Planet Postmoderna Blog

I have to say that it took me a horrible 2.5 hours to get this one right. I was hoping to reproduce the process I used with the Fort Ash Domes with the Comm Tower. I actually created the collision volumes and rebaked the textures with no trouble. It was after that and trying to figure out the proper axis alignment for the model so in Multiverse, the model would point up. It took me several tries to finally figure out that I could have just looked at the axis arrangement of the Dome model. Duh!

Blender has a totally different configuration than 3dsMax (used as the tool of choice in most of the Multiverse documentation), etc. I had to make sure that the model was positioned with the Y axis up and the X to the right. This way up was really up in Multiverse.

After that it was a matter of tweaking the textures in Photoshop, producing the Normal map in XNormal from the height-map image I created, and then using the Multiverse Conversion tool to transform the model into what Multiverse uses. After that? I had to move the files onto my server and rebuild the assets file manifest. This creates the patch file that tells you World Browser what is updated and what to download. I am sure I have left out some steps I am forgetting but it still took me two and a half hours.

I am sure professionals in the industry would laugh at the length of time for my one-object workflow but hey, I’m learning! I figure by the time I have all the main Base Camp objects moved into Multiverse, I’ll be a real “professional amateur.” All kidding aside though, I am learning a lot. I am rather proud of what I have learned so far and without any formal 3D Modeling Training. Of course all also got a lot of input and help over the last year from team members.

Comm Tower in the Distance

As you can see the Comm Tower is positioned behind the Domes. It is one of the many structures that the Heavy Lifters were able to bring to the surface before the space-tear collapsed in on one of them and destroyed it and any chance of bringing anymore intact structures to the planet.

The Comm Tower Up Close

You can see the effect of the texturing of the metal which is really a semi-glossed formed material, pocked with nicks and dents. The visual effects created from the textures not only helps portray the material it is constructed of but it also reminds us of the torture the tower endured from being put up.