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Iridium
08-16-2005, 03:37 PM
Hi!

I've been working on an open source project called Delta3D (http://www.delta3d.org) that can be used to create games and simulations. For this project I created a game art tutorial and thought I would share it with the cgtalk community. It steps through some very simple principles of developing assets for games. This is meant as a way for beginners to get their feet wet.

After spending countless hours reading the forums I wanted to contribute something back. Please feel free to give me hints, suggestions, crits, etc. as this tutorial is a WIP and I value the experience of others.

For those that are interested, I hope you enjoy!

Link to tutorials HERE : Bridge Tutorial (http://www.delta3d.org/article.php?story=20050810113833241&topic=tutorials)
Keiyentai
08-16-2005, 07:28 PM
Very nice tutorial :thumbsup: the engine looks interesting as well. You did a great job.
WesleyTack
08-16-2005, 10:51 PM
i have a small crit about the UV mapping,
you could have modeled just one arc + cross (cause you just scale them down in hight)
so, all you would need to do is UV map one beam + one cross, and then collapse all the layers and copy/paste the elements. This way you could make that bridge in less then an hour!
Iridium
08-17-2005, 01:22 PM
You're absolutely right, and since this is supposed to be a very basic introduction it would probably be in my best interest to simplify that UV process even further as you illustrated.

Thanks!
Omita
08-17-2005, 03:53 PM
Sigh. Not to be too harsh, but if someone checked in a 3500 poly bridge that looked like that i would smack them. That is a ton of polys for the end result. You can totally solve the I-beams with textures, and I would recommend UVing before duplicating anything. The UV layout is also pretty big waste of texture space. The only reason to lay out the UV's like that is if you are baking. ANd if you are baking then I would still think that the Normal maps should be used.

It might be a useful intro to modeling tutorial but it's pretty bad advice IMO for the game industry.

I think you could make that same bridge with 150-200 polys if you just built it smartly.
Iridium
08-17-2005, 04:22 PM
Although I prefer not to be smacked, the tutorial was really an introduction. I do agree that 3200 is way to many triangles for the model, again I was trying to make something quick and simple. Along the way I might have taken the wrong approach but I hope it is useful for someone interested in modeling and gaming. I'll take a step back and re-think my approach to the tuts as they are still in development.

The model was baked, at version 0.9.2 Delta3D doesn't support normals just yet. Still working on that one ;)

Since i'm taking a step back, any and all additional advice you have would be great. With the help of the CGTalk community I would like this to become a useable tutorial.

Definately something for me to consider, I do appreciate your crits. Thanks!
Neil
08-17-2005, 04:56 PM
In videogames curved surfaces are the first thing that catch my attention. It's a shame that curved surface also take up the most polys, but that's pretty much my point. Everything is straight in a videogame, roads, posts, boxes, so when something is curved it gets your attention.
That is why I'm saying you should put more poly into the curve of the bridge and less in the straight parts. A nice smooth curve will make it look more professional.
Iridium
08-17-2005, 05:15 PM
Awesome, I'm going to start compiling these suggestions to restructure the tutorials.
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