Truespace7.6 script for exporting Unreal and Doom3 compatible ASE files for use as static meshes.  Smoothing groups are simulated through the use of a mesh copy and material painting.

click this line to download the script

May 4 2009:

 

Test object inside trueSpace.  Image shows the mesh, a collision object for use in unreal and a copy object painted to simulate 3dsmax smoothing groups.

Definition of smoothing groups from GMax help file:

Smoothing groups are numbers assigned to the faces or patches of an object. Each face or patch can carry any number of smoothing groups up to the maximum of 32. If two faces or patches share an edge and share the same smoothing group, they will appear as a smooth surface. If they don't share the same smoothing group, the edge between them appears as a corner.

Create smooting groups:

1. Copy the mesh
2. Rename the copy to "smoothingGroups"
3. Use the paint faces tool to define areas that should be smoothed together.  Any combination of materials can be used, but it's easier to just use plain color materials.  The indices of the materials will become the smoothing group numbers.


Unreal collision objects:

Collisions meshes are created by using special names on extra geometry in the scene.

For UT3 use the following prefixes to create collision objects
  UBX_ - box
  USP_ - sphere
  UCX_ - mesh

For UT2004 and eariler use the following prefixes on the mesh names
  MCDBX_ - box
  MCDSP_ - sphere
  MCDCY_ - cylindar
  MCDCX_ - mesh


This image shows the result of exporting a mesh using the Collada file format.  The mesh is good with proper normals but no unreal collision object.  Simple collisions can be added using the unreal editor.


This image shows the same object exported in ase format with no smoothingGroup mesh to control smoothing.  Unreal ignores the surface normal data and all surfaces are smooth.  Maybe it's possible to adjust with a normal map applied.  Note that the collision mesh was imported from the ase file.



This same file can be imported to Doom3 and the surface normals will not be ignored.  Doom3 looks at the normals and ignores the smoothing groups.
Doom3 needs a material file to be created manually.
click this line to see notes on doom3 modding including material file setup


Ase object with simulated smoothing groups imported to unrealed.

truespace scale 1 meter becomes 10 units in the file
only single mesh objects, no heirarchy

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