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3DS Plugin

mybb@mybb.ru (ZbVld) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 12:43:20 +0300

The 3DStudio Max plugin is the main entry point for artists to work on art assets and export them into the working copy, thus integrating them into the game database. The plugin itself is a combination of a nebula2-based module, and a set of MaxScript files that present the artists with an interface for defining Zombie-specific materials, spatial structures (cells and portals), and other such constructs, that will be converted into Zombie assets at export time.

3DS Plugin features:

* Class and asset exporter
o Export to temporary working copy for preview
* Geometry exporter
o Level-of-detail
* Material exporter
o Texture conversion
o Texture animators
* Animation exporter
o Skeletons
o Animations
o Plugs
* Collision exporter
* Visibility exporter
o Cells
o Portals
o Occluders

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mybb@mybb.ru (ZbVld) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 12:42:30 +0300

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Tutorial 7 - Collision

mybb@mybb.ru (ZbVld) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 12:41:26 +0300

Tutorial 7 - Collision

Tutorial 6 - Characters

mybb@mybb.ru (ZbVld) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 12:40:49 +0300

Tutorial 6 - Characters

Tutorial 5 - Indoors

mybb@mybb.ru (ZbVld) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 12:40:15 +0300

Tutorial 5 - Indoors

Tutorial 4 - Working Copy

mybb@mybb.ru (ZbVld) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 12:39:32 +0300

Tutorial 4 - Working Copy

Tutorial 3 - Models

mybb@mybb.ru (ZbVld) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 12:38:44 +0300

So far, the levels you�ve been able to create have been just terrains. Now it�s time to bring in more interesting stuff, namely models or, as they are called in Zombie, Brushes. Please note that Brushes in Zombie are not exactly the same as in other engines, where brushes are pieces of primitive geometry that are used to carve settings out of solid geometry. Because conjurer only allows direct edition of terrain but not of other environments, Zombie Brushes are all other types of models you add to a map to create an entire environments: all types of props that you add to the playable stage.

In order to add such models to a level, you need first to create them in an authoring tool, namely 3DStudio Max, currently the only external tool supported for direct export to Zombie assets. You should have already configured 3DS Max 9 with the Exporter Plugin for Zombie. If that is the case, let�s move directly into 3DS Max and create our first non-terrain Zombie object.

Exporting models

You are assumed to be a qualified artist and 3DS Max user. If that is the case, you�ll be able to put together some simple geometry such as a cube or a sphere. Before exporting, you should apply a material to it, using the material editor in 3DS Max, but using materials specifically designed for use in Zombie.

To do that, open the Material editor in 3DSMax and create a new material, but choose a Std Zombie Material in the Material/Map Browser:

When you select such a material you�ll notice that the Material editor changes to a custom set of editable sections:

You�ll learn about all these values, but for now, just scroll down to the Zombie Maps section. This is where you can assign texture maps to specific slots in Zombie materials. As a simple example, we�ll just create a simple material with a single, diffuse texture on it. Hit the button that is located right by the ColorMap check box.

This will bring up a new Material/Map Browser where you should select zBitmap. This will tell Max that you are creating specifically a texture compatible with the Zombie exporter. When you select it, the Material Editor will show yet another section where you can specify the image you want to use for your texture, by browsing texture files:

When you have your texture selected, you can go back to the Material, where the freshly created zBitmap will have been assigned to the ColorMap slot in your currently edited material. Now you can drag and drop the material in the shape you just created as usual, and see how it looks.

Now it�s time for the actual export process. Look for the Zombie menu and select Export Options. This will present the options that configure the export process: what it is you�re going to export, and where. Let the Brush and Game library options selected, and note the Entity Class and Library Folder fields. You use these values to specify the name that the model you�re about the export will have in Zombie (Entity class).

This object is called a Class for the same reason the Terrain class you created in the previous tutorial: you�re not creating an actual object in a map, but an asset from which you will make copies once you are editing a level. But we�ll get to that later, for now just give it a name. In zombie, class names are capitalized and can�t contain spaces or symbols other than letters, digits and underscores. And class names can�t repeat across your entire Game database, so keep that in mind before you rush to name your classes with the first name that comes to your mind: all classes in zombie exist in a shared namespace.

Additionally to a name, you should specify a library folder. This is just for convenient organization of your classes, so that you don�t have to look for a class among thousands of them, by keeping them grouped by whatever criteria suits you better. The Zombie exporter won�t let you add folders to the library, so you�ll have to do it in Conjurer. But let�s forget about that now, just select general and click Export.

