3D Signs Maker

[Angelis1]

Just a suggestion, to which I have just thinking.
Is it be possible to have a 3D signboards generator ? Somewhere in the UI, where we could upload a logo (for a coaster, restaurant, anything ...)

like this :

and this automatically generates a "3D Sign" (by leaving us choose the color of the border and the back), that we can put in the front of our custom building or our rides ?

Like this :

 

[3pmusic]

Just a suggestion, to which I have just thinking.
Is it be possible to have a 3D signboards generator ? Somewhere in the UI, where we could upload a logo (for a coaster, restaurant, anything ...)

like this :
http://i.imgur.com/NOLAXfn.png

and this automatically generates a "3D Sign" (by leaving us choose the color of the border and the back), that we can put in the front of our custom building or our rides ?

Like this :
http://i.imgur.com/CWAstrK.png

I would love to have a better way / easier way to make the signs/appearance of our park feel more "custom" and this is a good suggestion/idea.

 

[KnoxVegas]

I would love to see this in game, but I truly think the best way is to just make it your self in like 3DS Max, Google Sketchup or something like that, BUT. This is a great idea for sure, I would love to see something like this in game. It would be a neat idea.

 

[Angelis1]

We can do this in RCT3, we have a "custom billboard", but only allow "rectangular image". If you want a different shape, you have to create a 3D object, and it is much more complicated (in any case, much longer)

I would love to see this in game, but I truly think the best way is to just make it your self in like 3DS Max, Google Sketchup or something like that, BUT. This is a great idea for sure, I would love to see something like this in game. It would be a neat idea.

Ahah, you post at the same moment.

So yes, this is exactly to avoid having to go through other software. Because many people do not know how to use (or do not want), this would make it much easier customization for those who are not interested in 3D modeling.

 

[Angelis1]

I just found this on google (by accident)

So I "up" this topic because I just thought it would be cool to have the ability to write a text (on a form) that is transformed into "3D letters signboard" (by using already modeled 3D letters, with differents colors and fonts) to automatically generate this kind of thing :

 

[Coasterbuff]

I would love to see this in game, but I truly think the best way is to just make it your self in like 3DS Max, Google Sketchup or something like that, BUT. This is a great idea for sure, I would love to see something like this in game. It would be a neat idea.

Yes I would like to see this in game, because I don't know how to do anything with 3DS Max or Google Sketchup, I find a lot of this modern technology a little mind boggling.

 

[OlaHaldor]

Before this ever is going to happen, there'd better be some insane algorithms to keep poly count down. A sign such as the one in the opening post can easily go into the tens of thousands. It's not a problem per se. But for an object that most of the time will be small, and drawn together with millions of other polygons, it might just bog the system down considerably, depending on their hardware.

I'm not saying no. What I'm saying is, it should be used with care. There's a reason in RCT3 they forced it to be a rectangle, which probably was a box consisting of 6 sides and a pre-defined area where the image is placed.


As KnoxVegas says, the best solution, all though not for everyone, is to make the signs in 3D software where you have great control over every single bit and can reduce the ammount of polygons drastically without skipping too much of the quality.

 

[coencoensmeets]

I just found this on google (by accident)

http://rctdb.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Signs3-1-560x386.png

So I "up" this topic because I just thought it would be cool to have the ability to write a text (on a form) that is transformed into "3D letters signboard" (by using already modeled 3D letters, with differents colors and fonts) to automatically generate this kind of thing :

http://www.surreyshopsigns.co.uk/userfiles/images/Chimichanga Shop Sign.jpg

Google sketchup has such a tool for 3d text. You can also chose your own font. It would be great to have it in PlanetCoaster! [up]

 

[OlaHaldor]

Do you have Sketchup? I'd like to see how it produces the text in terms of polycount!

 

[coencoensmeets]

Do you have Sketchup? I'd like to see how it produces the text in terms of polycount!

