Author Topic: 3D Bricks (Read 2521 times)

tophius tried it out by making a 64x64 baseplate with studs. took 1 second to plant. think of it this way; every stud has 5 faces, multiply that by 64, then 64 again and you get a 64x64 baseplate.

doesnt mean to say it is impossible that there is a work around or something.

Klocko · August 11, 2012, 04:11:48 AM

Bumpmapping is possible, isn't it?

Night Fox · August 11, 2012, 04:16:24 AM

a 64x64 baseplate still only has six faces (a regular stud also has six, not five. unless you just mean the tops? because that is five)
for each section to be protruding would mean multiplying 64x64x5 for the top part, and then adding five (total, not per direction) for the north-, west-, east-, south-, and down-facing directions
so I think you would end up with an unnecessarily large amount of polygons, and a really ugly 64x64 baseplate

okay, to be fair, that last part is just my opinion. but it's still more trouble than it's worth

Demian · August 11, 2012, 04:42:10 AM

Quote from: Klocko on August 11, 2012, 04:11:48 AM

Bumpmapping is possible, isn't it?

Normal mapping would indeed be very nice as I have demonstrated here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaAELYgp7vw

So let's do the math. You're a graphics whore and absolutely must have 3D studs. How many faces would it really add? Right now the brick top stud texture consists of 1 quad face. With 3D studs it would have 5 faces. So in total a textured brick has 10 quad faces. (Regardless of size I think.) A 3D stud brick would have (brickSizeX*brickSizeY)*5+10 quad faces.

Let's take the good ol' 16x baseplate. Without a 3D stud it has 10 quad faces. With a 3D stud it has (16*16)*5+10 = 1290 quad faces. Do you see the problem here? A single 16x baseplate with 3D studs costs 1290 quads. With that price you could plant 129 regular bricks. That is a single 16x baseplate.

Let's load a build! Say something average like a 75,000 brick build. An estimate I pulled out of thin air says that 25,000 stud tops are visible. That is (25000^2)*5+10 = 3,125,000,010 quad faces compared to the 250,000 quad faces that the build would have without the 3D stud.

"But I'm a graphics whore and I wan't shadows bitch!". As you wish. Let's destroy your computer.

Quote from: Badspot on August 09, 2012, 08:29:17 PM

High - 4x 2048 pixel shadow maps. You are rendering the scene 4 extra times.

((25000^2)*5+10)*4 = 12,500,000,040
That's 12 billion. Now please never request this again.

LeetZero · August 11, 2012, 05:24:36 AM

Not to mention the shaders don't even like them:

Notice the shadows on the edges being forgeted up, also the lightning is completely wrong direction, if you'd use them and also use normal studs, you'd need to have them stuck in 1 lightning.

Demian · August 11, 2012, 05:44:14 AM

Port mentioned that using shaders to create the illusion of a 3D stud should work but I'm not so sure. Last I checked GLSL bump mapping was rather low resolution. I might be wrong though.

Destiny/Zack0Wack0 · August 11, 2012, 06:10:35 AM

Quote from: Demian on August 11, 2012, 05:44:14 AM

Port mentioned that using shaders to create the illusion of a 3D stud should work but I'm not so sure. Last I checked GLSL bump mapping was rather low resolution. I might be wrong though.

It can be done using vertex shaders. Not sure how you would tell whether a brick is a cuboid though (and not for, e.g. a window).

LeetZero · August 11, 2012, 06:11:42 AM

Quote from: Destiny/Zack0Wack0 on August 11, 2012, 06:10:35 AM

It can be done using vertex shaders. Not sure how you would tell whether a brick is a cuboid though (and not for, e.g. a window).

Windows is a "SPECIAL", cuboid bricks are simply "BRICK" in the .blb at the second line. That would be a way to tell.

Demian · August 11, 2012, 06:16:44 AM

Quote from: LeetZero on August 11, 2012, 06:11:42 AM

Windows is a "SPECIAL", cuboid bricks are simply "BRICK" in the .blb at the second line. That would be a way to tell.

Ramps are special bricks and they usually have studs on top of them.

Squideey · August 11, 2012, 07:10:00 AM

Each stud would suddenly become 10 extra polygons. A standard 32x32 plate would go from having 6 quads to having 5,125 quads.