YouGroove

Sketchup, super fast, simple.

Never export Trees and rivers, as it would be static meshes, not optimized os incredible waste of memory and performance. In any engine Leadwerks 3, UDK etc ... always import only the terrain heightmaps, and paint your trees, rivers , grass in engine system as painted trees will use an optimized system of the 3D engine. LE3 don't have tree painting or grass for now ... but it will come.

I agree global variables that can be a pain. But as "player" will be general for your game , you have just to have in each map some "player" entity simply. This could save to have to drag and drop "player" on each NPC, interactive level stuff. Also in App.lua you could at each loading of map swicth "player" to "player_car" for example depending on map. If you keep on each map "player" as character or vehicle, no problem at all. If your game is some entire FPS like "Duke Nukem Forever" as example, well you'll have always "player" could you be in FPS or driving a buggy or interacting. This is a great shortcut when you "pilot" one NPC or vehicle or whatever, to have "player" in each map, but not valid for RTS, squad based tactical for example. This could be some tutorial or WIKI if i have time, for people having "player" in each map and just wanting faster workflow and direct "player" access in their Lua script.

Should be in Bug Reports. @JeffTrier : I got also a map not loading anymore, so i agree serious problem if you have put hours and hours of work. I would really like LE3 to be lot more safe with maps we create. Could you post you map and files ?

Thanks Rick. As laptop is not mine i will not install LE3 and Steam it was just to test performance (anyway just find OpenAl installer on the web).

I had this problem and thaught i oculd find it in LE 3 site. Unfortunatelly i can't find it anywhere for my other computer, should it be pinned as Graphic Drivers was ?

Well , it's great do drag and drop player on some script slot , why ? 1) The slot having "player" on drag and drop slot avoids you to go throught the loop that will be more slow 2) Any game can have it's own programmer naming covention like "player", "car_player", "plane" 3) Some games can be RTS or tactical team based game, so you won't control "player" , but many units A solution could be in App.lua to have a global variable pointing to player character , perhaps a drag and drop slot or a loop search function in start function of App.lua This way player variable would be stored one time for all and could be used by any script directly without needing drag and drop or loop function. Or am i wrong ?

@ChrisV : Totally right, specially when this is action , only real time cinematics could ask another more detailled version. Ok , this is one type of workflow. Personnaly i prefer to start in Voxel mode directly using some voxel base character ,using the tree voxel and some great tools like extract surface (clothes and stuff) is lot more intuitive and freedom compared to standard modeling. After that i Retopo with quads and lines tools and 3D Coat have the best easy fast retopo tools. I would suggest to not use the auto retopo as it will not produce as clever optimized Retopo as you would do even if it does a good job. About Zbrush, it will always (until now) remain lot more faster when dealing with millions of polygons,even using surface mode on 3D Coat, Zbrush stills faster, the difference is big using a laptop , Zbrush keeping beeing smmoth and fast with million polygons. But yes 3D Coat is a blast considering the price and the all in one package from sculpting, retopo, baking,UV, texturing One great tools of 3D coat is seamless texture paint using diff/normal/spec maps, for making level seamless textures. Some 3D Coat tips : Baking : If you have some glitches on normal map, you need to change the values or inner and outer volumes of baking. Normal map : In Preferences you have some formats of normal map settings, i always use Maya convention choice for no problem. Retopo : Fusion tool is awesome to quickly decrease polygons when needed.

Does Lua method calling in Lua have changed ? Or does your entity object have a problem ? Better wait for response of some Lua specialists here.

So in this code you have the entity not nil ? local entities = GetEntityNeighbors(self.entity,30,true) local k,entity for k,entity in pairs(entities) do if entity.script.teamid == 1 then if entity.script.health>0 then local d = self.entity:GetDistance(entity) local pickinfo=PickInfo() self.target = entity end end end Or could it be some parameter that is the problem ? Could you call your Hurt function with simple fixed parameters ? like damage = 10 for example ? I would say make a simple function test also : create another function like test() on Player entity and call it instead of Hurt() and see if the function is called without problem ?

I seen that shadow "artist" problem on another engine long time ago, shadow beeing too strong. Perhaps for some future LE3 version adding some parameter in panel for shadow transparency or something more advanced like this :

Does your function Hurt() exists in the script attached to the target entity model ?

How to move a character using characterController using SetInput function to make it move in the direction it is facing ? The direction will be given by mouse.

Yes model editor, naming convention will only complicate workflow, specially when you type the wrong name. The best would be able to view LOD in the editor as you move camera from or near the character.

