Right. An export and import tool. As we already can play with the assets now. We just dont know how to decompress them.
Last edited:
3D Content for 3D modellers
- Thread starter TheContentCreator
- Start date
Right. An export and import tool. As we already can play with the assets now. We just dont know how to decompress them.
I really expect something better than just "an importer" as in RCT3 (like I said page 1).
At the time, it was made by the modding community, it was not very user friendly, not fully integrated in the game, not hosted internally, not moderated, the different tools related to UGC was not in the same place ("music import" was integrated into the game when "3D object import" was not, "texture import" was limited to the billboards, etc...)
It was the beginning of the "custom content" era in games.
It was good for that time, but the expectations of the players have evolved a lot since that day.
I don't think it would be a good idea to create a completely custom 3D modeling application just for this game. That sort of thing would likely drive me crazy. It's like that vinyl editor in Forza Horizon 3. Just let me export a jpg that shows me where the body panels are on a texture so I can make a car livery with proper art tools such as Photoshop or Medibang or Clip Studio Paint. The built-in tool is too slow and basic. It's an enormous time expense to make something decent.
What I need to know to create UGC is:
What I need to know to create UGC is:
- A sense of scale. How many units is the standard scenery wall height and width? Provide sample objects so I can import into my 3D program of choice and compare 3D units.
- The 3D file structure or a converter utility. I need a schema of some sort. Then I can build an exporter that takes 3D content from something like Blender and outputs it in the way Planet Coaster expects. Alternatively, a utility that converts between 3D formats would work too. If I can have Blender export a DAE or MD5 or something else such that a Frontier utility can convert it to OVL then that's all that's needed.
Custom content has always been around. We had this back in the original DOOM days. I remember making maps and characters for Duke3D and Unreal Tournament 1999. It just isn't celebrated as a competitive advantage in all genres and by all developers. Some developers, particularly Epic and id, really embraced custom content. Others did not.
Last edited:
I think you confuse UGC (which mean "User Generated Content", so all type of content) and "Custom 3D Model" here ...
We don't need a "3D modelling app" (which is a waste of time and human ressources, and there is plenty of soft like that) but we don't need a simple "importer" either, like the old days (because it's too complicated for users who are not experienced with 3D modeling, and because it's limited to 3D model import).
This is why we need something between, what I call a "UGC Editor", allowing us to import every type of UGC (3D, 2D, music, sounds, gif, videos, fonts, ...)
Of course, everyone can learn to code, or mod a game since the first computer (and yes, me too, I designed a few 3D levels with a "level editor" in some games for exemple) but it was not reserved to the general public, it was quite obscure, something reserved for "geeks" if you want.
Now the concept of "custom content" (not custom content itself) need to be more "user friendly", and is pretty common, because of theSims, housing in MMO, SteamWorkshop, Minecraft, Mods on many games, best computer skills among players, etc... The list is long, there are multiple reasons.
And it is even more important here, since PlanetCoaster is 1) A simulation game 2) for PC.
We don't need a "3D modelling app" (which is a waste of time and human ressources, and there is plenty of soft like that) but we don't need a simple "importer" either, like the old days (because it's too complicated for users who are not experienced with 3D modeling, and because it's limited to 3D model import).
This is why we need something between, what I call a "UGC Editor", allowing us to import every type of UGC (3D, 2D, music, sounds, gif, videos, fonts, ...)
This is not what I meant. I think we are not talking about the same things here [wink]
Of course, everyone can learn to code, or mod a game since the first computer (and yes, me too, I designed a few 3D levels with a "level editor" in some games for exemple) but it was not reserved to the general public, it was quite obscure, something reserved for "geeks" if you want.
Now the concept of "custom content" (not custom content itself) need to be more "user friendly", and is pretty common, because of theSims, housing in MMO, SteamWorkshop, Minecraft, Mods on many games, best computer skills among players, etc... The list is long, there are multiple reasons.
And it is even more important here, since PlanetCoaster is 1) A simulation game 2) for PC.
You speak too soon, my friend! [tongue]
Custom Scenery Designers actually had a pretty big impact back in the ol' RCT3 days. We designed custom wall sets, decorations, particle effects, and even broke through some of the scenery layout standards of the time. (Much of which is integral to PC, and hence became a huge focus of Alpha 1 and 2!)
Frontier watched very closely. Some of those ideas made it into the RCT3 "Soaked" and "Wild" expansion packs- Many more of them are very prevalent in Planet Coaster today!
Even in PC's Alpha stages they've already giving us so much more freedom with our scenery and buildings, as well as the ability to share through Steam. (We used to have to host everything we created personally or on fan sites- No Steam!)
I for one am still a huge fan of RCT3, and now definitely of PC. Based on what I've seen twelve years ago and what I'm seeing today, we're gonna be in for one [mouth shut] of a ride!
Oh, but those were the days though, weren't they, Angelis? What fun we had learning new tricks and what amazing ideas the custom scenery gurus came up with!!! [heart]