, just add the terrain to your map by using a misc_model entity with the appropriate “model” key. (or was it the “model2” key…)

(]UBC[ McNite) #4

Actually, if you get the grip of how vertex-editing and edge-editing work in connection with freezing X-/Z- and Z-axis, GTK Radiant (1.4) is pretty much perfect for doing a realistic terrain by hand. Check out my map Warbell for the terrain, its completely hand made from rough blocks of the first terrain sketches to the final thing. I m pretty positive that for ET and GTK there s not really any more effective and precise approach.

As with the md3s… what about the clipping? From my experiences autoclipping of models didn’t really work well.

(kamikazee) #5

[quote=]UBC[ McNite]As with the md3s… what about the clipping? From my experiences autoclipping of models didn’t really work well.[/quote]True, that can be an extra problem. However, a general MD3 model is mostly a closed surface (eg. a statue) which has parts sticking out while a terrain model is just a mesh which is spread out.

I still believe the conversion is the hardest problem. Making it in GTKRadiant certainly is a viable option, and is probably preferred.

(sodsm live) #6

Autoclipping is really not that bad for simple geometry like terrain. It’s when you start getting in to high poly count detail models autoclipping gets a bit funky. But really, that’s the whole point of using a modelling program - to make fancy high poly pretty models.

If they can walk on it, make it brushwork. Strange, ridiculous, buggy, unpredictable things happen on patches and autoclipped models. If this is for movie making, not gameplay, by all means make it pretty. For gaming, these days alot of players dumb the detail down so much to get the advantage that it’s almost pointless to make a nice looking map. You could just put them in a randomly generated white-walled maze and they wouldn’t know the difference.

(DerSaidin) #7

Agree, that seems to hold for almost any 3D work. Conversion sucks.

Finding a way to convert the geometry is usually hard enough, but to convert stuff complete with texture info… :frowning:

(]UBC[ McNite) #8

For Warbell I tried to edit the rock models from ET because i wanted another size and texture on them. Using autoclip on the rock models plain sucked, the playermodel got stuck a lot. I worked around it by exporting the models as a .map and then put them into the map. Worked pretty good too.

(Griff_43) #9

Thanx guys. The ase idea worked great md3 exporters workin to … Now its time to poly the thing up lol

(Shallow) #10

One thing to be aware of: I’ve seen models come out of lightwave into the Q3 engine with all the triangles shattered because not a single vert on the model was welded! I think this was to do with how some people do their UVing in LW, or maybe it was just that one guy :slight_smile:

Anyway, be aware of it because unwelded verts means no tristrips means abysmal performance. Great power/great responsibility and all that.

(LW is all Greek to me really, I’m a 3DSMax kinda guy)

(]UBC[ McNite) #11

One thing I forgot to mention you need to be aware of is, when you export models to brushwork, make sure the edges snap to grid. Else you might run into serious compile problems very fast.

(Griff_43) #12

Yeah generally it has to do with the UV mapping techniques used by designers however with any modeling programs I find you have to pay attention to detail when designing for polygon sensitive games such as et to make sure you catch those loose ends or boom you get zip…