(3DS Max users should not read this as the word sketchup makes them cry most of the time)

A little while ago I wanted to export some of my sketchup models to IV. I found it to much of a hassle to do the Sketchup -> 3DS Max conversion every time I wanted to export or update something so I decided to quickly write an exporter to improve my workflow. If anyone is interested in it I’ll make it suitable for release and release it.

Current features:
– Export WDR (Really basic)
– Export WBD/WBN
– Export WPL
– Export IDE (WIP)

I know there are a few sketchup modders out there so if you’re interested in this let me know.

Note: Sketchup Pro is not required because it’s a ruby plugin.

So since GTA III Released for mobile devices today, I was wondering if anyone has looked into modding this one yet? I’ve played the first 2 missions and got to say the touch screen controls suck less then I thought (they still suck). I might have a look at the game files later this week.

Not much has changed since I went offline. I am still busy with college and I am hoping to finish somewhere in June. Meanwhile I am working on CBC Reloaded (An improved version of Crazy Bumper Cars). I’ll post some screens or a vid when it’s done.

If you’ve got any suggestions for my blog do tell, cause I am not sure what to blog about.

I’ve been busy on a game for college for a couple of months now. After 5 months of development it’s finally done! Everything was made by our team that exists of 2 programmers and 3 designers. We used the XNA framework. So it runs on both the PC and Xbox 360.

It’s called Crazy Bumper Cars (CBC) and it is a mix between Mario kart and Monkey Ball. You can check out the progress blog here if you’re interested!

For all you GTA IV modders out there, that want more then GTA IV can offer due to it’s closed source. There is an excellent alternative in the works called “GRIT Engine”.

GRIT Engine is an open source streaming engine that’s currently in progress for everyone that loves open world environments and GTA style gameplay. It’s build in a way that it’s really easy to create your own maps especially if you’re a GTA Modder. All help is welcome, so if you’re a coder or a modeler and are interested in the project go to the GRIT website and join the forum or IRC.

It’s still a work in progress but it already has a lot of features IV has, including:

• Code is open source and MIT licensed.
• Large open world maps, content streamed from disk.
• Normal / specular / gloss maps
• Heightmap based texture blending
• Deferred shading
• Soft dynamic shadows
• 24 hour time cycle with sun, moon, clouds
• Stars at night with real constellations
• Procedural placement of vegetation and clutter
• General purpose 3d physics engine.
• Game objects are extremely scriptable via Lua.
• We have vehicles (implemented in Lua).
• Developing/debugging scripts is easy thanks to an in-game Lua console.
• Linux and Windows ports are available.

Some screenshots of the engine in action:

For more info about this project or try the current version you can go to http://www.gritengine.com.