Tileable Geometry (hallways)

[3ncryptabl3]

I want to make a series of tileable geometry to build and mix and match hallway parts. I tried a simple something-something in order to get familiar with the pipeline, figuring I'd end up having to go back to focus on the size for the snapping so that tiled pieces can easily snap to each other without visible seams.

This is my foray and I'm happy to say, the result was closer than I thought it would be - however it is off by an almost imperceptible amount.



My question is, with the snapping feature in mind, is there a snap to geometry function so one piece of geometry will snap right up agains't another or is it all unit based? If unit based, what is a good unit to make a square so that a square of equal size will literally be right up agains't it (without overlapping it of course)?

[LoganN]

Increments of eight do well. I like to make mine 256x256x16/32. All the units line up nicely.

[3ncryptabl3]

Thanks for the reply Logan.

How exactly does that translate into units of measurements for modeling? 256x is pixel based.

Or am I not getting what you're saying?

[Crozz]

At least in 3ds max, 1 generic unit will be the same as an unreal unit.

[3ncryptabl3]

Thanks Crozz.

EDIT * I got it (:

[Bellbird Creative]

Yep, powers of 2

2 4 8 16 32 64 128 256 512 1024 2048 4096 8192 16384 32768... And that's all I can remember by heart!

So like LoganN said, variations of those. 256x512 is fine, as is 1024x64. You can also get in between those values too, to a certain degree. For example 768 is fine too (512 + 256) as long as your grid spacing allows for it.

[3ncryptabl3]

Thanks Bellbird. I'm already familiar with Po2 format as it relates to textures and memory management.

As it relates to a 'unit of measurement' in 3d space, however, I don't see the correlation. Maybe you can expound on that?

[IrOnTaXi]

additionally you should choose a common center point for each modular piece and align that with the 0,0,0 coordinate in max when exporting. THen you can be sure everything will fit nicely on the grid.

Be careful with corners as well. They can get tricky depending on the design. They need to fit all inside and outside facing corners. Truthfully I find having a generic pillar to throw in where needed is usally the best bet.

[3ncryptabl3]

Agreed. I've got the middle hall, 2 way corner and 3 way hall done. The pillar idea, to help hide the paper thin walls that back against each other around corners is definitely a quick and easy fix. Buildings are rarely built like that though so I'm sure I can design around it with half and quart size segments to help jut around corners.

[Crusha K. Rool]

Thanks Bellbird. I'm already familiar with Po2 format as it relates to textures and memory management.

As it relates to a 'unit of measurement' in 3d space, however, I don't see the correlation. Maybe you can expound on that?

Well, you can probably draw a connection from the common sizes of textures so that they could be laid out out nicely on BSP, which was especially in earlier engine generations important. Furthermore it's where the bits and bytes form up nicely (binary system), so maybe the BSP tree likes these numbers especially a lot (same as it usually doesn't like decimals at all).

And last but not least was the engine made by programmers, so what else than the most awesome numbers out there could you expect from guys who are in general a bit less sane than those who are not "enlightened" (maybe all programmers are a bit Malkavian).

[3ncryptabl3]

Well, you can probably draw a connection from the common sizes of textures so that they could be laid out out nicely on BSP, which was especially in earlier engine generations important.

Absolutely. But I'm working with Static Meshes. I guess I wasn't clear about that in my original post.

Furthermore it's where the bits and bytes form up nicely (binary system), so maybe the BSP tree likes these numbers especially a lot (same as it usually doesn't like decimals at all).

They do - especially so where memory blocks are concerned. I'm familiar with the BSP concept. Which is why I was at a loss as to what that had to do with my original post.

I guess Logan and Bellbird thought I was building with BSP's *shrug*

Though, I would they think they snap natively.

...

The BSP's, that is... Not Logan and Bellbird (;

Everything is all cleared up now. 1 generic unit in max = 1 unit in UDK. All set.

[Bellbird Creative]

Logan and I snap natively also.

Basically the grid in the editor is ^2 so for static meshes to snap together on that grid, they also need to be ^2

Glad all is clear!

[3ncryptabl3]

Excellent. I really appreciate all the help and insight!

Nice community you've all got going on here - Looking forward to being a part of it (: