Hi guys,
I used to lurk here many years ago, and just returned to ask a question about modeling for JA. I've got quite a bit of experience with Blender, and would like to make some custom models I could use as misc_model_static entities in Radiant. Sadly, I can't find any information about how to do this. I've found some promising google hits, but the info is stale and I'm met with dead links and incomplete threads on the topic.

Does anyone reading this know what steps if any I can take to bring models from Blender into Radiant? Even exporting/importing to some other (free beer) program to accomplish this? I'm continuing to search on my own, but I figure if anyone's around to see this message, they are likely to be better informed of where to look.

Thanks for reading,
ThatCrazyGuy

Hmm.

I think the first order of business is to see if Blender exports to .md3 or .md5 .I can imagine someone would have made a plugin, and since JA uses the Quake 3 engine, something made for a Quake 3 engine game would probably suffice.

Also, misc_model_static can use .ase models as well, which is typically made from brushes -> model in the editor. Here's more on that.

I know you can turn Blender models into .map files so I could poke around to see an adequate plugin.

Thanks for the quick reply!
I found some md3 / md5 export scripts (on the katsbits site you linked to, actually). I thought I was looking for 3DO stuff? I also read the article on using ase format instead. This endeavor is a bit more complicated than I expected it to be. I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed at the moment, but I'll have a good place to start looking when I come back to it, which is just what I wanted. After messing around with Radiant a while, it's clear I've forgotten quite a bit, and need to focus on mapping rather than asset creation anyway. At this rate, even the die-hards will have moved on by the time I get a map finished.

Thanks again for the nudge in the right direction,

You can export to Autodesk .3DS in Blender and convert the model to .md3 in Milkshape 3D. It should work in theory!

An excellent point, I suppose I could go that route instead. I had better model everything I'll ever want to bring into JA before grabbing Milkshape though, since you only get a 30 day trial. A permanent free solution would be ideal, given JA's 8 years old and I'm still wanting to map for it. Thanks for the idea!

Also in terms of how to actually export the model properly, I'm clueless. I assume the model and texture are stored separately and linked in Radiant? I don't recall. Ah well, I'll figure it out if I get the map off the ground.

You wouldn't have to link it together in Radiant as long as you provide the right paths. However, some models do use special shaders. You should look at the JA models that came with the game, since the logic of they work should make sense. My suggestion is to model a cube and see if you can get it in the game.

I thought you are going through the Blender route? Why use Milkshape? Of course, the better option is to *find* Maya or 3dmax.

I'm not sure why you need .3do models...