Well it's been a while since I've last updated my blog - and really have nothing interesting to report in my life (well, ok, maybe something soon :), but for now, these are some of the lastest pics of my game graphic engine. 

Not really much new, except that I'm very close to completing a custom importer from 3DS Max to a custom model format that my game uses.

Those using XNA may ask, why "Yet Another Custom Format" ?

Well, I need the flexibility of using multiple vertex streams, the ability to reduce complexity of models that are far away, normal mapping importing with some advanced lighting as well...

Anyway, here are a few pics of some asteroids that I created in 3DS Max and imported into my game - the importer creates the DDS files automatically and the C# code as well - all I need to do is copy/paste to Visual Studio 2008 and I'm all set.

2000 Polygon count asteroids:

100 Polygon count asteroids:

The first two screen shots contain asteroids that are actually medium polygon objects (<2000 polygons per asteroid).  They are 'normal mapped' which basically means that there is a 'picture' that covers each asteroid that gives it lighting instructions that give it the great detail you see. 

In the last screen shot (just above), the asteroids are low polygon objects (only using 100 polygons per asteroid), yet they look almost as well defined.  (Can you see the differences?)

Thanks to 'Normal Mapping', very low polygon objects can still look highly detailed.

Low polygon models are important in games because the less polygons you have per model, the faster your game will render!  Which means you can have more explosions, ships, etc.

These renderings of an asteroid are my first attempt at creating a model in 3DS Max, and as you can see, it isn't too bad.  I'll be hiring a professional modeler to do the 'real' game objects when I am ready for that.

The importer program I am writing looks like this:

And the exporter:

Well, that's it for now.

Back to work for me!

Also, just want to say 'hi' to the guys in #XNA on EFNet.

-Todd