[gameprogrammer] Re: MaxStudio, Maya...

Writing or Reading a Format is relatively easy.  Most if not all Game
Engines out there already have functions setup to read and animate them as
well.  On the off chance you decide you want to either use a format that is
already out there for another game, or if you wish to make your own format
standard, the Process is rather simple.  I can say this from experience, as
I am the one, whom made the original *.3do format from Total Annihilation
from a *.dxf file using a converter I created over the course of 48 hours,
of non-stop hacking and reverse engineering.  Once you do settle on a
format, I recommend that you look at the formats specs, and get a feel for
what you can and can't do with it, such as vertex or skeletal animation or
both.

Once you learn this, then it is a matter of being creative.  Learn first how
to load the format.  Next, do things such as trying to get a model animate.
Once the model animates, then you can get even more creative if you can,
example: I just read an article on how to make a terrain distort on
collision from a rocket, I took the same article and made this routine work
with models.  Now with a combination of skeletal animation and mesh vertex
realtime deformation / morphing I have a realistic dynamic environment
possible.  This made all possible from inside a bsp type level created with
WED from 3D Game Studio using their C - Like scripting language.

I hope this helps, if you would like some help with figuring out formats, or
what they can do, how to load them, etc.. or just want to talk about what it
was like using trial and error and a hex editor to figure a format out, hit
me up some time.

Oh BTW: You can see proof of my work in Unit editor for TA made by me and
Kinboat, I believe it is still out there if you google it.  I made convertor
he slapped a graphical interface on it using VB and openGL.

Hope this helps you some, or at least inspires you to continue...

Ken aka StOrM3

-----Original Message-----
From: gameprogrammer-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:gameprogrammer-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Scott Harper
Sent: Friday, July 29, 2005 2:58 PM
To: gameprogrammer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [gameprogrammer] Re: MaxStudio, Maya...

I'm not experienced in ACTUALLY doing this, but I know that there are  
plugins and format documents you can use to load files from OBJ, or  
3DS (or most other 3d formats) into your program, so you can  
certainly use that.  There are also export plugins for Maya and  
3DStudio, which will take the project and export the geometry to a  
more easily read format for your program, and you can also write your  
OWN export plugin for either of the 3D apps, to export the data in  
whichever format you want, including a custom format you come up with  
JUST for your app.

If you look for 3D plugins, export, etc on google and you'll find  
some sites I'm sure.  Also, I'm certain that others on this list will  
have a better idea, but at least this will hopefully give you some  
idea of what to expect.

--Scott

On 29 Jul, 2005, at 10:08 AM, Fernando Arturo Gómez Flores wrote:

> Hello all.
>
> I'd like to know if it is possible to integrate 3DMaxStudio or Maya  
> with a
> game application --that is, making the animation, textures, etc,  
> with one of
> these programs, and then use the results with a DirectX or OpenGL  
> app--.
>
> My explanation seems to be somehow abstract; that is because I  
> don't know
> the possibilities of these programs for game developing. So I'd  
> like to know
> how to use these programs to gain some advantadge.
>
> Kevin Jenkins wrote in a past email that he was using 3DS Max, so I  
> see this
> might be possible.
>
> Any suggestions, any book references, any idea?
>
> Finally, which one between Maya or 3DSMax would you consider the  
> best option
> for this development?
>
> Thanks a lot! Hope I made myself clear...
>
> Fernando Gómez
>
> bug, n: An elusive creature living in a program that makes it  
> incorrect.
> The activity of "debugging", or removing bugs from a program, ends  
> when
> people get tired of doing it, not when the bugs are removed. -
> "Datamation", January 15, 1984
>
>
>
>
>
>
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>
>



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