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the new Torque 3D (T3D)

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the new Torque 3D (T3D)

Postby Steve Damsky » Mon May 04, 2009 8:31 pm

Hi Aaron -- is there any chance of us getting a simple users guide on how to get a terrain we make in L3DT exported into the new Torque engine?

It appears that Atlas is gone, and it also appears that terrains can now be edited once inside T3D, both of which are good news for me. I had nothing but trouble with Atlas.

They did make reference to the capability to. ..."add multiple TerrainBlocks, which can provide you with a number of opportunities to create massive levels while retaining quality detail" but no further details or explanations yet.

I did read the beginners guide in T3D on how to import terrains, but it had nothing specifically to say about L3DT, and quite frankly, I didn't understand how it relates to a completed L3DT project.

Any help you could give would be much appreciated.
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Postby Aaron » Wed May 06, 2009 10:22 pm

Hi Steve,

I apologise for my slow reply. The bad news is that there is, as far as I know, no existing pipeline for importing complete terrain projects from L3DT into T3D. I believe there is a method for importing the heightfield (using a Torque terrain editor, or some-such) and then auto-texturing in T3D.

If you don't mind, I'll take this as a question on notice and get back to you. I have to do a bit more research on the terrain system for T3D and the relevant file formats. I would hope that we could build some form of exporter in reasonably short order.

Cheerio,
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Postby Steve Damsky » Fri May 08, 2009 1:03 am

thanks for your answer. I think it might be easier than I think to achieve, but unfortunately, still (at the moment) confusing to me. There is Beta Documentation on importing Terrains into T3D, but they are only open to owners of the beta T3D. Perhaps the folks at Torque could tell you more. I do appreciate any help you can give!
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Postby Cayle » Fri May 08, 2009 10:34 am

Hey aaron, I've been messing with importing heightfields into T3D. The trick seems to be that you need a 16 bit greyscale file that is square and a power of two. So all T3D users need is an export script that saves the heightfield as a 16bit grayscale.

I hope this helps.

T3D also has a fancy layering system, but I've not looked at how it works or how to get L3DT generated layers into it.
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Postby Aaron » Thu May 14, 2009 10:58 am

Hi All,

Cayle wrote:So all T3D users need is an export script that saves the heightfield as a 16bit grayscale.


No worries. Select 'File->Export->Export map', select 'Heightfield' and OK, select 'RAW' in the format drop list in the export wizard, set your file name, and away you go. The RAW plugin saves as 16-bit unsigned integers by default.

Cayle wrote:T3D also has a fancy layering system, but I've not looked at how it works or how to get L3DT generated layers into it.


That's what I'm looking into. I'd like L3DT to be able to export either a complete terrain file for T3D, or else all the data required to easily import into T3D the terrain and the texture layer data. I'll report back here when I have something to report.

Cheerio,
Aaron.
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Postby Steve Damsky » Tue May 19, 2009 12:28 am

Thanks for the update Aaron. It is reassuring to know you are still investigating the issue. Your reply does leave me with a question however. It seems like most of the heightmaps used in T3D are 16 bit greyscale PNGs. Therefore, why would we export using RAW format? Would it work equally as well to export in PNG format, which also appears to use 16 bit format? One thing I didn't understand about exporting in PNG , however is that under the options menu, pixels per meter = -1. Why is it negative one? Can it / should it be changed?
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Postby Aaron » Tue May 19, 2009 8:04 am

Hi Steve,

Oops, I guess I mis-read Cayle's comment of "a 16 bit greyscale file" meaning a RAW file rather than a PNG image. Anyhow, the export process is exactly the same with PNG as it is with RAW as described above, except for the obvious difference of selecting PNG instead of RAW in the format drop-list. As with RAW, the PNG plugin exports heightfields in 16-bit precision by default.

One thing I didn't understand about exporting in PNG , however is that under the options menu, pixels per meter = -1. Why is it negative one? Can it / should it be changed?


A negative value means that the plugin doesn't write the PixelsPerMetre value to the file. Usually it's not needed, and since it's stored as an integer in PNG images, it's useless when the heightfield horizontal scale is greater than 1 (in which case, pixels per metre < 1, which is 0 as an int). I only included the setting because some specific applications require a PixelsPerMetre value to be present, and in such cases, users may set the value manually.

Cheerio,
Aaron.
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Postby zumwalt » Mon Jul 20, 2009 7:30 pm

Greetings, any news for a T3D complete import yet?
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Postby Aaron » Mon Jul 20, 2009 9:49 pm

Hi Zumwalt,

Complete? No. Partial? Yes. The latest developmental build includes a Torque TER export plugin (see here for info, pics), which seems to work OK. I have yet to rig this up to export multiple tiled TER files for MegaTerrain, but that is high on my current priority list.

Best regards,
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Postby zumwalt » Mon Jul 20, 2009 10:23 pm

You rock
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Postby Dredawg » Thu Nov 26, 2009 2:19 pm

Hi Aaron,

Both my trial version of L3dt and T3d are about to run out and I am no closer to being able to answer the one problem that I have had since the 'get-go', how to import my huge terrain model into Torque, and if it is even possible.

I undertand you have alot to do and I gotta give you huge kudos for this software and the demo's you have let me use. I couldnt program my way out of a paper bag.
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Postby Aaron » Thu Nov 26, 2009 8:57 pm

Hi Dredawg,

Have you tried the new T3D exporter in L3DT release 2.8? It saves all the files required to load the terrain in T3D (terrain, mission, materials). The userguide for the exporter is here. If you have any problems with the exporter, please let me know.

Best regards,
Aaron.
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Postby Dredawg » Thu Nov 26, 2009 10:19 pm

no sorry im still using the last link I got from you for 2.7.0.38 on October 18. I spent the last few days working on the model and trying to export with it. Have you made many changes recently? I will admit I havent bought your product yet so I feel guilty, but may I have a link to the latest build?

Im just an indie developer trying to make something happen.

Also I was wondering does the 'Export Megaterrain' feature work on 2.8? I have a large terrain file split into a mosaic that I would love to import into T3D as well.

I successfully created a megaterrain with the version I have however have been unable to figure out how to do the import.
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Postby Aaron » Fri Nov 27, 2009 11:19 am

Dredawg,

The link I sent you previously should take you to the latest installer. I'll PM you the link again just to be sure.

Have you made many changes recently?


Yes, many.

Also I was wondering does the 'Export Megaterrain' feature work on 2.8?


L3DT 2.8 doesn't support MegaTerrain for T3D because T3D doesn't yet support MegaTerrain (as of T3D 1.0). When this changes, I'll unlock the feature in the exporter. Until then, it's of no use to anyone.

Best regards,
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