I have just read through this thread you guys are amazing wish i knew what what you were talking about but i love the results
OK. This is surprisingly simple, once you understand what I am doing.
There is a program called Model Converter at http://sims3newyork.blogspot.com/2011/09/twallan-comes-through-yet-again.html This is your Rosetta stone for converting models. It will convert models between a number of different formats. The program itself comes from the Flight Simulator community -- they have a real interest in these types of conversions.
I would suggest, for the moment, forgetting about Google Earth. Sketchup really is designed only to support Google Earth, but it makes really bad models for games. If you look at most of the models on Google Earth, 90% of them are really bad. These models really are not made for gaming applications.
A better source would be converting buildings used in various flight simulators. You can get Microsoft Flight Simulator for $20 to $30. Once you start digging around in it, you will find that it has thousands of models. Not just buildings, but planes (surprise, surprise), cars, trucks, trains, ships, boats, bridgess, decorative items like power lines, and just about every landmark on can find in the world.
The nice thing about flight simulator models is they were designed for gaming. Most of them are 15 minute conversions.
I haven't done a tutorial on this because I am still trying to perfect things. Also, I have had a major infection in my leg for the past month, and my dog died earlier this week. So creating stuff has been back burnered while I deal with real life problems.
Did you ever decide if you would do a tutorial on this? Or get all the kinks out? I'd love to make some more neighborhood decorations for my game. I can't find any to download to use for the EIG mode.
Comments
Did you ever decide if you would do a tutorial on this? Or get all the kinks out? I'd love to make some more neighborhood decorations for my game. I can't find any to download to use for the EIG mode.