So I just saw this and...

[Anthus]

just about cried. Okay, not really, but it is pretty awesome.

Sketch-Up models made into SM64 levels. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2FMxSU5Et0)

I love ZC and all, but this is literally something I've dreamed of. It's in its infancy, and has limitations, but holy shit, the potential is endless.

This will be the Lunar Magic of this decade.

[Darth Marsden]

Wow. Looks like good stuff! I look forward to seeing some 'decent' hacks.

[Anthus]

I've seen a surprisingly low amount of people take advantage of this. However, there are some interesting levels up on YouTube. There is a hack called "Wacky Worlds" which seems to be the most complete. My guess is because you need the pro version of Sketch-Up to export the models properly.

There are still some things I've not figured out like how you get doors to fit perfectly, and whatnot. You also have to be careful cause all the flat surfaces must be "faces" in SU otherwise it will cause collision problems.

[MottZilla]

Levels editing of existing games people often think is going to be awesome, but few people actually create an entire hack of good quality. Most are sub-par or incomplete and never get completed. There are exceptions but generally not much gets done that is super impressive.

[Cloral]

Yeah it seems like most people just try to make ridiculously hard and cheap levels where you have to know the exact timing to get through. At least that's been my experience with user-created levels. Most don't understand that difficulty does not equal quality. That said, you do sometimes find some good, well-made fan levels.

[Darth Marsden]

Hence 'good' as opposed to good. I know full well most hacks to come from this won't be all that great, but it'll still be interesting to see what people do with this.

[Anthus]

I've seen a handful of legit levels on YouTube. Like I said there are less that I'd expect to see, but they exist. Most earlier hacks just make the level annoyingly difficult, since all you can really do is move enemies and objects around. This is currently the only way I know of to edit terrain, which opens up a lot of possibilities.

[Anthus]

EDIT: Caution. Big image warning.


I've been working on this (http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/2522/sstep5.png) just for practice, and fun, mostly. I've been working on texturing as well, but you have to remember this stuff has to theoretically work in an N64 game so it can't get too complex.

It's hard to get a good angle and really show everything in the stage. Plus, this is only a level model in Sketch-Up so there are no objects, or enemies.

I'm worried that the stage might not be entirely to scale though. Oh, and that brown dirt area in the center-left is supposed to have water in it (which can be seen in the older pictures), but I got rid of it for now due to reconstruction on the far side where the blue blocks are. There will also be a waterfall there at that open part which will carry weak swimmers over the edge.

Here's some older pics from the other day before I did a lot of texturing:
Picture 1. (http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/4212/sstep1.png)
Picture 2. (http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/1489/sstep2.png)
Picture 3. (http://img593.imageshack.us/img593/2460/sstep3.png)
Picture 4. (http://img545.imageshack.us/img545/9892/sstep4.png)

I'm hoping this will work, but it's been fun making this either way.

And in other news.. here's a WIP of a 3D Kakariko from AlttP.
Karkariko. (http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/3734/kakariko.png)
Kakariko 2. (http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/6843/kakariko2.png)

[Darth Marsden]

Wow. Looks like good stuff! I look forward to seeing some 'decent' hacks.Justified!

Seriously, that looks awesome. If it imports properly, make sure you upload some footage to YouTube so we can all gawp at it.

[Anthus]

Thanks. I really had no idea if people would like it or not. Of course.. I think it's cool, but I'm glad someone else likes it. Today is the beginning of the importing process. I'll be getting the .obj importer, and hoping I don't need to get a cracked version of Sketch-Up to export the .obj files.

I'll also be watching video documentation about using Toad's Tool. I've looked at it before, and I'm already dreading the camera. Frankly, I think SU has the best 3D camera system. It is very, very easy to move precisely, and it rarely does something you don't want it to.

Does anyone know of any free plug-ins for exporting .objs with SU? Or could I open a .skp file in Blender and export it that way? I don't have Blender on my computer anymore, so that's why I'm asking.


EDIT: SU is a God-send for "N64 development", but man, characters are another beast.

[Anthus]

Well, Here we are, a few weeks later, and I have some screens to show. There are some things you need to know first though. Firstly, there are no enemies or objects in the hack yet. This ties in with the second thing, which is most of these levels, and areas are just experimental and incomplete. I'm not really making a hack right now, but rather, learning the editor, and limits. There are some issues with custom levels, and hard coded camera functions, for example.

I've enjoyed working on this tremendously, and to anyone interested in doing it too, the learning curve is about on par with ZC, but you need to use more than just one program.

One more thing, by today's standards of 3D, these shots are pretty atrocious, but I know my design will improve with more experience.

