This is less to do with Wallworm and more about the workflow to create similar assets that share modular pieces.
I have a set of freight train cars (engine, flatbed, and 3 different boxcars). Some share the same modular pieces (i.e. wheels).
I tried texturing out a 1024x1024 diffuse map for one of my boxcars and it looks awfully low res.
(https://www.wallworm.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FU3fpTO1.jpg&hash=d65915bcb8264a8dbabaa2c111c92d5d5ec079ee)
Would I be "right" to make smaller diffuse maps per modular piece/material (i.e. wheel, roof, and floors would have their respective diffuse maps)?
I always heard to stay away from 1024x1024 unless I had to use it but even with that, my resolution is so low. Worst of all, I'd have to make 5 1024x1024's for each train car.
(https://www.wallworm.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FTyTDtmJ.jpg&hash=fc9ed52710c3dea916f72ef833fe21dd62155cee)
Anyone with experience know how to approach the creation process for something like this in an economical manner?
I think there are many ways to approach this based on the needs of your scene and models. But in the end I think it mainly comes down to what looks as good as you need for the scenario and works well on the hardware of those you expect to play. I'll share some more feedback when the Blue Moon wears off ... :)
About the low texture resolution. I think that has to do with the viewport rendering settings for performance. I read something about this not a long time ago. This should help you out I think: http://forum.cgpersia.com/f32/solved-3ds-max-2014-textures-appear-low-res-viewports-73444/ (http://forum.cgpersia.com/f32/solved-3ds-max-2014-textures-appear-low-res-viewports-73444/)
Thanks jorisceoen. I wasn't able to find anything in the 3dsmax.ini file regarding "[Nitrous]" however.
Do you think it's some bug/UI issue though? I'm new to modeling so I don't know if 1024x1024 is more than enough to texture out something as big as my train cars (here's a screenshot ingame for scale reference. note that I have to texture the interior of the traincars as well):
(https://www.wallworm.net/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcloud-3.steampowered.com%2Fugc%2F3318336211340541849%2FD6A7989D226EB6DA5F2DF9BE1A0ABEB3D477D227%2F&hash=8b7c317f0f6a3736475a505cf7d581a686702bea)
Maybe i'm misallocating the texture space but I've checked valve's stock textures for big props (i.e. trucks, airplane, atv). Most seem to fit them on a 1024x1024 or 1024x512 with enough detail.
I'll look into the resolution issue though. I use 3ds max 2014 (SP5) so maybe it is the software.
Did you ever get this resolved to your satisfaction? I guess I may have initially misunderstood the question. Is this only an issue with texture resolution in the Max viewport or is this in game? Or both?
Yeah thanks, after testing things out, I'm pretty sure it's just an issue of managing texture size. It's obvious in retrospect but having big models at the player's eye-level requires a lot of detail in the texture.. :-\
As painful as it is, I think I'm going to remodel some of my train cars from scratch to account for texture space.
Experience +1!
Experience is always the best teacher. Well... except with dying...