AddChild

[gamecreator]

I'd like to put a level together dynamically (floors, walls, etc.). Is there a way to make multiple parts into one model? I imagine this would be accomplished through a command such as AddChild but I don't believe this exists. Is there another way to do this?

[nick.ace]

Why wouldn't SetParent() with the child just work?

[gamecreator]

It certainly would but then I'd have hundreds of models. All I need is 1 level model in the end. Plus I imagine, but am not sure, that hundreds of separate models would slow things down.

[nick.ace]

I'd imagine that one big model would be worse in that situation though. You wouldn't get hardware instancing to help you out or occlusion culling. Yeah, the engine would only have to deal with one transformation matrix, but I can't see that tradeoff helping you out in the long run.

[Josh]

Implemented this for the editor, but not official:

void Model::Collapse(Model* targetmodel)

[gamecreator]

Thanks Josh!

 

nick.ace, I'm talking about levels like shown here:

http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/topic/12224-a-bit-help-with-spotlights/#entry88693

 

That would be a 19x13 grid-based level or 247 models. In that example I combined it in Max but I was thinking of doing non-rectangular levels using an editor. I could still break them up into 10x10 chunks, for example, but having the option to combine them if I find that it speeds things up is great.

[nick.ace]

Aw I see! I guess if you can break it down into chunks, that would help, but I still think it would be beneficial to use repeating meshes whenever possible.