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crushedcar attempts to bridge the gap

Started by crushedcar, February 17, 2012, 08:00:15 PM

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crushedcar

Okay, title aside I thought I would try my hand at bridge BATting. As I have never done this before I thought that I should post my attempts here in order to receive support for when I get completely lost. My first attempt is a basic causeway for the RHW-6S. If this bridge works it shouldn't be too hard to widen the models for 8S and 10S. Here is a thirteen tile sample at 30m high.


Things I need to know before proceeding, aside from any comments on the models, are when I render do I include the Texture plane, and how complex is too complex for an LOD (in polygons)?

buddybud

Hey thats a nice start! I've never batted a bridge before, I've only used 3ds models. Though lods in general should be as few polys as possible. In places that require automata, future props, or interaction with surrounding terrain, you want them as tight as possible...it's a balancing act really. Also when you cut your model into tiles for rendering the overlapping bits need special lod attention so the seams don't show.  Jeronij's original tutorial covers that pretty well.

Anyway i just wanted to show my enthusiasm :P Keep it up!

Bud

choco

a very nice start indeed!   :thumbsup:   glad you decided to try your hand as a bridge engineer. 

generally, i like to get some rough models together and get the bridge in game to better evaluate changes to the BAT.  a large part of this is about checking the textures, but also about LOD geometry.

generally, NAM bridges are not rendered with the base texture plane.  the texture plane can be added later in the reader, and gives a much better result while also being more time consuming.  nothing good ever comes easy......i guess.  here's a pick of the difference when i first encountered the question (the base texture on the bridge is part of the BAT):



i'd probably leave the base texture there till your ready for the final rendering, as it'll help line up the models with the base network.  when it comes time to add the plane via reader, i can go over the process with you.  im thinking now this would be a good topic to make a quick tutorial.  &idea

the LODs creation can be difficult to explain (for me anyway...lol).  but i think a few pics can help.



there are some aspects of this LOD that are good, but one is a critical flaw.  the good: the model extends past the edges of the LOD, and it is a basic box.  the extension of the model is necessary to remove any texturing artifacts between the pieces, resulting in a seemless appearance.  the simplicaity means a small file size.  the critical flaw is that the top of the LOD does not hug the top of the deck, resulting in a hover train....with no wheels.  the actual LOD for this piece resembles a U. 

here's some more complicated geometry:



this is what i meant by open deck bridges being much easier.  in general, geometry above the deck needs the LOD to hug the model, which also applies to the pillars which go into the water.  this is the balancing act buddybud mentioned.  this is also why i like to get the bridge in game early; trial and error.  avoid any circular geometry, arcs, curves, etc. where possible as these add lots of vertices.  i trick i like to use, for example, a circular support pillar, is to make the LOD from a hexagon or octagon. 


i do apologize for the length of this post, but there is one more thing i should mention here.  RHW "S" networks are essentially one way bridges, and use a modding trick to fool the game.   a standard road bridge needs 3 pieces, a repeat piece, a pillar piece, and a start piece that gets rotated 180 degrees for the other end.  one way bridges need a unique start and end piece, otherwise the texture (on the start piece) gets rotated and the yellow and white lines appear on the wrong side.

i think that'll do for now.  when youre ready to get it in-game, i can help explain the modding and exemplar set up.  meantime, good luck and keep us posted.   :thumbsup: