Marine Aquarium 3 Rumors and Speculation

[Jim Sachs]

Yes, I still model the fish and other tank objects in LightWave. I no longer have to bring them into Uview to apply the textures, since Lightwave now has a pretty good UV mapping section. I also don't have to run the models though my homebrew routine for converting the objects from Lightwave to DirectX, since there's a Plugin from DStorm which will allow it. (If only the plugin would save Normals!)

[Robert]

Jim,

You might find this site helpfull.

After the click.

Regards

[Jim Sachs]

Yes, been there. The problem is not creating the normals, or pointing them the way I want - I can do that manually in Lightwave. The problem is in exporting the object as a DirectX file which uses those normals. The DStorm plugin (which is really the only game in town), throws away all your handcrafted normals, and calculates its own.

This means that I have to spend many hours on each object going through the DirectX text file and figuring out which of the thousands of points need to have their normals flipped, then enter new numbers. I can't just see which points they were in Lightwave, because the order gets changed when I save it as a DirectX file. So I have to match up the x,y,and z coordinates to make sure I'm dealing with the right one. I can't just do a simple text search, because the decimal point is in a different place between the Lightwave and DirectX files. So, I locate the proper point in the file, let's say it's point #209. Then I have to count down 209 lines in the list of normals, and change the Y value to -1.000000. That's one...only 80 more to go. Of course, if I need to make any changes to the object in Lightwave, I have to do this all over again. Assuming I'm not so depressed by the unfolding dramas in the Forum that I can even work that day.

I can't describe how frustrating this is. WHY would the DStorm programmers write new code to calculate normals, when the ones I want are RIGHT THERE in Lightwave along with the x,y,z position of the point? I have tried writing to them (they are a Japanese company), but I just got a short reply to the effect of "Yes, that is how it works".

[Yodelking]

Jim, it sounds like you have a big job infront of you... A smaller fish should be less trouble than a big one, I'd say go ahead and make a small easy one. Let's say a mandarine goby!

[Jim Sachs]

Yodelking - all the fish except the Lionfish have the same number of points and polygons in them.

I just went to the DStorm site, to check for updates to this plugin (there haven't been any for 5 years). YES, there was a new update! Downloaded it extracted it, installed it, and tried it. Created a box in Lightwave, set smoothing to greater than 90 degrees, created normals, baked them, tweaked the Y value of one of them, and saved the box as a DirectX file. No difference. My normals had been thrown away and replaced by generic ones, the tweaked normal was gone.

So close and yet so far away.

[Jav400]

Thats disgusting. You would think that you aren't the only one to run into this kind of problem and something would have been done to address it.

[Stew2000]

Can't you export them as a file the keeps the normals and use Deep Exploration to convert them to something else?.

[Jim Sachs]

If only Deep Exploration would keep the normals, I'd gladly pay the $500 they charge for it. But, alas, it throws away my normals and calculates its own generic ones.

[memilm]

have you gave a try to Blender(www.blender.org)?
As I read its a 3D modeling freeware(that means for me that you could contact the developer and give them suggestions to improve it in the way you need it) has the import from Lightwave function and can export to DirectX.

[Jim Sachs]

Blender takes my 8 normals and makes them 24, none of which are my originals.

[memilm]

I don't know much about 3D, but by searching the blender forums I've read something about some directX export options like "recalc. Normals"
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=...ew&t=86821&b=3
and one export script:
http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?t=73602
and another one:
http://xoomer.alice.it/glabro1/python241.html

[Jim Sachs]

Blender simply won't work for me. Not only does it fail to read the baked normals from the Lightwave file, but it triples the number of points in the object.

[debavocet]

Originally posted by schneb:

I live in Redlands, CA. I feel like a smoked brisket and my car is sprinkled in ash. All too familiar from four years ago. Here are some maps of that disaster from where I work...
http://www.esri.com/disaster_respons...res071506.html

Glad to see Jim is back on track, boxes and all. If I could work from Oregon, I would move in a heartbeat. Pretty state with very friendly people.  

Why don't you guys move into San Diego proper, where I live, and never have to evacuate? Just let the chapparral burn. - Debbie

[Jim Sachs]

Actually, my wife is in San Diego right now, visiting two of her sisters. I'll pick her up on Thursday. Meanwhile I'm taking advantage of the silence to get as much work as I can done on MA3. Working on an Elkhorn Coral at the moment.

[Isabeau]

Hello mr Sachs, i've been a registred user since V1.2 or so and a big fan of the program. Can you tell me when you think there will be a (beta)release of V3? This year? I just bought a new and fast computer with excelent graphics so i'm very curieus to see the progress .

Guus Eberstadt van der Velden
Dordrecht
Netherlands

[Jim Sachs]

Elkhorn Coral is looking pretty good. Now I'm trying to fill up the center portion of the tank with enough objects to look "finished" so that we can use it for a screen capture for the box.

[patscarr]

Wow! Already working on the box! Incredible! Hasn't even been beta tested yet, but the box is done! But we all know that beta testing is just a formality with Jim. It'll be near perfect when he releases it.

[johnblommers]

Originally posted by patscarr:

Wow! Already working on the box!  

The fact that Jim wants a real product screen shot for the box art reflects a strong ethical stance that I find refreshing. Far too many boxed software products have artwork that far exceeds what's in the box.

To ethics

[Jim Sachs]

Whoa, Pat - the box isn't even started yet. I need to do the art now because the box takes several months of lead time to put together.

JB - Yes, I made a mistake the last time the box was redesigned (third or fourth generation, I think). I let Encore handle it. While they retained the actual screen photo of the background, there was a large hand-drawn fish in the foreground. Since the whole point of my program is that it's NOT cartoonish, the box created confusion in the mind of the buyer. Then they did a bundle box which included Goldfish and Sharks. That box had extremely cartoonish blue bubbles all over it. One of the reasons I went with Encore is that they did the National Geographic software. Those were pretty classy packages, no cartoon polar bears. (I don't think Encore does any of the current National Geographic titles.)
Anyway, all the artwork on the SereneScreen box will be from the actual program.

[enigma63941]

I'm getting goose bumps. Its good now a days we don't need a box for a download. Jim, even if the program doesn't come out this year can we get "something" this year? Anything? A beta would be sweet, but I'd just settle for a low resolution screen shot