On the TGC site the have:

3D Crafter Pro
AC3D
Character Shop

At the moment it is difficult to import your models using Sketchup and creating characters isn't the easiest thing to do. Will the above programs listed in TGC store make it easier to do this and import the models. For example can I create an object in AC3D and save the model and the software creates the files needed to simply import the working model to GG?

Creating and importing models and characters I believe is an important tool for game making software as everyone will want to do this. I know the dev team and very busy with other mods however is there a chance someone from the dev team can provide any feedback on the above question and/or on any developments in the area of custom models.

Is GG working with any modelling software developers to have a simplified process to design, create and import custom models? Blender is good however difficult for a lot of people to learn without spending a lot of time. Sketchup is very easy and required about 5 minutes learning time. Based on that I would assume the ability to use Sketchup would attract more people to GG. The current Sketchup process has issues, a export plugin that can accept multiple textures and creates the files needed would be great.

Mod Edit: Merging doublepost

Further on my original post, I strongly believe having an easier way to design, create and import custom models is important and the Dev team are working hard on other projects.

However I do believe this is something that would create more interest in GG and a believe a lot of member would like an easy way to do this. To me Sketchup is a Newbie tool as it is very easy to learn and use.

Maybe passing a hat around to help fund a project like this. I am happy to kick it off with a $100 pledge to get something like this started. Maybe if others would like to see something like this created they could also make a pledge towards this feature.

To the Dev team: How much money would need to be raised to make a project like this happen?

Hello Bradaus,

I'll try to reply to your concerns as detailed as I can:

First of all: Using SketchUp you can export models in .fbx, .obj and .3ds format. These are widely used and will likely even be supported by guru itself in the future. Until then we will make use of the fact that they are almost universal and can be in- and exported in most 3d programs. I'd suggest you simply download the program "fragmotion" (its free) import your SketchUp creations and then export them as .x files.

Getting a .x into Guru is remarkably easy. Advanced users might prefer using a template .fpe file from the entitybank while newer user can simply run the built in importer. (in the guru editor: Simply click "file" "import model". Make sure to save somewhere in your entitybank

Guru supports models with multiple textures now, however, until we have a fully implemented lightmappingsystem and more variety in shaders (thus know exactly wether guru will handle these correctly in the future) I highly suggest unwrapping your models and using single texturemap (!). If you model, you will have to learn UV mapping sooner or later anyway



This is true! Importing an animated model isn't that hard though. You have to set it up using the other chars in your entitybank as a blueprint or just import them via editor. Make sure you have a list of the animation frames with a description of what animation they play and then you'll have to replace the ones in the default character scripts with the one of your new character. Alternatively, if you are fit in LUA (I'm not ), you can write your own AI.



Believe me, once you can export to .x and have some routine, its almost too easy . TGC should work on making importing bulks of models faster but I don't think they can do it any easier than the built in importer. You can scale and setup your model in there quite well. No need to shell out the extra cash.

I hope this helped and happy modeling!



-Wolf

Cheers for the reply Wolf. Today has been a very productive day for me with Game Guru. I have been playing around with making houses with Sketchup and importing them into GG. I believe I have the process down now and created some videos on how to do this for others.

As for the Characters, since posting this I noticed a Character Creator option under File in GG. This is pretty cool and answers my above questions. Pays to explore GG before posting.

I will have a play around with making some different skins for the characters. I am making some videos as I go so they can help others. I dare say I will not be doing any work for the next few days as I will be playing with GG.