As always, I'll start the new post with an obligatory link to the new OverDose website and forums. Over the last few years our servers have had the personality of a chronically depressed lemming and have had the tendency to drop out of existence at the best of times. Thankfully, we have been on the new server for a good while now and it’s as solid as an IT nerd on the front row of a swimsuit modelling contest. So, the big shiny logo below, go ahead and play whack a mole with it:
This link will give you access to the main OverDose website where all the news gets posted first, as well as access to the [TBG] forums, which we think of as kind of our "EXTRA!" area. We post a lot of development junk, pictures and info in there that doesn't make it to the main sites, so if you want first hand access to the inner workings of OverDose, get your filthy mitts on a forum account and get posting!
OverDose Tools… For Your Own Use!
Wait, say what…?! Yeah, the guys at [TBG] work hard, and we love nothing more than making our own jobs easier when possible. One of these areas is our toolset, which helps us greatly when it comes to working on OverDose. “But wait, are these tools just for OverDose?” I hear you cry, and the answer is… No! While these tools were built for OverDose use, they can be used in other situations for modding other games. Here’s the run down of what this package contains:
ODCompress – Ahh, what will likely attract the most users. ODCompress will take any .tga file and convert it into a .dds file, allowing you to set the compression format, channel weights, alpha threshold etc, or just allow the tool to do what’s best (Which works flawlessly 99.9% of the time, even for normal maps!). Here’s the best bit, it will allow you to select files by hand or select entire directories. A really easy to use but powerful GUI.
ODFont – A tool that will take any true type font and create multiple resolution .tga/.dds files from it, for use in your game GUI’s from it. We don’t supply the code to help your engine support this feature so keep that in mind, but this is the tool we use to create in-game fonts in OverDose. .tga/.dds fonts are much better than loading a font directly into your engine.
ODMap – This tool is really only useful for OverDose development, but I’ve included it anyway so that you can, if you wish, compile D3/Q4 format .map files into OverDose .bsp files. Its also there to show you A) How easy it is to work with OverDose and B) How far our toolset has come with usability. Remember, the code for ANY of these tools is available at any time, so if you have a Q3 mod and what to convert ODMap into a new Q3Map compiler GUI for your own needs, get in touch.
ODModel – Again, this tool is mostly for OverDose work, and will take a .ase/.obj.lwo model and convert it into OverDose’s own .mdl format models (The OD .mdl isn’t to be confused with the Source format .mdl, although we have the same goals. OD.mdl will simply stream line the mesh as much as possible, cleaning it and taking out any junk that isn’t needed). It will also convert any .ase/.obj.lwo model into and OverDose .cm Clip Model for use in game for collision detection and physics, as well as turn .md5mesh into a .md5clip model (Again for animated collision).
ODVideo – Another major tool that we get a lot of requests about. ODVideo takes any outputted images in animation form (For example, dumped right from the console with aviDemo) and turns them into a .ROQ video (complete with custom sounds), all in a handy GUI. But wait, that’s not all! It has separate frame rate and bit rate settings with a higher resolution, which, simply put, allow for stunning 720p 30fps 20mbit/sec videos.
Each tool comes with verbose output on compile which allows you to check exactly what’s going down in Groovetown with the program, as well as the ability to log it all to an external text file. Click the shiny download button below to find the download:
NOTE: These tools are supplied as game editing tools, and as such there are certain rules to how they work. The directory that the tool will search in must be directly accessible from where the program is been used. For example, for use with Doom 3 media, simply place in your “Doom 3” folder and then load the directory “base” on program load. This will allow all of Doom 3’s file structure visible by Windows to work with the tools.
Ok, that’s pretty much it. We wanted to release these tools because to be quite honest, they really do help with media creation. I know the .dds tool alone gets a hell of a lot of requests, simply because its so fast and easy to use but it exports superior compression with normal maps compared to others. That ATI tool…? Waaaaaaay too complex.
So, enjoy, and if you have any questions just ask away!
(No, ODRadiant isn’t in this package, as its WIP, so if you’re a coder then get in touch we need help on that front. It wouldn’t be much good even if it was as its for OverDose!)
thanks for releasing these tools to the community gratis. .dds exporter certainly looks useful, like you said.
OOOOO:!
Finally a good RoQ utility.
I like the sound of that .dds converter. Awesome stuff, much appreciated. No doubt especially by those of us making our own little projects.