[OPENTTD] 32bpp Graphics Creation

[Mason2214]

Hi All

Been playing Openttd for quite some time now, and i'm loving the new 32bpp graphics. I know there aren't many 32bpp grf's available at present (been using zbase and a few of the others cant remember the ones)

I have quite an advanced knowledge with 3D cad systems, and was wondering if i could create my own 3d models within my cad system then export them as stl files for use in blender. My only problem is i have no idea whatsoever whether this is possible or whether these can be used for the creation of new grf's for use in the game.

Would this be any help to the community as i'm more than willing to create some new trucks, trains, planes, etc. But i'm hesitant to start this as my coding skills and knowledge of grf's is very limited. I have been reading various tutorials regarding the rendering also. But believe this could possibly be done just as effective with the 3D cad environment.

Also just a thought could the 3D models downloaded freely from 3dcadbrowser website be used for the creation of new sprites/models for new 32bpp grf's. I know these would need tweaking slightly but thought this might be route to take. This would probably mean contacting the creator for permission to use of these within new grf's.

Any ways thanks for taking time to read this post, any help or advice/tutor would be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks

Alan

[PikkaBird]

Welcome to the forums.

i have no idea whatsoever whether this is possible or whether these can be used for the creation of new grf's for use in the game. [...] But believe this could possibly be done just as effective with the 3D cad environment.

32bpp graphics for OpenTTD, like the 8bpp graphics, are just flat bitmap sprites. How those sprites are created - whether rendered out of blender or another 3d program or hand-drawn - is immaterial. So yes, if your CAD program can create good-looking images, you can export your sprites straight from there.

Turning those sprites into a grf is about as complex as you want it to be - a simple grf with no whizz-bang features is quite easy to write, and you'll find plenty of people around here willing and able to help.

[Supercheese]

If you can render some excellent vehicles/whatnot and export them as images (.png, optimally) with transparent backgrounds, I (and several others) can code them into a working .grf in no time.

For instance, several of the vehicles from my Eyecandy Road Vehicles .grf are rendered in Sketchup. 32bpp sprites for them are planned for the near future; I just have to make the time to resize the renders, inspect the pixels, and write a few more lines of code.

[Mason2214]

Thanks for replying to my post.

I'm in the middle of creating models within the cad environment, so will keep you updated on my progress. However never had any real need to learn rendering with models i have created but im very eager to learn. Do i need my models to be a certain size just i'm currently creating them at full size but not with all details as Openttd doesn't need this level of detail.

Regarding the code writing for grf's, like i said early i have no coding experience at all, so would need either a helping hand along the way.

Do the new grf's use the sound from another part of the software or are they coded into the grf itself.

Is there any tutorial for absolute beginner's as i would like to learn and maybe give some thing back to the community, as i have loved bringing a little of my youth back with Transport Tycoon.

Thx

Alan

[Supercheese]

Is there any tutorial for absolute beginner's as i would like to learn and maybe give some thing back to the community, as i have loved bringing a little of my youth back with Transport Tycoon.

Yep: http://www.tt-wiki.net/wiki/NMLTutorial

[Eddi]

If you are creating vehicles, they need to have specific sizes. Easiest if you find one of the vehicle templates that are floating out there to compare.

Note that the dimensions in (Open)TTD are a bit tricky, so that vehicles in - or | directions have different proportions than vehicles in / or \ direction, which may require certain magic in your CAD program (or you live with the fact that there may be gaps between your vehicles)