Custom Cube Block / LOD Block

[Edymnion]

This one is kinda pie in the sky, but...

I would like a block that you can activate like it was a build block, that would take you into build space with a pre-made cube (say 16x16x16) shell that you could change the color of but not modify the shape of. When you left the cube it would have a texture based on what you built. Could even use light blocks in there to make custom light sources as well.

So basically, a block based way of drawing your own texture which could then be saved off as a blueprint you could export.

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Alternatively, same idea as above but with a free build space within a certain size that would turn it into an LOD block. So we could build our own mini-details (like chairs, levers, little model ships, etc) and place them as purely decorative pieces.

 

[Nauvran]

hey this is a good way to fuck up performance!

1 block has 6 sides, each side has 2 tris.
16*16=256 blocks
256*6= 1536 sides
1536*2= 3072 tris
3072 TRIS PER BLOCK!

Even if it's texture based we somehow need some stupid setup to get all 6 sides of that big blob rendered down to a 2D texture plane. So we need a render engine which is usually also performance heavy.
If anything this would need to be done outside of the game, ala MC's skin editor.
But then again the textures Kupu makes are higher res than 16*16, so it would stand out and look stupid as fuck.

 

[OfficialCoding]

This one is kinda pie in the sky, but...

I would like a block that you can activate like it was a build block, that would take you into build space with a pre-made cube (say 16x16x16) shell that you could change the color of but not modify the shape of. When you left the cube it would have a texture based on what you built. Could even use light blocks in there to make custom light sources as well.

So basically, a block based way of drawing your own texture which could then be saved off as a blueprint you could export.

---

Alternatively, same idea as above but with a free build space within a certain size that would turn it into an LOD block. So we could build our own mini-details (like chairs, levers, little model ships, etc) and place them as purely decorative pieces.

That sounds great. I think that Schema has bigger priorities atm but definitely something cool for Beta or Release

 

[Edymnion]

hey this is a good way to fuck up performance!

1 block has 6 sides, each side has 2 tris.
16*16=256 blocks
256*6= 1536 sides
1536*2= 3072 tris
3072 TRIS PER BLOCK!

No it wouldn't.
It would be 16 blocks on each side, with only 1 face visible per side. So thats 16*6= 96 sides. Which would be 192 tris. Because the engine already ignores any faces that aren't visible (its why you can see through a solid ship if you zoom in close enough, because the engine isn't even trying to render faces that can't be seen). Which is already less than the number on things like grates.

Plus, as long as these blocks are given the same stats as other decorative items (like consoles), they're not going to be used as hull, so the overall impact is quite negligible.

it would stand out and look stupid as fuck.

Your politely worded opinion has been noted.

 

[jayman38]

If each block could be translated into a pixel, then it would not be unreasonable to go into a "painting space" with a hull that is 256^3 or even 512^3, and export 6 textures of the same size and paint them onto the block when exiting build/activation mode. 16^3 could be an option, but that would be a very rough, pixelated texture. I suspect your average Starmade player would prefer more resolution.

Or were you thinking that the block would be textured with a 2-D polygonal image? In which case, I think Nauv's math is slightly more accurate than yours.

However, this would be a lot of fun for drawing very specific details. If it doesn't already, the Starmade engine would need an upper limit on the number of textures loaded at once, and would need a "placeholder" texture on those blocks (grey hull would be fine here) where the texture failed to load, due to an overflow condition (too many textures).

I'd want the option for quarter, half, and maybe even 3/4 slabs, so that I could draw my own computer screens.

 

[Edymnion]

If each block could be translated into a pixel, then it would not be unreasonable to go into a "painting space" with a hull that is 256^3 or even 512^3, and export 6 textures of the same size and paint them onto the block when exiting build/activation mode. 16^3 could be an option, but that would be a very rough, pixelated texture. I suspect your average Starmade player would prefer more resolution.

Or were you thinking that the block would be textured with a 2-D polygonal image? In which case, I think Nauv's math is slightly more accurate than yours.

Nah, each block placed would be one pixel.

 

[MeRobo]

a pre-made cube (say 16x16x16)

It would be 16 blocks on each side

I too enjoy my cubes of 16³ blocks with 16 blocks per side as if they were cubes made out of 4³ blocks

 

[kiwispike]

I too enjoy my cubes of 16³ blocks with 16 blocks per side as if they were cubes made out of 4³ blocks

Lol, made me laugh.

 

[Crusade]

Interesting. How would normal, specular, and emmissive mapping be handled? Otherwise, they will look very out of place.