Yep physics for clothes, or structure level cloth elements. Could this be possible in LE3 with Newton ? Would be great to enhance some parts of character that is cloth.

Nope instancing is instancing and don't really need LOD if you don't want to put it. LOD Antique ? i don't think, heavily used in AAA today games , even Skyrim uses that for trees and characters , level stuff, more visible in Guild Wars 2 mmo where you can see appearence transition and LOD for level structures, plants etc ... All depens in your game, if small game or camera like Top down RPG, as you'll never see the entire scene , no need for LOD, if you go skyrim and other styles, yes LOD will matter a lot. The GPUGems have great articles, could that be put in LE3 ? http://http.developer.nvidia.com/GPUGems3/gpugems3_ch16.html

200$ is expensive for prototyping a game. I would put money only if i had a running game with placeholder characters whose gameplay would attract some people. Here is a good one for 20Euros, very cheap for all the content you have like animations included ready ot use. http://www.dexsoft-games.com/models/marine_trooper.html

Well , some "Physics settings and collision" doc could help a lot all new comers. This is lacking, and Physic tab can be confusing when you don't know what to put Scene,Prop,Character controller ... what shapes to use, what functions to call.

To look at what tools and techno is used on AAA console game. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/among-friends-how-naughty-dog-built-uncharted-2 Hummm ... would be amazing to have such performance tool in LE3 , perhaps later ...

I just tested Fuse. I got crash everytime i added clothes And lot fo polygons are not necessary for game, only nude body takes too much unecessary polygons. There is lot of unecessary loops specially using normal maps. Well even FF13 on consoles used some 8500 polygons for character and with great textures and normal map the result is amazing good. I played the game and on close cam, it would have needed more polys. But it allows faster game with less polygons. Now AAA game using more polygons with well rounded models : but they save polygons for the face , and less polys on other parts Another big example : If you search for blue links on that page you'll have lot of AAA game wireframe and polycount as above

Yep i talked a lot about optimisations (model LOD, shader LOD, shadow resolution and quality choice). For now you'll have to code it in Lua : if (distance <20) then model_lod1.show() model_lod2.hide() model_lod3.hide() end if (distance > 20 and distance < 100 ) then model_lod1.hide) model_lod2.show() model_lod3.hide() end etc ... Good for static models, for animated ones, it will be complicated as you'll have to start at same frame and animation when switching LOD models. Hardcoded in the engine would be optimized and faster. The inconvenient is the Ram needed, LOD means several versions of the character, on some console games they avoided LOD to not use more Ram as Console have it more limited than PC.

@Panzr3 : There has been already posted open source GUI solutions that could work with LE3 OpenGL (use search on forum) LE3 Priority is elsewhere (Linux, Full screen effects ... ) , so for GUI we'll have to wait and see what happens.

@Rick : I agree that is code behind the scenes, but for beginners or non programmers coding a complex cut scene will be a pain. Toos as UDK Matinee, records all your character,effects, camera moves etc ...you make the cut scene without coding anything ans it is ready to be incorporated in your game. Let's see when LE3 will bring possibility for us to make our own "plugins".

@Rick : Code will be ok for simple 3D scene, but if your scene becomes complex, with effects , camera position change and travelling you will need a specific tool or plugin like that for example : http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/MatineeAndCinematicsHome.html

