Viewing objects outside of the game?

[VioletPadfoot]

I'm new to meshing objects (so far i've made two tutorial tables) and i wondered of there was a way to view my new mesh with its new texture without booting up my game? My game takes soooo long to load just so that i can check my textures. My next project is going to be a bit more complicated and i want to be able to view my textures on the mesh so i can see that they're in the correct place without waiting forever for my game to load. i realize that making the uv map of the new mesh correctly would be a step in the right direction, but as the project is a chair to match my new tables and will be patterened in wood, i need to be able to check that i mapped the pieces correctly for the wood grain on the texture to show up correctly on the object, hence my wish for a way to view the new object w/o loading up the game. is thsi just wishful thinking, or is there a way?

[Mootilda]

Perhaps you should create a new version of your game which boots quickly. You could use the AnyGameStarter to create a second game or create a new game under a new userid. Make sure that you have little or no CC except what you're working on, and as few EPs and SPs as you need to see the object.

[VioletPadfoot]

yeah, i thought of that shortly after posting, and if that's the only way, i guess that's the way i have to go. thanks though. ~VP

[Mootilda]

I'm not sure that's the only way. Wait a while and see whether anyone else has a better idea.

[VioletPadfoot]

I will wait and see, but in the meantime, AGS will load a lot faster for me to check the object, so it will work until I find an alternative. Again, thanks for helping me.

[moune999]

I can think of two other ways you might be able to use.

One is to use the Preview function in SimPE. It's in the GMDC (where you import your meshes) and you can choose which subsets you want to see. It only gives you a small front view of your object, but it'll let you know if your textures are roughly placed in the right places.

The other is to use MilkShape - if that's the 3D program you're using. OM has a tutorial over at Juniper Sun explaining how you can use MilkShape to UV map your meshes - or just to see how your textures sit on them. Here's a link:

http://www.junipersun.org/daystar/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3499

MilkShape lets you see almost how your mesh will look in game. The only problem is that if your texture has any kind of transparancy it tends to look a bit weird.

[VioletPadfoot]

Thnak you moune! I am using milkshape so i will have a look at that tutorial. now if only i could figure out why simpe is not letting me build the texure map to the size i need... but that i think should go in another post

[mustluvcatz]

The MilkShape/transparency thing is why I usually save my textures as a .jpg first IF there is any transparency in my texture. Once my mesh is mapped the way I want I save the texture as a .png and see what it looks like.

SimPE? You can preview the way Moune said. You can also go to the MMAT, choose a subset and click on it- there will be a little "preview" button towards the bottom of the page. Click that and a preview will load. It's bigger than the GMDC preview and you can zoom in, rotate, zoom out, etc. (You can do that with the GMDC preview too, but the MMAT preview is bigger to begin with.)

[moune999]

I didn't realize you could preview in the MMAT too. Thanks for that useful info, Mlc.

[VioletPadfoot]

I tried the tutorial Moune linked to and it seems to be an easier way to uv map as well as giving me an idea of how the objects should look in game. I think I'll use that way, but thank you everyone for your suggestions!

[mustluvcatz]

You're welcome. :) OM's tutorial is good and it's easy to follow. And to be honest, I think it's easier to map in MilkShape than in UVMapper. (Although there are times I have to use UVMapper.)

[moune999]

I usually always use both. UV Mapper is best for cylinders, I think, whereas MilkShape is easiest for planes and cubes - and of course for vertex-by-vertex finetuning.