Compound models

[bkloster]

For the Christmas Prototype, we could really use some models for compound particles. The planned compounds are:

• ATP: Energy, used for moving and some metabolic processes
• Glucose: Raw material for ATP
• CO2: Waste product of some metabolic processes and, raw material for others
• Sunlight: raw material for photo-synthesis
• RpAse: Reproductase, causes cell-divison / evolution at a certain threshold
• Oxytoxy: Poison, destroys RpAse

The models should be easy to distinguish from each other, ideally even for color-blind players.

[jjonj]

According to NickTheNick in his solution A on this page http://thrivegame.forum-free.ca/t997p150-microbial-compounds-and-organelles sunlight isn't a compound, so we shouldn't need a model for that!

[bkloster]

It is in the planned prototype. As far as I know, no one has spelled out how sunlight is to be handled in the microbe stage for the purpose of photosynthesis organelles. Just making it omnipresent sounds really boring.

[RodGame]

I remember a discussion about sun patches spread across the map... Some places that are lighted where you need to be for photosynthesis to occur or occur at a better rate. I think it would add an interesting mechanic. The spots could have different intensity but, I'm not really sure about the lightning system we have access to.

[bkloster]

That's pretty much what I had in mind when I added sunlight to the prototype's compound list. But instead of adding a new system for managing those "sunny areas", we just spawn short-lived particles in this area. We can implement that with the existing systems without too much trouble.

[NickTheNick-zz]

The current model basically assumes that light exists all across the environment. However, a procedural map determines where the intensities of the light are higher or lower, ranging from 0%-100% intensity. The intensity of sunlight at any given point directly affects the speed at which chloroplasts process in that point. A chloroplast in a point of 100% light intensity will operate at 100% speed, while one in a 0% point will operate at 0% speed. This would be achieved through a perlin noise-map. However, ~scio and I do not know how complicated this will be to code, so go with whatever is optimal for this first release.

[RodGame]

The perlin noise isn't too hard, I already worked with that. Displaying the light in a nice way, is another story and I'm not sure.

[NickTheNick-zz]

There doesn't need to be anything fancy like beams of light filtering through the water, but just something like areas of lower intensity light being darker than areas of higher intensity. However, I think areas of lower intensity light should not be pitch black, that would just look strange. I think 75% brightness in areas with 0% light and 100% brightness in areas with 100% light would be a good range, with the appropriate increments in between. However, this is just my suggestion for the optimal scenario. Go with whatever solution you guys think is best for now.

[tjblazer85]

What would they look like?

[bkloster]

What would they look like?

They could look like molecules. But feel free to make them look whatever you like. If you have an idea (even only for one compound), make some sketches and post them either here or on the forum.

[sciocont]

I can have sprites for all of these up soon. I also have plenty of other compound sprites you will need for later versions.

Ok, all of the sprites I have for GUI/compound purposes are in this album:

http://s1016.photobucket.com/user/sciocont/library/CellstageSprites

[jjonj]

Awesome! They look great! :) I'll try and add them tomorrow, but if i don't succeed Nimbal will do it soon!

[tjblazer85]

I have made one model, just so we know we're all talking about the same thing, so here is an ATP model based on sciocont's artwork:

Download Link for model: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/137682043/ATP.rar

[jjonj]

Excellent, I'll add this. What is the difference between the two models in there?

EDIT: Oh btw, can you by any chance convert it to a .mesh file? If not then try to ask for help on the forums, I've previously attempted converting but without luck.

EDIT2: I managed to export the model and implement them, however it treats each of the three balls as three seperate models, when it should just make one model. This must be a blender option somehow, I'll try and look at it, but if you know how it's done let me know!

EDIT3: Everything seems to work now, had to select the three objects (no easy task) and ctrl-J to merge in blender :)

[tjblazer85]

I have made two C02's one that was just given a crimson like material and the another which was textured with the sprite sciocont made.

Material:

Texture:

They are both the same size.

Download link for both of the models: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/137682043/CO2.rar

[tjblazer85]

I have made a Glucose model:

Download link for the model: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/137682043/Glucose.rar

Hope it's good :)

[tjblazer85]

I have made an Oxytoxy model:

Download link for the model: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/137682043/Oxytoxy.rar

Hope this helps!

[jjonj]

Looks awesome, while they may not be final (i can't make that judgement call) they'll work really well for now atleast! :)

[tjblazer85]

Thanks

[jjonj]

Hrmm, here's how they look in game: http://i.imgur.com/WVk6i3B.png The materials aren't exported properly (probably a conversion problem of mine) which i didn't discover yesterday because it defaults to something quite similar to ATP anyway. Also looks like we need a rotation of the three new models, which would be more difficult to do in the engine. Scaling i can adjust as needed. I'm curious why you have a .blend, .blend1 and .blend2 files?

[sciocont]

Also, when you fix the rotation issue, see if you can lower he polycount. For instance, the CO2 and glucose models are prisms: they don't need to be. They just need to be one plane with the right shape and texture (a "billboard"). The same for the oxytoxy.

[jjonj]

Are you absolutely sure sciocont? Last i heard the idea of using billboards were just as a temporary solution until real models were avaliable.

[sciocont]

Using billboards is a temporary solution until we move to compound clouds based on fluid dynamics.