Here are some screen shots:
http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/8711/metalcapfactory.th.png (http://img846.imageshack.us/i/metalcapfactory.png/)
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/2240/snap00002copy.th.jpg (http://img291.imageshack.us/i/snap00002copy.jpg/)
http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/4639/snap00023.th.jpg (http://img853.imageshack.us/i/snap00023.jpg/)
http://img863.imageshack.us/img863/570/snap00033.th.jpg (http://img863.imageshack.us/i/snap00033.jpg/)
http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/8549/snap00063.th.jpg (http://img846.imageshack.us/i/snap00063.jpg/)
http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/4188/snap00083.th.jpg (http://img854.imageshack.us/i/snap00083.jpg/)
http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/307/snap0009copy.th.jpg (http://img705.imageshack.us/i/snap0009copy.jpg/)
http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/4950/snap0015w.th.jpg (http://img705.imageshack.us/i/snap0015w.jpg/)
http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/209/snap0017.th.jpg (http://img638.imageshack.us/i/snap0017.jpg/)
http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/4421/snap0018copy.th.jpg (http://img849.imageshack.us/i/snap0018copy.jpg/)
http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/3104/snap0025copy.th.jpg (http://img855.imageshack.us/i/snap0025copy.jpg/)
http://img863.imageshack.us/img863/3200/snap0026.th.jpg (http://img863.imageshack.us/i/snap0026.jpg/)
http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/188/snap0029.th.jpg (http://img855.imageshack.us/i/snap0029.jpg/)
http://img860.imageshack.us/img860/2782/snap0030.th.jpg (http://img860.imageshack.us/i/snap0030.jpg/)
http://img861.imageshack.us/img861/7289/scave.th.png (http://img861.imageshack.us/i/scave.png/)
http://img858.imageshack.us/img858/8636/snap0013.th.jpg (http://img858.imageshack.us/i/snap0013.jpg/)
http://img848.imageshack.us/img848/7396/snap0015.th.jpg (http://img848.imageshack.us/i/snap0015.jpg/)
http://img851.imageshack.us/img851/209/snap0017.th.jpg (http://img851.imageshack.us/i/snap0017.jpg/)
http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/4315/snap0020j.th.jpg (http://img844.imageshack.us/i/snap0020j.jpg/)
http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/2750/snap0022f.th.jpg (http://img402.imageshack.us/i/snap0022f.jpg/)
http://img848.imageshack.us/img848/633/snap0023.th.jpg (http://img848.imageshack.us/i/snap0023.jpg/)\

There is also a video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jD4HYRluF4

[Anthus]

Sorry for the double post, but I couldn't fit my screens all in one post...

http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/2029/snap0024.th.jpg (http://img855.imageshack.us/i/snap0024.jpg/)
http://img861.imageshack.us/img861/4817/snap0025.th.jpg (http://img861.imageshack.us/i/snap0025.jpg/)
http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/787/snap0028s.th.jpg (http://img402.imageshack.us/i/snap0028s.jpg/)
http://img864.imageshack.us/img864/188/snap0029.th.jpg (http://img864.imageshack.us/i/snap0029.jpg/)
http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/77/snap0031o.th.jpg (http://img821.imageshack.us/i/snap0031o.jpg/)
http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/6107/snap0035k.th.jpg (http://img87.imageshack.us/i/snap0035k.jpg/)
http://img860.imageshack.us/img860/2749/snap0036.th.jpg (http://img860.imageshack.us/i/snap0036.jpg/)
http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/8822/snap0038n.th.jpg (http://img94.imageshack.us/i/snap0038n.jpg/)
http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/8408/snap0040.th.jpg (http://img846.imageshack.us/i/snap0040.jpg/)

[Mr. 207]

Very neat. Lots of potential for awesomeness.

However, theres no chance that this will be the Lunar Magic of this decade. Why? Simply put, Lunar Magic was (and still is) so popular because of how simple it is to use. If you have a Super Mario World ROM, and can use a mouse, then you can use Lunar Magic to make Super Mario World levels. I only watched the first minute or so of that tutorial you posted in the beginning, but that was infinitely more complex then using Lunar Magic. So as cool as it is that you can more easily make SM64 levels, I wouldn't bet on the SM64 level hacking community growing to anywhere near the vastness of Super Mario World.

[Darth Marsden]

Well, these are pretty awesome.

[Anthus]

Thanks for the complements.

It may not be as popular as LM, it will at least be as interesting as far as what people can come up with. That's more what I meant.

And I think it is hard to guess at what could come along in the next ten years of fan made 3D content.