If everything goes right, you should have a new class, and all of its data (collectively named an asset) in your game repository, and in your game library too. Shutdown 3DS Max and open Conjurer, so that you can see how to use it in a level.

Placing models

Now it�s time for you to know about one of the most useful tools in Conjurer, the Grimoire. This is the Class library, where all game-relevant classes are created or exported. This includes terrain, static props, animated characters, and all sorts of game objects. It is the main database of data and behaviors, and provides a few useful tools to play with them.

Open the Grimoire with Ctrl + G or selecting Grimoire in the View menu. You should see a window that for now is quite empty.

The left panel of the Grimoire lets you browse through all classes currently in the system. If you did all previous steps correctly, by clicking in general you should see now a thumbnail in the right panel, with the name of the class you just exported. This means that you added exported correctly that class into the game library and now you can use it for a number of things, most notably, to create instances of that class, or as they are called in Zombie, Entities.

Open the level you created in the previous tutorials, and select the Object Placer tool in the toolbar. Now select the class in the Grimoire, and move the render window to some relevant place. Now left-click someplace on the terrain, and (after a short pause to load all required geometry and textures) one object like the one you modeled and textured will appear in the place you clicked in the terrain.

Maybe now you�ll understand why the render window is called Summoner in Conjurer: it is where you �summon� new objects into the world you are creating. Better yet, you can click on the terrain as many times as you want to in order to create as many Entities of this class as you want to.

You�ll notice a coordinate axis in the center of the entities you place this way. This is the Object Editing Tool, and you�ll know more about it in the following section.

Editing Entities

Creating new entities is not enough to create levels, you also need to adjust their position and size, or perform other operations on them. The Object Editor Toolbar provides you with some tools to that purpose:

In the render window, left-click one of the entities you just placed. It should turn reddish to signal that it is active. By selecting the Translate, Rotate and Scale tools, you can change the position, orientation and size of it. For example, try selecting Translate, then dragging one of the axes that appear when the objects is selected. Try the Rotation tool and move the mouse while dragging to rotate the object over the selected axis. Try scaling the object similarly.

This way you can adjust the object�s location. Try selecting different objects and use the same process to modify them. When you have all your objects in its right place, remember to Save All your changes before exiting Conjurer. Remember also that the Undo and Redo tools are available too for both object placement and edition.

In this tutorial you should have learned the complete pipeline of models, from the authoring tool, down to their existence in a zombie level. There are lots of intricacies you need to learn about zombie materials, class management, object edition, etc. You will find the details about all of these topics in the corresponding pages of the Conjurer manual, but it is a big step nonetheless, now you should understand better how does a model fit into the game creation pipeline, and you�re ready to move on to adding more interesting stuff to a level.

Oh, I forgot. As always, press F2 to enter Game mode and see your objects as a player will. Remember that with Conjurer it is not only a game you�re creating. It is a game you�re playing too!

Next: Working Copy

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mybb@mybb.ru (ZbVld) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 09:41:21 +0300

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Tutorial 2 - Terrain

mybb@mybb.ru (ZbVld) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 09:24:47 +0300

This tutorial will show you how to interactively model large-scale terrains using only Conjurer. This covers from the very basic modelling of the geometry to the advanced creation and use of specific materials. For details on the tools presented, please refer to Terrain Editor in the Conjurer Manual.

If you followed the previous tutorial, Getting Started, you should already know how to setup a new, fresh level, and how to define a new terrain class. Now we�ll get into more interesting concepts.

Terrain as a height map

Terrains in the Zombie Engine are large squares where equally spaced points of the square are assigned a height value. This means that for a pair of coordinates (longitude, latitude) you have a single height value, what is referred to as a height map. Therefore you can�t have caves or other such complex formations (not this way, anyway) but that isn�t such a big shortcomming.

The great thing about representing terrains using height maps is that these are very efficient data structure, for memory consumption, disk space, and performance. Also, such a compact representation allows using a level-of-detail algorithm that basically draws the terrain with more detail where required, saving both processing power and bandwidth.

Terrains in Zombie are rendered using geomipmapping,a technique that subdivides a terrain in square pieces named Blocks. The Block is the smallest piece of a terrain that can be handled separately, and the number and size of Blocks must be carefully chosen beforehand, for it has an impact on the performance and available detail of the resulting terrain.

Enough with the technobabble, let�s create a terrain again and let�s see how these concepts apply practically.

