Wings 3D anyone?

[dendwaler]

No, a prp file is more then just a single mesh.
It contains. meshes, animations, Bounds, lightning, texturing, relationship with soundfiles, scripting, logic etc.
First read the Wiki for a better understanding.

http://www.guildofwriters.org/wiki/PyPRP

[Christopher]

Looking for .prp plugin for Wings 3D now.

You won't have any succsess with this. The only existing Plugins are for Blender and Max and I doubt that a plugin for other applications will be written. (unless you are a programmer and want to do this...)

What you can do is to model your stuff in Wings 3D, export it as obj-File (or any other format, which is supported by Blender/Max) and then import it to Blender/Max.

Christopher

[DreamBliss]

Yeah I had some time to look into this. Also looked at the source code. I think I know what's going on in there, if I looked at it more and went through it I think I would understand most of it. But my level of expertise is not quite high enough yet.

Looked at Blender, saw the new interface, same controls, will look into custom, logical Windows controls. I can't be the only one frustrated with them.\

Looks like what is needed is a program that can take some sort of easily translatable file from a modeling program in a common format, like .obj, .ase or .x, allow you to build all the parts needed for a complete mesh/world export, stuff that into the correct .prp extension and then hand it off to an importer like Drizzle. In fact it may even be a good idea to make a plugin/extension for Drizzle to handle exported materials and package them up for MOUL.

Over the next few months I will investigate, see what I want to do. Sounds like it would just be easier for me to use Max 7. But making the export/import process easier and less painful would draw in a lot of life to the game. The easier to do the better. This was one of the issues I ran into with Sandbox, based off the Cube 2 engine. Too hard and complicated to import meshes.

Be a good first step to building a proper editor for Uru so folks could construct their own ages with meshes they have made in Max, Blender, Maya, Wings 3D or any of the other programs they use. In fact asset import for export to MOUL could be build right in to the program, so you can just go to File/Export and BAM! You're done.

All a bit beyond my current skill level. But not for long!

[Deledrius]

Looks like what is needed is a program that can take some sort of easily translatable file from a modeling program in a common format, like .obj, .ase or .x, allow you to build all the parts needed for a complete mesh/world export, stuff that into the correct .prp extension and then hand it off to an importer like Drizzle. In fact it may even be a good idea to make a plugin/extension for Drizzle to handle exported materials and package them up for MOUL.

There's no need to "hand it off to Drizzle": just export to MOUL-format prp and you're ready. Drizzle is entirely unnecessary (and so would be attempting to modify it). The tool you propose should be able to hand what you want on its own.

The hardest part of anything like this is making it easy-to-use.

[DreamBliss]

Gotcha!

User Interface/Design - figuring out how it should look and run, making it user friendly, that is very easy for me! When I had an idea for my own GCS I literally sketched out the entire interface. I can see it in my mind's eye with crystal clarity.

What is hard for me is the coding aspect. I just don't know enough. I've been reading, "Masters of Doom" about the two Johns (Romero and Carmack) and it seems they just gravitated towards programming like moths to a light bulb. And they had a lot of drive and determination. I don't have that, and don't gravitate as easily towards the Real World "Art." I guess I am a more visual person - probably have more in common with Romero than Carmack.

I think part of the problem is that while it is easier to get access to computers, and programming might arguable be considered easier - there are certainly better resources to learn it now - more is expected of game and tool design. It pretty much requires people with Carmack and Romero level (or higher) drive and determination to make anything respectable on their own. Otherwise you really need a team of likewise minded people.

Well the old adage is true. The only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. So I just have to figure out where I should bite down and start chewing first. Probably a Wings 3D plugin would be easiest, but maybe it would be even better to make a stand alone importer/packager/exporter. That program could be integrated into an editor later.

So my approach will be learn enough to understand the source code. Study the source code. Sketch out my interface for an importer/packager/exporter. Pseudo-code the thing, figure out what classes and functions I need. Code out the interface, see what folks think. Begin to code the program. Run and test until I have something functional, release to the community for beta testing. Fix bugs, make sure everything is working well. Then start over for my next program, the editor.

That's the plan for now.

[Rhee]

That sounds like exactly the rigght approach. I don't know ANYTHING about coding and while I suppose I might be good at it (fast typer? nearly eidetic memory? well-trained right-brain in-the-zone mode?) it just isn't visual enough for me. I'm more interested in the actual modelling and texturing process myself so that's what I'm practicing right now.

As for the elephant, I suggest skinning it first, then starting with either the tenderloin or the organ meats: if you start with the tough stuff, you'll wear out your jaw before you're done!