Well it can work, but it will take lot of GPU and power, and LE3 don't support LOD and shader LOD. Written on the site : I would say some 7000-15000 for main character. 5000-8000 for NPC Some games uses 10 000 polys for in game and 40 000 for cut scenes. From the Web : Beware there are just numbers, the engine can use as much poly caus lot of time they use LOD for characters and some shader LOD also. http://www.rsart.co.uk/2007/08/27/yes-but-how-many-polygons/ http://beyond3d.com/showthread.php?t=43975 AlEdit: Updated Note: tinypic links (evidence) may changed, thus removed from this listing. Thanks to Cops N Rappers for a large portion of the list. Ace Combat X/2 YR-99 (hangar view) - 1600 Alan Wake Alan - 13,437 Alice: Madness Returns Alice - 11,748 The Amazing Spiderman Spiderman - 11,652 Anarchy Reigns Mathilda - 15,908 Assassin's Creed 3 Benjamin Franklin - 17,744 Charles Lee - 25,994 Connor Kenway - 28,501 Desmond - 14,934 Haytham Kenway - 19,985 Asura's Wrath Asura - 23,139 with 6 arms, 16,000 with 2 arms. Axel Impact/DTRacer, PS2, 2003/2005 Cars - Base mesh ~12,000 polygons (max LOD) Volume Shadow mesh - 4,000-5,000 Vert (dynamic shadows are not stored as actual polygons, hence vertex count) Stages - ~200k polygons Batman: Arkham Asylum Bane - 25,000 Batman (Armoured Knight) - 21,304 Croc - 20,940 Thugs - 7,000 Up to 25K for main characters Batman: Arkham City Batman Beyond suit - 13,050 Harley Quinn - 17,731 Harley Quinn (DLC) - 19,110 Poison Ivy - 15,977 Battlefield 3 Kiril - 15,818 Vladimir Kamarivsky - 15,819 Bayonetta Bayonetta - 23,000 Jeanne (old outfit) - 18,873 Luka - 23,484 Rodin - 40,508 (15K for jewelry etc) Blade And Soul Female, Custom character - 10,026 Female, Yuran - 7,904 Female, Custom character 2 - 8,815 young male, Custom character 3 - 7,386 young male, Custom character - 7,931 young male, Custom character 2 - 8,118 young male, Custom character 4 - 8,244 Borderlands 2 Captain Scarlett - 13,848 Bioshock 2 Big Sister - 7,253 Bulletstorm Grayson Hunt (past/intro level) - 41,534 Grayson Hunt (default) - 43,709 Trishka - 21,122 Victor - 19,116 Bullet Witch Alicia (w/ boom stick) - 16,991 Maxwell Cougar - 16,250 Sky Serpent (boss) - 90,912 Tri-Serpent beast (final boss) - 35,063 Call of Duty: Black Ops Frank Woods (full gear) - 19,777 Canned Boss Game Studios game, Xbox, 2002 Cars - 25000 polygons (highest LOD) - 4 textures/poly, Base texture, Reflection map, a texture used to compute a fresnel term, Shadow map, Specular highlight (encoded in the alpha channel of the reflection map) Backgrounds - 2 or in some cases 3 textures/poly Peak number of polygons per second - 30M polygons** Castlevania Lord of Shadows Black knight - 21,718 Cornell - 19,031 Laura - 10,000 Gabriel - 27,379 (with all upgrades.) Conflict Vietnam cut scene characters - 60,000 main characters - 2,200 NPC - 1,900 Crysis, PC, 2007 Nano-suit character - 67,000 polygons (uncertain whether it's an in-game model or not)* Characters' heads - ~2500-3000 polygons Characters' bodies - ~5000 polygons Crysis 2 (console) Nano suit - 19,073 Multiplayer suit - 27,414 Ceph (heavy) - 19,651 Dark Sector Hayden Tenno (armoured) - 10,671 glave - 1,608 Darksiders II Death - 12,216 Dead Island Purna - 23,301 Xian - 15,961 Dead or Alive series, Xbox, 2001-2004 Character - ~10,000-15,000 Dead or Alive 4 Helena (C4, opera) - 39,659 Dead or Alive 5 Leifang (C8) - 32,497 Kasumi (armored) - 65,303, weapons - 14,046 Mila - 40,398 Pai Chan - 29,379 Ryu Hayabusa - 30,613 Sarah Bryant - 30,411 Tina (swim suit) - 34,804 Dead Rising, X360, 2006 Peak number of polygons per frame - ~ 4 million** Dead Rising 2 Chuck Greene (Bruce Lee outfit) - 15,329, head - 7,800 Chuck Greene (default) - 16,284 Jessica Howe - 15,694 Dead Space 2 Isaac Clarke - 21,595 Deathrow, Xbox, 2002 Characters - up to 7,000 polygons - 55 bones - 1024x1024 textures on the bodies and 512x512 on the faces Deus Ex: Human Revolution Adam Jensen - 25,953 Yelena - 17,022 Devil May Cry 4 Agnus (cutscene) - 23,915 Avg. Gameplay characters - ~15K Berial - 24,224 