You wanted to see it? Here it is:

 

[OlaHaldor]

Any 3D app can do that. But what you showed there doesn't show the number of polygons which really matters.
It's a trade-off between quality vs performance.


1. Original text object. Looks good in the 3D app. Won't look good, and will be flawed when in a game engine. A game engine requires the mesh to be either quads or tris. Polygons made up of three or four points.
2. Triangulated mesh based on no. 1. This will look good in-game, but is very performance heavy.
3. Optimized mesh based on no. 1
4. Even more optimized based on no. 3
5. Yet again, even more optimized based on no. 4
6. Based on optimized mesh, this is triangulated and ready for the game engine.

The difference between no. 2 and no. 6 is the polygon count. This single 'P' alone is just over 1000 polygons on no. 2, while no. 6 is just over 120. Even no. 6 could easily (but tedious work) be optimized even further with some manual work instead of using a single click "triangulate" button.

Now you can imagine a longer word, or more intricate logos and shapes. It adds up that you'd need to be careful on what the shape would be so it doesn't bog down the system of the player.

Yes, game engines have become far better than what they were, but never the less - not everyone's got a state of the art gaming rig. [happy]



I'm terribly sorry to hijack the thread with technical talk. But I hope you see the point.

 

[Angelis1]

I'm terribly sorry to hijack the thread with technical talk. But I hope you see the point.

I dont get you point here !
This module could ask a few development days ? Yes, indeed. But there are no complex technical problem to make this kind of generator, it's not even something new.
To be honest, this is certainly "one of the easiest suggestion" to implement until now so ... Why ???

So yeah, you are right, like any other suggestion in this sub-forum, this requires work, particularly if the generator uses an image (and not already made 3D letters like my second suggestion in this thread) because like you said this requires an algorithm that determines the outlines of an image (using the alpha of a PNG for example) and setting a maximum of ... bla bla bla ... to reduce the number of triangles during extrusio... bla bla bla ...

Mate, the technical aspect is not our job, this is not cgtalk here, it's the "suggestion & idea" sub-forum ... [big grin]

 

[Prody07]

Different sized Ride LED Scroll boards would be lower on polygon count, similar to RCT3 but more customizations!

 

[Angelis1]

Neons 3D letters could be great too.

 

[UltimateAirtime]

I would love a 3D sign creator in Planet Coaster! We would also need a range of different fonts and props to make any sign we want!

 

[Helena]

As alternative to individual letters being 3d it can be flat on a frame that is shaped around the whole word. Maye it will be a little less polygon intense then, fitting around entire word (with padding and no holes within) than every individual letter?

 

[JulienPC]

Excellent idea ! This is excatly what i want to make my future parks more personnal. [up]

 

[Helena]

Hey I got it.

To keep the polygon count down a solution is to have only one or two fonts and prepare these to good polygon count in *advance* and then you will have to use one of these two fonts (or more, it all about the work for the developers) and the characters available to make the word. I would be satisfied with this solution.

Then they would prepare the charaters to fit roughly the size of the signage (in relation to the guest) and there you get a rough idea how big it should be and how many polygons it should have, polish the character one by one. Then in game the player would choose the letters and put them together, apply color/texture.

Of course with effects on the characters such as bevelled, outlines would in fact be more characters sets multiplied by number of effect. Then you understand why it has to be only one or two, or maybe three fonts.

 

[DesertRat]

Quote..." I find a lot of this modern technology a little mind boggling." Just a little? I get overwhelmed sometimes! [ugh]

 

[Angelis1]

The questions now are :

In red = Sign based on individuals 3D letters ? [heart]
In blue = Automatically 3D extruded sign based on image ? PNG with Alpha ??? [heart][heart][heart]

If yes, then ... You rox guys !!! Especially the second, which is less impressive at first look, but sooooooo much more powerful, and the possibilities are just huge !!!!
If not, then ... Please do it !!! So we can make our own shop/restaurant brand, our own rides brand, our own anything brand [up]