The model exporter/loader isn't going to plan as well as I had hoped. I tried to go with an XML based format until I realised that the file sizes I ended up with were horrendous. I've been working instead on a binary chunked format similar to 3DS files, but obviously with an eye to including skeletal animation support.
So I've modified my system to work with binary data as well as XML. To put it into context, the model I am working with is a blender model I downloaded of a T-Rex. As an xml-style file it ended up a staggering 16 megs in size :(. It wasn't hugely optimised, but still!! My binary version of the same file is 955k in size, which is smaller than the original blender file, but at present lacks animation data.
Of course, with all these distractions I haven't even begun work on animation yet. I'm still trying to get uv's to load in correctly... which incidentally weren't working because of shared vertex issues. I'm currently in the middle of a horrid hack to convert from Blenders vertex/uv scheme into my own. I just wish I had a more elegant solution.
All that aside, we went all old school in the office this evening and had a mini Quake III Arena LAN party which was cool :)
Admittedly I've lost a fair amount of skill since "back in the day", but I'm quite happy with how I did... I managed to keep a decent score and I think a fun time was had by all. I really need to practise with the railgun though...
Anyhoo, sorry to anyone reading that may have been hoping got pictures... there are no piccies yet, I'll keep working on the animation stuff and hopefully get there soon.
Cheers,
Steve
*EDIT* Just managed to get it all up and running properly for the first time... so now I have a picture :) It's not too exciting, but now you can see the model in-game for the first time!
*EDIT2* and thanks to my relatively simple rendering system, I've managed to fiddle around and get ambient directional lighting working for the model within only a few minutes :)