Credo (Angel, gameplay/cutscene) - 19,598 Credo (cutscene) - 22,344 Dagon - 40,893 Dante (cutscene) - 23,827 Dante (devil gameplay) - 13,094 Gloria (cutscene) - 26,940 Lady - 27,432 Nero (cut-scene) - 26,662 Sanctus (Diabolica, gameplay/cutscene) - 30,210 Trish (cutscene) - 31,340 Devil May Cry: DmC Dante - 20,732 Flying Demon - 10,802 Kat - 19,077 Mundus - 17,057 Dragon Age 2 Arcane Horror - 9,630 Leliana Chantry - 13,870 Hawke Warrior (Female) - 16,690 Hawke Warrior (Male) - 19,364 Encharted Arms Kairen - 13,073 Enslaved Monkey - 20,407 Trip - 22,103 Far Cry 3 Jason Brody - 29,932, head - 17,179 Vaas - 19,369 Final Fantasy XIII Bahamut - 16,000 Brynhildr - 16,016 Fang - 8,153 Hope - 7,954, head - 2,964 Lebreau -7,348 Lightning - 8,488 Odin - 14,088 Sazh - 8,383 Shiva - 5,752 and 7,938 Snow - 8,907 Vanille - 8,068 Final Fantasy XIII-2 Caius - 8,002 Lightning - 8,163 polygons, head and hair same as ff13. Lightning (old outfit) - 8,488 Noel - 7,349 Snow - 8,274 Forza Motorsport 3 LOD0: 172753 polys LOD1: 45074 polys LOD2: 21802 polys LOD3: 13134 polys LOD4: 6360 polys LOD5: 2556 polys Hi-res cockpit: 79845 polys Forza Motorsport 4 500,000-1,000,000 for auto vista, Lamborghini Reventon - 562,786 Halo Warthog 798,005 Gears of War, Xbox 360, 2006 Wretch - 10,000 polygons with diffuse, specular and normal maps Boomer - 11,000 polygons with diffuse, specular and normal maps Marcus - 15,000 polygons with diffuse, specular and normal maps Gears of War 2 Brumak - 40,084 Marcus Fenix, 20,195 Gears of War 3 Anya Stroud (COG outfit) - 24,144 Anya Stroud (Gears 2 outfit) - 25,370 Clay Carmine - 18,444 Marcus Fenix - 31,831 Queen Myrrah - 23,415 Samantha - 23,038 Savage Kantus - 19,899 God of War 3 Kratos - 22,000 Gran Turismo 3, PS2, 2001 Cars - ~2,000-4,000 polygons Gran Turismo 4, PS2, 2004 Cars - ~2,000-5,000 polygons Gran Turismo 5: Prologue, PS3, 2007 Cars - 200,000 polygons (probably interior + exterior) Gran Turismo 5 Cars ~500K photomode GTA San Andreas, PS2, 2004 Characters - 2,000 polygons with 1 256x256 8bit texture NPCs - 1,200 polygons with 1 256x128 8bit texture Gant bridge - 16,000 polygons, includes LOD Half-Life, PC, 1998 Zombie - 844 polygons High Definition pack Zombie- 1700 polygons Half-Life, Dreamcast, 2000-2001 (Canned) Zombie - 1649 polygons Half-Life, PS2, 2001 Zombie - 2822 (Highest LOD) Half-Life 2, PC, 2004 Alyx Vance - 8323 polygons Barney - 5922 polygons Combine Soldier - 4682 polygons Classic Headcrab - 1690 polygons SMG - 2854 polygons (with arms) Pistol - 2268 polygons (with arms) Halo, Xbox, 2001 Master Chief - 2,000 polygons Halo: Reach Catherine Halsey - 15,088 Civilian - 15,808 Elite (Field Marshal) - 27,394 Elite (Ranger) - 23,964 Gúta - 10,800 Kat - 31,158 Noble 6 - 28,805 (with accessories.) Heavenly Sword Nariko - 23,620 Jak & Daxter, PS2, 2001 Jak - 4000 polygons Jak II, PS2, 2003 Jak - 10,000 polygons* Killzone 3 Characters - 10-15,000 MAWLR - 100K Kingdom Under Fire : The Crusaders, Xbox, 2004 Main characters - 10,000 polygons Characters - 3,000–4,000 polygons L.A. Noire Cole Phelps - 14,215, head- 1,559 Lair, PS3, 2007 Main dragon plus its rider - 150,000 polygons 16x16KM scene - 134M polygons (streamed into memory, not loaded at run time) The Last Remnant Emmy - 9,378 Rush - 7,923 Left 4 Dead 2 Nick - 17,761 The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, GC, 2002 Link - 2800 polygons The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, GC/Wii, 2006 Link - 6900 polygons Lollipop Chainsaw Juliet - 19,146 Rosalind - 17,756 Lost Odyssey Cooke - 10,071 Ming Numara (dress) - 8,982 Seth Balmore - 10,900 Lost Planet, X360/PC, 2007 Wayne - 12392 polygons (but finally 17765 polygons for compatibility with motion blur effect) VS robot - 30-40,000 polygons Background - ~500,000 polygons Peak number of polygons per frame - ~ 3 million** Another point, is LOD, if your engine supports LOD , only when front of camera you'll have full polygons. Usefull for FPS as NPC are most of the time distant with shoot fights, so you can put more polygons.