BSP or not BSP :

[YouGroove]

I tested LE 3 BSP, and just seen it lacks some features i've seen on some other BSP systems :

- group/ungroup BSP models

- different texture per face

- shift UV position on a selected face of some BSP cube for example

etc ..

But even without that like seen on "darkness" game we can make good levels using BSP.

 

So my quetsion is lot more general :

Games using UDK uses less BSP possible and industry 3D artists don't hesitate to say :

"replace as much BSP as you can with models"

 

-It is BSP not outdated today ?

-Would it be better to be able to import our own lightmapped levels or models ?

-Would it be better have L3 having some thrid party plugin allowing to lightmap models we would have put on the scene ? (i know it could be too much work)

- Or let's wait LE3 future updates with real time shadows like LE 2 and forget lightmapping ?

 

Lightmapping allows great looking scenes without frame rate drop.

specially if you want it to work on lower hardware machines and old lap tops, avoiding teh consuming real time shadows.

[AggrorJorn]

- different texture per face

- shift UV position on a selected face of some BSP cube for example

You can do that.

Click on the 'Select Face button' (left arrow in the image.)

You can drag material to a particular selected face. You can select multiple face whilest holding down Control.

Per face or selected faces you adjust ofset and scale of the material applied.

 

-It is BSP not outdated today ?

-Would it be better to be able to import our own lightmapped levels or models ?

-Would it be better have L3 having some thrid party plugin allowing to lightmap models we would have put on the scene ? (i know it could be too much work)

- Or let's wait LE3 future updates with real time shadows like LE 2 and forget lightmapping ?

- BSP is still used by many Game companies. It can be used as a base layer for a level design or to make a simple area fror testing out game mechanics without having to create a complex scene.

 

- Either you make a level with both BSP for rough level design and adding some models later to make it more beautfiull, or you create an entire model of a level in a different program.

 

- Since LE3 has just been released with BSP functionality, I don't think this will happen. Besides that, Josh has outed many times he rather not wants to implement third party plugins.

 

- Josh wrote in his blog that additional feauters are going to be added for BSP editing. This includes vertex editing. I am not sure if it also includes:

• Booleans
  
• extruding
  
• beveling,
  
• vertex welding
  

[Road Kill Kenny]

CSG: http://en.wikipedia...._solid_geometry

 

No biggie... It's only missing the feature that makes CSG CSG.... wait

[YouGroove]

Suppose we have vertex welding, in terms of performance, will models meshes be faster to display than BSP ?

Specially for a complex level :

BSP = lot of entities BSP models

models = you can make one whole model or make a base level resuing meshes in your modeler and save it as one model only.

[Josh]

When we lost CSG in Leadwerks 2, I stopped making game levels altogether. If your idea of "modern" game level tools is Blender and 3ds max, I'll take the outdated ones, please.

 

You don't need to worry about merging CSG objects. They get automatically process when the engine loads them.

 

The normal art pipeline I recommend is to use CSG for the laying out the walls, floors, and large features of your scene, and then populate the scene with models to add detail.

 

Booleans will be added. The routine I wrote for 3D World Studio is more accurate than Hammer, but we decided to postpone that so we could get the product out sooner. I just have to port my old code over, I already know it works.

[YouGroove]

Okay great.

 

I presume it's mainly for indoor, or Half Life 2 style outdoor (even if im' not sure it was BSP)

But yes it can be a great shorcut adn very usefull for lot of mobile games style , even on PC.