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Gmax and The Cube
Not everyone has the access ( or the cash ) to own Quake III Arena, so here's something that will fill the FPS void. It's a small game engine called the Cube. The cube uses .md2 files, so it's a natural for Gmax and the Tempest md3 exporter script. It also offers a unique editing environment which allows you to modify and then play your game within the same window. There's even server and network support for your LAN party needs... damn impressive, and free to boot. Read a bit about it, then scroll down the page for the gmax tutorial.
Overview: What is the Cube? Well, here it is straight from the developers' website...
"...Landscape-style engine that pretends to be an indoor first
person shooter engine. Combines very high precision dynamic occlusion culling
with a form of geometric mipmapping on the whole world for dynamic LOD for
configurable fps & graphic detail on most machines. Uses OpenGL & SDL.
Allows in-engine editing of geometry in full 3D (you fly around the map, point /
drag stuff to select it / modify it), which can even be done with multiple
people at once (a first!). Has simplistic but effective fine grain vertex
lighting that looks like lightmapping and can do dynamic lights & shadows.
Doesn't need any kind of map precompilation, even lighting is done on the fly.
Has very simplistic quad-tree world structure that can do slopes (heightfields
with caps) and slants, water, does decent collision detection & physics, has
client/server networking that goes a long way in giving a lag-free game
experience, and features a Doom/Quake-style singleplayer and multiplayer game
with some uncompromising brutal oldskool gameplay.
Most of the engine design is targeted at reaching feature richness through
simplicity of structure and brute force, rather than finely tuned complexity..."
Some Screenshots:
Using Gmax with The Cube:
Assumptions: You need to have the Tempest .md3 exporter script loaded, and you'll need the Quick3D Pro demo from the Essential Tools page. If you haven't already done so, go get and install them now. Also download and unzip the Cube ( roughly 8MB ) zip file by pressing here. To run it under Windows, double click the cube.bat file. For use under Linux, open a console, navigate to where your unpacked folder is and run type " sh cube_unix". I tested this on a LindowsOS 4.5 system and it ran flawlessly.
Step 1: Modeling :
What we're going to do is make a simple ammo box, and put it in the game as an entity you can use. Open up gmax and make a box. Use the Parameters area to make Length = 128, width = 8, and Height = 8. The Cube works best using multiples of 8, so plan accordingly when you model objects. Once modeled, choose File > Export selected as... and choose Quake III Arena MD3. Call it something simple and export. When prompted for frames, type a zero in the frames to export and press Export . When the warning pops up, just press ok.
Now open up Quick3D Pro, navigate to your box and open it. Press Mesh > Generate normals. Now press File > Save as... and choose .MD2 / Quake II from the drop down list. When you save it, the program will rename the object...no problem. Once saved, close Quick3D Pro.
To place to object in the engine, navigate to the folder where you unzipped to. Go to the packages/models/rockets file. You'll see an md2 and a skin.jpg there. Rename both to tris_old.md2 and skin_old.jpeg. Now copy in your new md2 file and rename it to tris.md2. If you'd like to change the skin, open it in Photoshop, or Paint or whatever image editing software you use and repaint it. Be sure to maintain the skin dimensions and format when you export them back in to the folder. You can not change the skin if you wish, but it will not align properly as we've made a larger box than the original md2. Now you're ready!
Fire up the Cube, and on the default map that opens press "e" to enter the editing mode. Left click and hold on any floor surface, and draw out a 4*4 selection area ( it will turn red as you draw it out). Now press "esc", then arrow down to 'editing'. Arrow to "Place Entity.." selection and press Enter, then choose "newent rockets". Taa Daa! Your new box with skin will be there!
Comments:
I honestly don't know how far we can 'push the Cube' as far as adding custom entities, poly counts and so on. I have written the Engine author and hope to hear back soon. If you discover or develop better techniques, please write me and I'll update this tutorial. I encourage you to write a quick letter of thanks to the author of the engine as well.