Blitz3D Tank Tracks Demo

Community Forums/Showcase/Blitz3D Tank Tracks Demo

MCP(Posted 2007) [#1]
I know a few people have been waiting for this!
With a static mesh and some texture manipulation it is possible to create an animated tank track.
Modelling the track was quite tedious but the coding was pretty straight forward and the results quite satisfactory :)

Anyway, download the source and see how it was done.
You can download it here

Cheers,

Roy


Rob Farley(Posted 2007) [#2]
I did the same for the tanks in my helicopter game actually, the only problem I had was I didn't use separate textures for each track so you couldn't have one moving forward and the other moving backwards.

Also had to find the correct surface which was one of the harder parts.


big10p(Posted 2007) [#3]
Neat! I could almost hear the squeaking and grinding of metal on metal. :)


MCP(Posted 2007) [#4]
Hi Rob,
I agree. Finding the correct surfaces was a problem.
That helicopter game of yours looks pretty cool. It reminds me of Thunderhawk on the Amiga though yours is graphically a lot better! Will you be releasing a demo any time soon??? I'd love to play it :)

big10p: thanks mate :)

Cheers,

Roy


MadJack(Posted 2007) [#5]
Well, that's the issue isn't it - when you have many tanks using the same model (i.e. copyentity), how do you do a tank tread animation specific to a particular instance? You can't scroll the texture cause that'll appear on all of them - guess you'll have to use animated parts on the model.


_33(Posted 2007) [#6]
If the track texture is, say 4K size, it doesn't matter really. If you have, say 100 tanks, it'll take 400K, which is absolutely nothing in a 128Meg video card.

But, actually, MadJack, you'd need 4 occurences only ;) for your game.

1- is the track stopped.
2- is the track going forward
3- is the track going backward
4- is the track going forward high speed

Just with that, you have enough, and you need to texture the tracks of every track choosing wisely between these 4.


Mustang(Posted 2007) [#7]
I made a tank with "moving tracks" too way back... I used simple UV-scrolling to achieve the effect. Haven't yet Dl'ed yours so no comments about that.


_33(Posted 2007) [#8]
OMG, the UV coordinates ;)

hahaha, so simple indeed.


Rob Farley(Posted 2007) [#9]
Using Positiontexture is probably simpler than adjusting UVs, that's what I used anyway. That effectively scrolls the texture over the existing UVs.

The difficult part was uv mapping in the first place to make the tracks stay the same size over the whole thing.

Ended up with a slightly strange looking UV map!




Mustang(Posted 2007) [#10]
Yes, "PositionTexture" was the Blitz thingy I used - it basically adjusts the UVs.


TrackL_V# = TrackL_V#-0.02
TrackR_V# = TrackR_V#+0.02
PositionTexture Tank_L_Tracks,1,TrackL_V# ;!!this updates ALL left tracks at once!!
PositionTexture Tank_R_Tracks,1,TrackR_V# ;!!this updates ALL right tracks at once!!



If you'd like to check out my old tank demo, it's here (temp position, won't be there long):

http://www.paintballgames.fi/testimike/zips/blitz3D_jagdpanther_EXE.zip



.Zip includes .exe and .bb + all the models. Everything is PD, so use it anyway you like, including the model. Demo also demonstrates how to elevate the barrel (separate model)


MCP(Posted 2007) [#11]
Hi Mustang,
Great models mate. Very nice indeed :)

Cheers,

Roy


elcoo(Posted 2007) [#12]
W00t! I saw it, i loved it! This is just what i needed:D
Thanks RoyFerriby


Chroma(Posted 2007) [#13]
Hehe I love those tanks. If only I could get mustang to make me a few planes... ;p


Mustang(Posted 2007) [#14]

If only I could get mustang to make me a few planes... ;p



Actually I'd love to do planes for you, but I just don't have much freetime these days so I can't promise anything like that. But if I somehow get the time, I'll do something.


Imperium(Posted 2012) [#15]
Can someone reupload the source? I'd love to take a peak!