Not sure if this is the right forum, as I am a newbie here. So please let me know if there is a better forum for this message.

I am an experienced developer (C++, Windows) who is interested in developing an editor for creating 3D buildings for games ala Sim City. I have the beginnings of such an editor, but would like to validate the interest in such a program.

Basically, the program would be oriented towards creating 3D art for Sim City/Traffic Giant type games. It would support operations oriented towards creating architectural objects; windows, walls, roofs, archs, etc, and combining them into an architectural object. It would not be a drafting tool, nor a full art tool, but a tool that would allow artists to quickly create interesting architectural elements. These elements could be saved in one or more formats for import into other art tools for additional work. The 3D elements could be flattened into 2D for gaming purposes, either with or without perspective.

Question: is there interest in such a tool? At some point, I would be looking for artists to beta test in exchange for a free license of the first product. Feedback on usability, design, that sort of thing.

Just to set your mind at ease, I'm not 15 years old. I'd like to provide tools for artists and game developers, and build that into a development environment. I have been programming quite a while professionally, so I know such a program would/is quite involved to create. That's why I'd like to try to validate the end with an appropriate user community such as this.

Thanks in advance for any comments/suggestions and en- or dis-couragement.

If you could add a feature to select already-assembled buildings and lay them out on a grid to form scenes or entire cityscapes, that would be fantastic. I'm sure that many of us could use a tool for assembling urban backgrounds or true 3D environments.

I would say that there would be a definate market for this (I don't play Sim games) if you had the option to export to the various 3d file types. I constantly make buildings and such for poser and 3ds for back grounds, btu its time consuming. If there was a program to just plug in a bit of data and preeesto a building that would be great. I would be willing to test it for you as well.

Ditto Little Dragon's comment.

A tib-bit on elements: 1. Domes 2. And wedges for the Connors of buildings in basic designs for Alcoves (so we can add an alcove cornering instead of square blocking) and wedged archways in general design both themed to Art Deco, Art Nouveau and Edwardian styles. 3. some neolithic styles

Another tid-bit Some simple shapes (with some depth) for pools and ponds. And some simple terrians like basic cliff, basic mountain (maybe an obj import could work for some of these)

Yet another tid-bit some fence segments themed to Art Deco, Art Nouveau and Edwardian and simple ones

There is a software called Creature Creator - you can add parts to build a creature (so I understand as I do not have the software} - maybe some structure to the program like that

Thanks for the input. All good suggestions. Right now, I have a simple prototype that allows you to create cubes and rudimentary windows of different sizes, move them around, position them, pan and zoom the camera in 3D space, add texture and colors, and other simple stuff like that. The other major stuff I need to add is more objects (roofs, doors, trim, some of the suggested items here, such as domes, etc), more operations (scale, make a grid of objects, say windows, etc), and save/load. The program will externalize certain elements such as color definitions, textures, and objects. That way, it can be extended without changes to the program for adding new elements. You could add textures by specifying their name and file location, etc. Objects would require the definition of the objects attributes (e.g. depth, width, height for a simple cube object) and some formula/instructions for rendering from those attributes (through a descriptive language). Obviously, this is a lot of work, so I'm starting small with some fixed elements (cubes, windows, simple roofs, simple doors, etc). Early versions will probably not create impressive structures; at some point the productivity of this tool will surpass the productivity of doing the same thing in your favorite editor. The real gains come, I would think, from alignment/construction operations that are tedious in a 'generic' graphics editor (e.g. a hexigonal building). One major question is the file format. I was thinking of saving to .X file, because I can find documentation on the format, and it seems to be able to save the 'extra' information I need to maintain my 'special' objects. The problem I see with a lot of formats is that they don't seem to be able to save and maintain this 'extra' information so that the model could be re-imported into my tool after being editted by your favorite tool. Could be that my tool would have to simply be happy being a 'rough' construction tool that takes the model to a certain point where your tool takes over. Please post any suggestions; I would be grateful for any input. I will post progress, and can/will reply to any email inquiries (although having a community forum reduces duplicate posting effort). Thanks again. Kevin

The problem with using a .x file in this community as your user base, is that not many people are familiar with Direct X file formats. Additionally, that would prevent the end user from sharing their creations with a MAC user unless they have a tool to convert from .X to .OBJ. I'd suggest looking for documentation on the Wavefront Object format or the .3DS format. Both of these are pretty useful and can be imported by just about any 3D package under the sun.

OK, thanks for the suggestion. I'm currently investigating 3DS format. It seems that Autocad does not document it, and any 3DS format documentation is done by individuals. If anyone has a good source for the format, please let me know.