Setting up a terrain

Remember the dialog for creating a terrain? Let�s review again with the concept above in mind:

Now that we know what a height map is and what blocks are, the fields in this dialog make more sense:
Terrain size and Block size state how big you want both the terrain and the blocks to be, in other words, the size of the height map, for the entire terrain, and for each individual block. Only power-of-two-plus-one values are allowed for technical reasons, but the number of blocks is determined by the relationship between these two values, eg. for terrain size = 65, block size = 17, the terrain will be a grid of 4×4 square blocks. Which is a terrain as the one in the screenshot (toggle the wireframe mode hitting the 0 key if you want to see for yourself)

But that doesn�t say too much about the actual size of the terrain. The Point Separation value states the world distance between two contiguous points in the terrain grid, thus effectively fixing its size, as well as how much the textures covering the terrain will be stretched.

This is all you need to know for now about the terrain, the rest of fields will be explained as you move to actually editing the terrain.

Modeling a terrain

Now that you have a terrain in place, it�s time to create a few hills and valleys. Hit the button to enter the terrain editing mode. Two new windows open: Terrain Edit Tool and Terrain Materials.

The Terrain Edit Tools lets you choose how you are going to deform, texture or otherwise modify your terrain. In addition to these windows, you�ll notice that an orange rounded shape appears in the render window and follows the movement of the mouse while in this mode. This shape is your editing cursor, and shows you the area that will be modified when clicking on the terrain. Depending on the tool currently selected, the effect on the terrain will be different.
For example, select the button (Raise) and the brush. Now click and drag the mouse on the terrain and see what happens: a bump appears under the round area under the cursor! Now you can experiment the joy of raising hills and mountains.

Now you can experiment with other terrain editing tools such as Flatten or Smooth and deform the terrain in whichever way you prefer. You can also adjust the size of the round shape with the slider named Size in the Terrain Edit Tool, and experiment with other values such as Attenuation and Intensity to adjust the exact way you want to edit your terrain. Refer to the Conjurer Terrain Editor manual for details on what the different tools mean.

An important tool you should always resort to while editing a terrain is Undo. By clicking the button you can revert the last changes made to the terrain (the last changes made in the entire editor, actually, but we�ll stick to terrain for now). Try clicking Undo several times to go back in time and see how the terrain editor recalls your last changes. Use Redo to re-apply changes after you have Undone them.

One thing you might ask is, what�s the maximum and minimum heights to which you can raise or flatten your terrain? You already gave that answer when you first set up your terrain, in the Minimum Height and Maximum Height fields. One important aspect to consider is that the higher the difference between these two values, the lower the resolution of your height map. Because height values are encoded in 8 bits, you only have 256 values to represent your height range, which should be more than enough for most cases, but keep this in mind if you want your terrain to have high slope variations or a large height range. The best way to know what are the best settings is to experiment with different values.

The terrain we have so far is slightly boring because it all looks the same. We�re going to address that right now, but first, enter the game mode and try to walk around your newly created hills and valleys to see how they look from a player�s perspective.

Painting the terrain

Now it�s time to add some color to the terrain, which now has a uniformly unappealing pink color, which means is untextured. From now one, pay attention to the areas of the terrain showing such color, for they are a reminder of the areas you haven�t painted yet. Still, terrain blocks that are left completely unpainted are not rendered in the final game. This way, you can select which areas of a terrain are relevant to your map, and let all other areas remain inactive.

But first, let�s paint the relevant areas by selecting the Paint Tool, and selecting the default, unnamed material in the Terrain Materials window:

Now go back to the render window, and notice that when you click on the terrain, the area under the cursor is painted using the texture of the material you just selected, by default a green grass texture. Move the cursor around to paint: you�ll notice that this process is slower than modelling the terrain, because editing textures in realtime is a slow process, but it�s a powerful tool nonetheless, once you get used to it.

Now click New Material in the Terrain Materials window, and the New Material dialog appears:

After naming the new material, click the button with the name of the texture on it, and browse for the texture file you want to use for the new material. This file must be contained in your game repository (aka. the Working Copy), under the export/textures/ folder. Please refer to [link] Working Copy Management for details on how to setup a proper working copy.

Leave all other fields to their default values for now and click Ok. The new material should appear in the Terrain Materials window, and now you can select it and use it to paint the terrain with just as before. For example, paint with the new material in an area right by the one you previously painted:

Now you can see that the two materials blend into each other gracefully. Terrain layers with different materials blend using an internal texture that called a weight map, which specifies the weights (contributions) of different terrain layers to the final color of a point in the terrain. The size of these weight maps fixes the resolution of the blending (the larger, the higher) but it has also a memory cost. This size can be assigned in the Terrain Class creation dialog (Weightmap resolution), and you should experiment with the value that better serves your needs.

