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MD2 vs MD3

Started by Fuzztrek Oct 30, 2002 at 9:03 PM 10 replies 7.5k views
Original Post
Fuzztrek
Fuzztrek
Hello All, I''m looking into using the quake model file format for my engine (becuase i''ve heard it''s a lot easier than using the x file) and was wondering what the difference is between the md2 and md3 file formats. Should i be loading md2''s or md3''s? What has more features? Which is simplier? I''ve searched around but havn''t found much. Thanks in advance. ¬_¬
niyaw
niyaw
i agree with ap. md3 is a richer format, but to achieve that richness it has to be more complex.
Fuzztrek
Fuzztrek
Alright =) thanks for replying

I''m following the gamedev.net tutorial for loading MD2 files (http://www.gamedev.net/reference/articles/article1653.asp). This tutorial uses DrawPrimitiveUP to render the mesh. Is this okay? I''ve heard that DrawPrimitiveUP is a very slow way of rendering. In this instance is it okay?

Thanks again!!

¬_¬
niyaw
niyaw
you shouldn''t be using it for anything, so says almighty nvidia. it''s ok when you''re testing stuff out and don''t want to bother with drawprimitive, but don''t use it for final code. dynamic vertex buffers are the way to go.
Shadows
Shadows
Ehh... as far as I know MD3 uses keyframes as well the only difference is that MD2 is a single model while MD3 are split up into three pieces which are rendered individually... sure the MD3''s have bone attachments but I don''t think that it uses skeletal animation... however I might be wrong I''ve actually written a MD3 loader for D3D however it was some time ago so if someone''s intersted I''ll go and dig up the code...

// Fredrik
Drath
Drath
Don''t quote me on this but I belive there are two versions that are intercompatible. The mesh version was the first one and it appeared in Q3A, the bone version was later implanted in Q3TA.
Fuzztrek
Fuzztrek
Thanks everyone!

I guess I''ll have to find a tutorial that doesn''t use drawprimitiveUP. I''m too stupid to figure out what to do with what I have

¬_¬
Shadows
Shadows
Drath: I think your right cause if I remember correctly there were bone "spaces" already in the first MD3 code (i.e. Q3A) however they weren''t used for anything save attachments then...
guitarplayer
guitarplayer
The bone animation part of md3 is that if low body part jumps and do a flip, all the other parts should do it(model formats do not specify rendering schemes, but the informatinos that md3 do have should/can be used for that), withouth interfering with their animation. That´s the only thing about it being bone animated.
md4 goes a step foward as storing bone positions instead of vertex positions per frame.
----------------------------I would rather burn dollars than USA flags... but they are too expensive!
dagamer34
dagamer34
Go to www.gametutorials.com and look in the OpenGl section. There is an MD2 loader in there in OpenGL. Convert it. If you have any problems, contact me.

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