On Mon, Dec 30, 2013 at 12:52 PM, jjonj notifications@github.com wrote:

Are you absolutely sure sciocont? Last i heard the idea of using billboards were just as a temporary solution until real models were avaliable.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHubhttps://github.com/Revolutionary-Games/Thrive/issues/78#issuecomment-31361402 .

[tjblazer85]

I thought the .blend1 and .blend 2 files were important xD and how will I rotate the models, like into what direction? And by billboard do you guys mean that I will turn it into like a 2d Model?

[sciocont]

Rotate them 90 degrees around their x or z axes (or whichever axes are not perpendicular to their top face). You can see in the pictures that they're on their side. Also, you might want to try exporting them in some format OGRE can deal with better. I think .x and .mesh files are OGRE's preferred formats.

[jjonj]

I've been doing the conversion for tjblazer (not trivial to get to working) however i don't get the correct materials, which i think is a problem with my way of converting.

[tjblazer85]

I found a way to export to .mesh http://www.ogre3d.org/tikiwiki/tiki-index.php?page=Complete+Guide%3A+Exporting+Blender+To+Ogre but sadly it doesn't work with my version of blender, Is this the method you're using?

[jjonj]

Nope, I've been using http://www.ogre3d.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=61485 and http://www.ogre3d.org/tikiwiki/tiki-index.php?page=OgreXmlConverter works with the new version of blender it seems (however still have the material issue)

[tjblazer85]

I found another way that works with my version, haven't tried it yet but I read that it exports materials too: http://choorucode.com/2013/10/23/how-to-convert-from-blender-to-ogre-format/

Here's the download link: https://bitbucket.org/MindCalamity/blender2ogre

Edit 1: Should I just post the rotated models instead and have you export them?

[tjblazer85]

I have edited the models, here is the download link: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/137682043/C02%2C%20Glucose%20and%20Oxytoxy%20Billboards.rar

and pics:

I couldn't figure out how to install one of the parts for the exporter so I couldn't export it.

[TritiumH]

I'm not exactly sure what kind of models are needed for this demo but tried to make an ATP model, if someone can fix the particle emitter that would be great https://www.dropbox.com/s/ouee3prkj20k3sx/ATP.rar

[tjblazer85]

Awesome Job! You can use this (http://s1016.photobucket.com/user/sciocont/library/CellstageSprites) as a reference for making the models.

[TritiumH]

Thanks tjblazer85, last time i saw those they were intended as icons or something, was it decided to be used as models too?

[jjonj]

I think he just means that the icons should look like the models so it's a good reference! :)

[jjonj]

I'm not exactly sure what kind of models are needed for this demo

Compounds are whats needed for now, and it isn't really a demo, its the real deal with incremental releases along the way!

[tjblazer85]

jjonj have you figured out why the materials are like that?

[NickTheNick-zz]

For now we will use 2D billboards of the icons for each compound. This is a placeholder until we implement dynamic clouds for compounds in the water, because even at this scale individual particles would be so small that they would resemble clouds, like ink, when in water. Different compounds would have differently coloured and textured clouds, but till then we will use sprites.

On Fri, Jan 3, 2014 at 7:41 PM, tjblazer85 notifications@github.com wrote:

jjonj have you figured out why the materials are like that?

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHubhttps://github.com/Revolutionary-Games/Thrive/issues/78#issuecomment-31570525 .

[jjonj]

He wasn't asking about that, NickTheNick, but useful to get confirmation on that anyway :)

No i haven't tjblazer but i think nimbal will be able to help once he finishes the deadline at his work, he was there when the original models were converted! Until then we can just use the orange versions or leave models alone!

[NickTheNick-zz]

I know I was answering Tritium from earlier.

[tjblazer85]

Are there going to be any other models besides these for the microbe stage?

[jjonj]

Probably for organelles yeah, but atm I dont have an overview

[TheCreator--]

Was the picture for Reproductase created already or should I give it a try?

[sciocont]

It is.

On Sun, Jan 5, 2014 at 9:15 PM, TheCreator-- notifications@github.comwrote:

Was the picture for Reproductase created already or should I give it a try?

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHubhttps://github.com/Revolutionary-Games/Thrive/issues/78#issuecomment-31624922 .

[TheCreator--]

What about flagellum? I searched the forums a bit but couldn't find any pictures or mentions if it has been done yet.

[sciocont]

The flagellum is not a compound. Discussion on it should be restricted to organelle-specific threads.

On Tue, Jan 7, 2014 at 11:26 PM, TheCreator-- notifications@github.comwrote:

What about flagellum? I searched the forums a bit but couldn't find any pictures or mentions if it has been done yet.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHubhttps://github.com/Revolutionary-Games/Thrive/issues/78#issuecomment-31806910 .

[NickTheNick-zz]

So what assets are left? Do we have all the art we need for the next release of the Microbe Stage?

[ChizuLaCheese]

Maybe just some sort of wave thingeys and/or bubbles to show the direction and force of the tides (not sure if it's needed for the next realese). And the compound models.

[jjonj]

Some generic model for a particle emitter perhaps, the molecule model seems a bit wierd for that, but it's not permanent either way, so it's not very important. Otherwise i think were ok.

Things are a bit slow these days, as Nimbal is still working on his work deadline and my exams have started and are running the next two weeks.

[ChizuLaCheese]

With a particle emitter, do you mean like a cube/sphere in which the particles'll be spawned?

[jjonj]

More like; from which the particles are spawned. Atm we are just using the blue molecule model!

[ChizuLaCheese]

Ok. What should it look like?