Now try and create other materials, and experiment with the various settings, as specified in the Conjurer Terrain Editor manual. There, you�ll learn the details about other terrain tools, as well as some other terrain-related processes that you will find in the Terrain menu. There is a host of options you need to get familiar with before you can create a terrain that entirely satisfy your needs, but for now, just feel the joy of virtual mountaineering by going into Game mode and running up and down the slopes of your hills from a player�s eyes.

And this is all for now about the terrain editor. As a last note of advice, remember to save your changes frequently: editing a terrain is an expensive process in terms of memory and depending on your development workstation, your editor may stall once in a while. Always play it safe by saving after every relevant change.

Next: Models

Tutorial 1 - Getting Started

mybb@mybb.ru (ZbVld) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 09:21:44 +0300

This is a step-by-step process to setup a simple game environment for The Zombie Engine, using the 3DS Max Plugin, the Conjurer editor, and the Renaissance game framework. This assumes that you successfully installed a binary or source distribution, and that you have all required libraries and tools.
Opening

You can create a simple level exclusively using the Conjurer editor. To do this, run Conjurer using the shortcut, or with the following command line:

start bin\win32\conjurer.exe -gui outgui:outgui.py

NOTE: you can use the Debug (bin\win32d\conjurer.exe), Release Asserts (bin\win32a\conjurer.exe) or Release (bin\win32\conjurer.exe) configurations, depending on your development state. Generally, The Release Asserts configuration is recommended, for it gives good performance, still checking for data consistency.

When Conjurer will open, you should see something like this:

Conjurer is intended to run in a two-monitor environment, with Conjurer and Summoner running each in its own screen. If you prefer to run it in a single monitor, you can embed the render window (Summoner) in the tool window (Conjurer) using the -embedded parameter in the command line, like this:

start bin\win32\conjurer.exe -gui outgui:outgui.py -embedded

Moving around

At startup, Conjurer places you in an empty map. First thing you should do is getting used to navigating in the render window. In this window, you can wander the currently edited level in free camera mode:

* Press E to turn on the editing mode and with it the grid, so that you have some reference about your position.
* Hit Alt+G to toggle the Grid while in this mode.
* Hit Alt+W to toggle single- and multi-viewport mode. When in multiviewport mode, you can select one of four views.
* Use the ASDW keys to move forward, backwards, and sideways
* Right-click and move the mouse to look around.
* Now locate the coordinate axis: this marks the center of the world, the (0,0,0) coordinate. Hit the C to toggle it.

Your first Zombie level

Once you are used to navigating the render window, you need to create a Level. In the Level menu, select New Level�. A fresh, empty level with the name you give it will be created. In our example, this level will be called Sandbox:

Once you have a level, the first thing you should do is to create a terrain. A terrain is used as a container space for all other objects you want to place in your level, including interiors. The Zombie engine was specifically designed to work with Indoor-Outdoor environments. Please refer to [link] Creating an Indoor Level for instructions on how to create a purely indoor map.

Now create a new terrain using New class� in the Terrain menu. This will allow you to create a reusable terrain class that you can use in different levels. The terrain class thus created can have the same name as the Level if you want to. We�ll name our new terrain class Sandboxmap, and set the terrain parameters to the ones specified:

The Create terrain checkbox will automatically create a new terrain of the newly created class. After you do this, a new flat terrain should appear in the render window (turn the camera around in case you are looking in the wrong direction):

The pink color of the terrain means that it has not been textured yet. But it is a solid terrain nonetheless, as we�ll see soon enough. Move the camera to fly over the terrain using the AWSD keys, and hit F2. A menu screen will appear:

By hitting Start Game, you�ll move into Game mode. In this mode, you are controlling a player in the world, and can walk across the terrain you just created using the same AWSD keys. You can also jump with the Space key, and not much else until the game has been fully customized to suit your needs. Meanwhile, you can still use this mode to see how a level looks from a player perspective. Hit the ESC key and the Exit option to go back to Editor mode.
Saving your changes

Now all you have to do is save the Level, the Terrain and everything else. The simplest way to do it is to select Save All in the File menu, or the button. A dialog will ask you to confirm saving several values. For now, just click Save.

And you�re done! Now you know how to create a simple level with a terrain that will contain all other kinds of game assets. The following tutorials will show you how to make your maps more interesting, but the basic process will always be the same: create classes, add instances of those classes to the current level, and save changes to all edited objects.

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mybb@mybb.ru (ZbVld) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 06:44:10 +0300

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