Death Warrant Forums

I have started developing a map in UT3 Editor. At this point, I have only started carving out basic geometry but I need to know what is a good secondary program to develop and import static meshes which I must import a lot to make this work. It is a large map with a lot going on as far as overhead, lifts, trap doors, and the like, and I must create a lot of stone and plaster like textures with reach depth. The map is to be geared toward DM and INV. I would hate to invest in Maya to find out ZBrush is more suitable to my needs. Also, is Photoshop capable of producing Normal Maps to show depth on a material? Any recommendations on books for those programs would be appreciated also. Thanks a lot!

P.S. The details on the map, I will divulge in the near future but I will say this: It is a wonderful idea and I would be suprised if somebody else wasn't already working on it...

I love Kizmet by the way, and the Widget is great too, if I spelled those right. If you haven't checked them out yet, you really should. The feel of the new Editor is awesome! Just had to add that... Happy fragging!

I asked the same question on Epic Forums and got back this from a Senior Member Ambershee for those of you interested:

If you want to generate normal maps by hand, then Photoshop will help; but if you're going to just auto-generate them, there an Nividia command-line tool, and there's Crazybump, both of which will do it better. For auto-generated normals from images, Crazybump is pretty sharp; so long as you know when to use it.

Otherwise, you'll want to be generating them from a high-res mesh instead, in your app of choice. The preference amongst most is 3dsmax - but Maya is also a popular option. Other options include Modo, XSI Mod Tool or Blender, but documentation and information will be more sparse. ZBrush is a sculpting tool for your high poly, really.

As for Photoshop, whatever floats your boat. I'm happy with GIMP, personally.

-Ambershee

GIMP is free GNU and free is awesome if you ask me!