Map Editor

[Rodrix]

Hi everyone!

I thought that it makes no sense that I develop my own map editor when there are others that are already developed. So I am looking for any 3D World Editor, that implements Lightmapping, and that exports files that are easy to parse.

Up to now the only one I found is DeleD Edtior Lite
(http://www.delgine.com/) which is free and has those features but I don't trust very much...

DeleD seems fine, and I would be willing to buy the Pro version (USD $60) but I read in the forums that it has bugs and the site lacks documentation, so I am not willing to spend time and money adapting all my engine to that editor if it's not good enough.

The feature that I am most interested is the lightmapping feature since I am not willing to create all the algorithms for baking lightmaps as I read it's a very complicated topic (altough I couldn't find any detailed tutorials).

I would really appreciate if you could recommend me an editor.
By the way, do you guys use any external editor for your engines?!

Thanks so much!
Rod

[Edit: Anyone tried FreeWorld -http://freeworld3d.org- it's half the price of DeleD? What about IrrEdit? I tried it and it's really good but I can't find the documentation that tells me how to parse the files. Obviously they won't post that so that you just use IrrEdit for Irrlicht, but it would be great...]

[plasmonster]

Creating your own map editor is the most fun you'll ever have, IMHO

[halo]

I've been programming 3D World Studio for a number of years, and it has the features you are looking for:
http://www.leadwerks.com

[Rodrix]

Originally posted by Minstrel:
Creating your own map editor is the most fun you'll ever have, IMHO

Did you write your own map editor with lightmaps for objects that cast shadows on themselves?!

[Rodrix]

Originally posted by halo:
I've been programming 3D World Studio for a number of years, and it has the features you are looking for:

...Did you /program/ 3D World Studio yourself? Or did you mean you /used it/ for a number of years?


Do you know if there is available a C/C++ parser for their format? (For example DeleD provides you with a basic parser for their files). I need to get the text coord for the lightmaps, and the lightmaps themselves.

By the way- no else has tried using editors?! I got only 2 answers! Do you write the editors yourself?!!

Cheers!
Rod

[lodder]

We are using GtkRadiant (OSS) with the great q3map2 or some custom editors. You can find tutorials about loading Quake3 maps/files at http://www.vicampus.com

[V-man]

I've tried many editors : Aztec, Maya, 3DS max, SoftImage XSI, Milkshape, Blender, GtkRadient, Q3Radient, FAKK Radient.

The last one is unstable and I really don't like the Radients.
Blender was a weird looking difficult to use product.

With q3map or q3map2, it compiles and makes a bsp file, which will have the texcoords for the lightmaps. So the Radients use the q3map.exe
I don't know the solution for the others.

[halo]

I wrote 3D World Studio, and I wouldn't call that process "the most fun you'll ever have".

You could also use Radiant or Hammer, but they're not as easy to use, and you can't preview the lightmaps in the editor...otherwise I wouldn't have bothered to write my own. I designed mine as a cross between Hammer and UnrealEd, but with fewer mouseclicks required, since I try to avoid getting RSI's. I've got approximately 4000-5000 users worldwide.

The file format is documented in the User Guide, and you can load the lightmaps and coordinates from the file. If you have any problems, just send an email or ask on the leadwerks forum.

Look into all your options and decide what you like best. Most of my users have try all the other options listed here, then come to me because they aren't happy with the others.

[Rodrix]

Halo:
Look into all your options and decide what you like best. Most of my users have try all the other options listed here, then come to me because they aren't happy with the others. [/QB]

You are a good salesman indeed!

I am not intrested in bsp trees nor the geometry related to bsp trees. I render outside world maps, and I just need to generate lightmaps for my palms, maybe some wooden houses, and my terrain, and obtain the lightmap text coord for each mesh.

Does your program do that or do you recommend any other program for this purpose?

Thanks!


Rod
P.S: I am considering using 3D studio Max for creating Lightmaps. Anybody tried that?

P.S2: Why no one in this forum talks about lightmaps?!?! (if you do a search... there is nothing) Do they have another name? Are they so difficult to implement? Do they cause big performance loss or are bad?! (If I am not mistaken Quake and Doom use lightmaps...)

[halo]

My program builds alpha-faded terrain with multiple texture layers, and calculates lightmaps for the terrain. You can paint meshes onto the terrain like in UnrealEd. The program will calculate vertex lighting for the meshes, which can be loaded from the file format as well.

You can either place instances of house meshes in the scene, or you can build the house from CSG geometry (which you can load as plain triangles).

The above shot is a pretty good example of the outdoor capabilities.