Game Level Builder 3.0  

(for 3ds max 4.2, 5.1, 6.x, 7.x, 8.x, 9.x and gmax 1.2)

Game Level Builder 3.0 (GLB3), is a toolset for making convex e.g. (bsp ruled) based levels for games using Autodesks 3ds max™ and gmax™. The main difference between GLB and all of the standard convex based level editors is that GLB's main system for modelling is not based from boxes which are hollowed or carved (CSG subtracted). GLB allows you to simply draw walls and click in doors, windows and floors. GLB3 can help you create levels faster than any other tool on the market. Create Stairs in seconds, entire buildings in minutes and complete levels in a few hours. 

Using GLB's floor tool and invisible walls, you can create almost anything you want faster and easier than with standard CSG methods. This method of modelling is similar to Surface Tools in max, i.e. spline modelling, except instead of the SplineShape being limited to triangles and rectangles, the splines can simply outline the required shape. Thus eliminating the need for placing a whole lot of splines to define a relatively simple object.

You can see the GLB3 U.I. layout Here.

For some GLB3 tutorials go here

Here is a list of some of the new features and tools in GLB3:

• Convex Corrector. Can correct bad (concave) objects so they are compatible with BSP engines.

Before       After

• Level Top Walls. You can now set any wall so that its top is made level, independant of the slope of its base . You can also set a selection of walls to all level at the top to each other. This is very useful when making bridges, stairs or raised walkways etc. Check out the tutorials.

• Auto Floor tool. Floors your entire level with one click of the mouse.

Before             After

• Floors now update themselves when the rooms they are created from are moved or modified.. The Floor Tool is more efficient, reliable and faster than ever before.

• Invisible Walls. Sounds strange but are incredibly useful. These when used with the floor tool allow you to leave openings in walls and still floor the rooms. They also allow you to create raised platforms, walkways, ramps and holes in the middle of rooms from the floors and create ceilings for rooms very easily. The Floor Tool still requires rooms to be a closed loop of walls, the only thing now is that those walls can be invisible. i.e. only show up as plan-lines. Thus turning the floor tool into a surfacing tool for splines.

• Entity Creator, creates all game definition file (.fgd) based entites, eg. Half-Life® entities etc. So you can now create all your player starts, weapons and func_entites like water etc. in max.

the Entity Toolbar for creating entities.

Entity Properties Window.

• Terrain tool. Create rolling landscapes for your levels. This tool allows you to convert any max object into a BSP compatible one! So to make a landscape all you have to do is create it using standard max e.g. make a plane and lift areas up and down to make hills and vallys, then convert it into convex pieces using this tool. This is very useful when used with Reactor® or SimCloth as you can very easily make tents etc. for your levels.

• Multi-Storey Tool. Create a 50 storey (and higher!) building in seconds! This tool takes a selection of walls and creates a multi-storey building from them by creating a stack of identical walls on top of the selection.

Before                      After

• BmpToMatlib. Create full max material libraries from your extracted game WAD files. This is very useful for texturing your levels in max.

• Pipe Max 2. Improved so pipes are more campatible with WC. Can now also create solid pipes i.e. pipes with no insides. Very useful when running small pipes or electric lines through your level as it creates less polygons. You now create quick pipes by giving an outer and inner diameter rather than a radius and thickness as in Pipe Max 1.x. Quick pipes can now also have their ends capped automatically.

• UI is a lot more user friendly. Walls, windows, doors and floors can all be edited real-time

  so for example you can see a walls height change as you edit it,(if you wish).

  Walls can be automatically output soon as they are added to plan.

  Wall, window, door and floor objects values can be synchronized with the UI using the new

  Grab button. i.e. when you click on a wall the Height and Width spinners set to its values.

  Edit Verts is a lot better because it can now edit the verts of a specific selection of walls, so if you have a huge level, you don't have to wait for hundreds of dummy boxes to appear, only those of the walls you want to edit. You can now also snap and align verts easily after they have been moved.

   

• Handy Cam, the first person camera tool, has been improved. It is now less fps (frames per second) dependant. If you make your scene very detailed, Handy Cam compensates for the slow refresh rate of the viewports, by increasing the speed of the camera. This way the distance the camera travels over time stays about the same even if things slow down.

   

• The .GLf  format has been improved. It can now also save floors and point entities.

• GLB has its own configuration program now so lots of default options can be set easily eg:

         Wall height and width.

         All preset doors and windows can be customized.

         Plan color, door color, window color and much much more can be customized.

   

• Nudge Tools, lets you move objects and vertices by precise amounts, e.g.16 units using the cursor keys or what ever keys you define. This way objects stay on the grid and are easier to work with.

• Map Border limits are displayed. This shows you where your level could be extending beyond the maximum distance limits of a map file.

• Better Help: Game Level Builder 3.0 comes with a proper help file including tutorials and a User Interface Guide. (For those of you who were wondering ;)

• Map Exporter 1.0, an all new .map file exporter. Exports scenes faster and more acurately than 3ds2map. It can export standard max lights (i.e. omni, spot and direct) and Entities made with the new Entity Creator. The exporter will now check objects for compatability with BSP based engines  and correct them where possible. Note: Map Exporter 1.0 does not export UVW Mapping from max.

If you've not tried GLB2.22 then please get it, as it is free and will give you a good idea of what GLB3 is like.

If you would like to create your own games or architectural visualisations etc. with GLB3 and are wondering what engine to use, then take a look at 3D Game Studio A6.

GLB3 is no longer available as of 7th Dec 2007.

Please take a look at our new product Convexity.

Note: The gmax version differs from the max version due to limitations in gmax.

The differences are:      

• Exporting to a .Map file is done through the Listener window. Same as GLB2.x gmax edition.
• Configuration Saves are done through the Listener window.
• Material Libraries created with BMP To Matlib cannot be saved.
• BMP To Matlib cannot generate opacity maps for decal type textures.
• You cannot save to a .GLf file. Same as GLB2.x gmax edition.
• You can save to a .txt file for exporting to the 3ds max versions.

gMax users should check out the free tool gmaxSLGrab for quickly saving text from the listener!

Important Note: As of 6th October 2005 Autodesk has removed gmax from it's site for download. So if you don't currently have gmax you probably will not be able to get it.

Thanks,

Michael.

To ask any questions go to the Maple3D Forums .

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Copyright © 2007 Michael Little, All Rights Reserved.