Random: What engine to model my town?

[cycloid]

My home town is quite small - would fit in a 2.5 x 2.5km square with room to spare - would be smaller if i chopped off a "suburb" or two - and i've often mused about modeling the thing.

i reckon with a decent 3d editor it'd only take a weekend to map the road layout from satellite photos and knowledge off the top of my head so my question is: is there any Free engine out there that i could do that in? ideally it'd have vehicle physics built in so i can race around the thing.

if i had time i'd probably build my own engine but then i'd have to do all the physics and i'm lazy (but a physicist, go figure)

[Steeveeo]

google GameSpace Lite, that is a decent model editor, but the free version has a grid limit, so if you put the town into a game, make sure that game has model scaling capabilities because you'll have to make the models REEEALY small (compared to the grid) if you're creating an entire town.

GSL can save objects into .x (direct x model) format.

[Naked Snake]

Build it in the SOURCE engine.

[leileilol]

if you make it vrml you can do it on the internet !!

[andrewj]

Perhaps: Blender + CrystalSpace

Take with grain of salt, as I've never used them.

[cycloid]

Steeveeo said:

google GameSpace Lite, that is a decent model editor, but the free version has a grid limit, so if you put the town into a game, make sure that game has model scaling capabilities because you'll have to make the models REEEALY small (compared to the grid) if you're creating an entire town.

GSL can save objects into .x (direct x model) format.

map limit might not be a problem so long as models can scale as if for example you make 1 unit = 10cm / 3 inches that's easily enough to model street level detail (a kerb can be 1 unit high) and buildings. if the grid is limited to (unsigned short int) 63326 that's 6.5 km each side ~= 3.5 miles. plenty

oh and i realised i need 4 x 4 km (which is 2.5 x 2.5 miles)

[exp(x)]

If Adobe Atmosphere was still around, you could have used that.

[Steeveeo]

cycloid said:

map limit might not be a problem so long as models can scale as if for example you make 1 unit = 10cm / 3 inches that's easily enough to model street level detail (a kerb can be 1 unit high) and buildings. if the grid is limited to (unsigned short int) 63326 that's 6.5 km each side ~= 3.5 miles. plenty

oh and i realised i need 4 x 4 km (which is 2.5 x 2.5 miles)

ya thats pretty much restating exactly what I just said....

[AirRaid]

Comedy Blockland Option