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Re: Java3d pushing the limits...

Posted by gouessej on Feb 25, 2016; 2:56pm
URL: https://forum.jogamp.org/Java3d-pushing-the-limits-tp4035814p4036345.html

philjord wrote
So I decided to use a commercial strength format that was leading the way, the nif format, right from the beginning.

And that is the only thing about my work that is "good design", for everything else the other engines are better written and better supported.
It's highly subjective and questionable. If the developers and the artists used some interchange file formats for long term storage, some editor specific file formats for modeling and editing and some engine specific file formats for loading, they wouldn't have to rewrite everything.

JogAmp's Ardor3D Continuation supports Collada which is a standard interchange file format, you can use Blender or another popular modeller to export to Collada and JogAmp's Ardor3D Continuation has its own binary file format too. If I really wanted to use exactly the same format in the modeller and in the engine, I would rather choose an open standard like the Blender file format which is supported by JavaBlend rather than a proprietary file format.
Anyway, there is a risk of being unable to do anything with a model if it becomes unreadable because of the numerous incompatible changes done in the file format of a modeler (which isn't an interchange file format) or because of the changes intentionally done in a closed file format in order to force the end users to pay to read their files (typical in Autodesk and Adobe file formats including FBX and DXF/DWG).
Therefore, there is no need to rewrite a game when you use a widely supported file format (including WaveFront OBJ even though it's good only for static things). In the worst case, you may have to write an import/export script for the modeller and/or an importer/exporter for the engine. Choosing a closed file format is the best way to put yourself into the worst case, especially if there are a few people using this file format. For example, Blender has no build-in import script for MD2 since its version 2.50.
Julien Gouesse | Personal blog | Website