TA3D 0.6 beta 8 for win32

[zuzuf]

This new beta brings lots of fixes. It also adds several nice modding features.

• I've done some work on the pathfinder, it should find better and shorter paths.
• Mod repository should work on windows now.
• Native support for 3DS (tested works for me) and OBJ (untested, probably buggy because it's not 100% perfect on 3DMEditor and the code has been ported from there) file fomats
• Support for GAF-like directories (you don't need to make GAF files any more to replace menus, campaign or map features graphics. (see http://www.ta3d.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1610 for details)
• Support for .ogg and .mp3 sound effects (it was only looking for .wav files before)
• Several internal bug fixes and speed optimizations
• TGA saver should work much better now

Also I included TA3D's free data set into this package (that's the reason why it's much bigger than previous beta), directly into the resources folder. This includes new 3D models for several trees, a plant model, a click sound for GUI buttons, and some feature files rewritten to use these 3D models .

As usual it's there:
ftp://downloads.ta3d.org/binaries/windows/dev/0.6/

[Balthazar]

Yep, tasty I`ll give this one a good testing, thanks!

[Balthazar]

And one more - maybe it`s time to implement a simple random map generator?

1 texture, random height generator (or based on bitmap) and water. I guess it`s quite simple with the current TA3D engine level.

This will allow to show real hi-quality terrain without any 2-3 mb. file sizes.

Examples of textures are -
http://www.filterforge.com/filters/1063-seamless.html
http://www.filterforge.com/filters/7625 ... mless.html
http://www.filterforge.com/filters/7625-v3.html

They all are seamless tiled. My friend has bought the package

You can chose any you like from here http://www.filterforge.com/filters/

I guess it`ll be quite a good way

[zuzuf]

Well, it's not that easy because current renderer is designed to render OTA's TNT maps which are tiled pre-rendered images with a height map. The height map itself is not a problem but rendering a HD map without building a TNT file cannot be done with current code as it requires a new map rendering path.

Regarding the random map generator idea, maybe we could use something like a procedural texture generator, maybe something with a genetic algorithm so we could improve the generated maps. Also this kind of data representation is very (very very) compact.

I think we should look at the problem carefully because it'll decide which features we'll need for an alternative map rendering code.

[Balthazar]

Why not to render (create) TNT map using 3DMeditor2 occlusion renderer and 1 hi-res tiled texture? (more for advertisement purpose, not for real hardcore players (at least for now)).

[zuzuf]

Using an high quality light map will increase realism that's a very important visual effect and it's not difficult to render. Tiled texturing is also interesting because of its capability of simulating very high resolution textures. But this leaves the main question: how do we put that together with the random map generator ?

[Balthazar]

Let`s call it not the random map generator, let`s call it map creator.

Input file is 1 texture that can be tiled, and 1 bmp grayscale picture to be used as height map.

Height map generated from this bmp file. Based on heigh map and tile texture the terrain can be created. Afther this additional occlusion texture can be generated for this map, based on occlusion algorythm implemented in 3DMeditor2.

So if I`m correct we`ll recieve a high-detailed map (texture, lignt and height maps) that can be saved as TNT map. Can it work this way?

[Balthazar]

Can`t run Beta 8.

Crash on loading Textures.

[Balthazar]

Yep, several responses with the same crash from different players.

Any additional info needed?

[xpoy]

well /:^]

About a randmap, i rather a multi-play able TA3D ...

[zuzuf]

Input file is 1 texture that can be tiled, and 1 bmp grayscale picture to be used as height map.

For now the way I see it:
height map generator -> tiled texture generator based on height map -> light map generator (and if it's fast enough to compute the light map, it could be optional and built the first time the map is loaded)

And the input should be a set of parameters to be used by a kind of procedural texture generator.

Regarding the crash, can you try removing the free data set from the resources folder ? I tested the binary in a virtual machine but not with these new files.

[Balthazar]

Yes, leaving the Intro + Languges folders solves the problem.

[zuzuf]

I don't like when it doesn't work only on windows, it's not easy to fix usually

[Balthazar]

I don't like when it doesn't work only on windows, it's not easy to fix usually

Yep, kinda sad

[xpoy]

/:^|, I also think so, windows make diffcult for fix bug

PS: I will try again in install linux, but never unbuntu

[zuzuf]

Finally I found what was making it crash . This was not a windows only bug ! The 3DM models in mods/ta3d/objects I copied to resources/ in this package were outdated and still in 0.5.0 format. If you copy the ones from previous packages it should work