Racetracks!
Blitz3D Forums/Blitz3D Programming/Racetracks!
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| Hi guys, i am thinking about making a racing game with huge racing tracks. The only problem i am having is..How would i go about modelling the actual tracks do i use flat planes for each bit of the road or is there an easier way to model them quicker? I am using 3DS MAX 4 Thanks guys for any help BLUE |
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| Using MAX ... hmm ... pure guesswork here as I don't know the program, can't you create a profile and loft/extrude/sweep it along a curve? Thinking on a bit about rendering it... If it's a really big map, with some careful planning you could then chop it up into sections and only display like 3 sections at a time, the section in front, the section you're on, and the section behind, to keep the render polycount down. Cya! Tom |
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| His suggestion about lofting splines is not only a fast way to model road but also very fast to texture map (since the loft operation will automatically generate perfect tiling texture coordinates which follow the curves of the shape.) You can even do banked turns and stuff using the deformation tools built into the Loft tool. Look for the Loft tool under Compound Objects; you need to draw a spline for the cross-section shape and another for the path. |
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| Thanks guys for your help, i'll try that lofting technique and let you know how i get on :-) Thanks again BLUE |
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| lofts are great for roads, not to mention you can quickly make nice-looking bridges with them too. |
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I use lofted splines in Max4 to make my racetracks. Here is the tutorial that got me started with track-making in 3D Studio Max, and here's a screenshot of my game: |
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| Thankyou so much GFK, i have just got in from work and i'm going to take a look at your tutorial. Many thanks BLUE |
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| Don't suppose there is any other software (by "other" I mean far, far, far cheaper!) that supports lofted splines is there? Anyone? Cheers, Ryan |
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| I think Truespace does (and older versions are free.) I believe Blender does too, but don't take my word for either since I'm not sure. |
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| why not just write it all in blitz :) as they say www.16vmini.co.uk/rtc/ this is a Track Creator i am writing for a racing game (www.racer.nl) this allows you to drag a track around , add banked corners etc.. and lofting is all done for you. Matt |
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| Very cool! G'luck on that project. By the way, does it generate UV coordinates for the track? |
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| Yep looks cool. I thought about making a similar track editor for MaxxGP... ...then I thought "sod it, I can't be bothered". :) |
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| Yes it does generate UV co-ordinates Matt |
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| Note that when I tried your tool yesterday it crashed out with a memory access error every time I tried to save or export. |
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| hmm.. did you make sure you had "extract with folders" turned on when you unziped the program ? , also do you have "RACER" installed ? its in very early dev as well ! :) Matt |
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| MattG, did you program that editor in Blitz3d? I was wondering :-) BLUE |
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| I extracted with folders but did not have Racer installed. If that is necessary it is pretty annoying; you should make the tool completely standalone. |
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| If that is necessary it is pretty annoying; you should make the tool completely standalone. Beggers can't be choosers. Have respect. |
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| BLue : yes it was programed using blitz3d jhocking : As i programed it only for people using RACER i did not really think about running it stand alone , i guess it would only need the folder structure setup. Matt |
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| And the texture set :) and a B3D export ?? :) I looked over your export files and couldnt see how to get it into blitz :) I noticed in your progress reports that you were having problems with terrain ?? Have you considered loading a heightmap or terrain mesh then "pushing" the track into the terrain, deforming the terrain where needed ?? Export the terrain and the track seperatly then, so the terrain can be loaded in another app like ALE for texturing and placing of props (including the exported track) ?? I just got ALE, trying the hard way to loft out a track in 3DS, then use that as a prop in ALE and adjust the terrain to match -- not working out real well :) (I'm a programmer -- not an artist -- HELP !!) |
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| Check out my racetrack creator http://www.blitzbasic.com/logs/userlog.php?user=836&log=304 I've made significant progress from then. Should be available pretty soon. |
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| Blender -> www.blender3d.org Racetrack tutorial for blender -> http://www.geocities.com/swdoughty/blendertute1.html |
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| @Sweenie: You want me to attempt learning yet another 3D modeling app :) I did load up blender and attempt the tutorial, but it skips over the blender commands that a total blender newbie would need, like pan and zoom, and I really dont want to take the time to dig in and learn another modeler. I was also dismayed by the overhead only view, being much more used to apps with 4 way views :) I think I'll wait for CyberHeater or one of the others doing track apps to have something useful :) All I really need is something to create the track mesh, and perhaps generate a matching heightmap for editing in ALE or TerraEd :) @CyberHeater: dont forget to allow for altitude changes and tracks that have bridges !! (and possibly jumps ?? turing off selected segments ??) |
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| Would there not be a problem if the track is very huge, as it will render all the mesh? |
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| The track should probably be sliced up into separate pieces so that viewfrustumculling could be applied. Possibly "lodded" as well depending on the amount of polygons used in each trackpiece. |
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| @deldy: One problem at a time :) The current tracks I'm working with, though large, are optimied to around 10,000 polys -- since there isnt going to be much except the terrain, track and a very few buildings, I'm getting OK frame rates -- 70-80 -- that will probably change when I'm doing something more complicated than a figure 8 :) @sweenie: Probably -- but thats not so much an issue when just trying to get the terrain to match up with the track |
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| Why not bone smaller road meshes, så they can be turned, and then set them up together? That is what i have done.. ;) |
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| you replied to a 2 year old thread. |
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| Lol :-) |
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