XSI Prefab Questions

Black_Puffin

L1: Registered
Sep 23, 2008
4
0
First a bit of information:
I'm better with XSI than I am with Hammer.
I have searched for tutorials to no avail.
I have XSI 7 with Mod tool plugin and the XSI Mod tool
I know XSI can export prefabs.

The Questions:

What can be brought in from XSI? I heard that there is a way to place but not manipulate entities.

Is it possible to create displacements in XSI and bring them in through the prefab?
 

Sgt Frag

L14: Epic Member
May 20, 2008
1,443
710
You can only export models in smd format, which you then convert with a qc file into a slew of valve specific files it needs for the model to be in game.

They are great for details, but you can't make a displacement and import it. No need to as displacements are easy to make in Hammer and you use Hammer tools to manipulate/paint them.

Also, making ground in a 3d program would have issues.
1: collision. You can only be so detailed with collision models, displacements are exact.
2:shadows. models are shaded based on their center. A ground model would probably be large and would light very good modt likely.
3:it couldn't be changed in Hammer to account for flushing it up to a building, rock, stairs, whatever... Would be specific only to one map unless someone wanted to map around a certian piece of ground.
4:rendering:models are harder to render than displacements, why put the burden on the engie with something like the ground when you can use that detail for things that can't be made easily in Hammer.


If you are good with XSI then it wouldn't take long at all to learn the basics of Hammer.
 

Black_Puffin

L1: Registered
Sep 23, 2008
4
0
okay, a bit of clarification.
XSI also has a VMF exporter used to create Prefabs not models.
I realize that I could create a model but it would be harder to work with.
The advantage of the prefab is that it would be read as brushes.

Thanks for the replies.