3D Modeling Help?

[sonicth033]

I play Ring Racers with 3D models (big fan of the saturn era vibe), but not a lot of character mods have 3D model support. So, I've decided to take the opportunity to teach myself a skill and start learning how to make low-poly character models (Shoutout to Crashsune Academy's tutorials on youtube). My initial plan is to just try and model some existing character mods, but down the line I may branch out and try to make some of my own mods from scratch. I'm in the minority of people who feels less overwhelmed about 3d modeling than sprite art, so we'll see how that turns out lol

The only problem is, I'm struggling to find resources about modeling for Ring Racers specifically. The only thing I've found is fznmeatpopsicle's "Blender-Only SRB2K 3d model import," but it's unclear to me how much of this tutorial carries over to DRRR.

So, here are my many questions:

1. Can I import character models from the game files directly to blender to use as references? And if so, how? There's 3 files associated with each file (.md3, .png, and blend.png), and I'm not sure which of those are relevant to blender importing.

2. Is it recommended to import an existing character to blender to obtain the DRRR standard kart's model, or is there a better resource for that? fznmeatpopsicle's tutorial included a kart template, but I'm assuming that the model may have changed since SRB2K.

3. I understand that the DOOM engine handles color differently, and that the standard color is typically a specific shade of green. Is this something that I would need to understand better for modeling, or is this exclusive to sprites?

4. I've heard some mention of the 3d rendering engine potentially changing in the future. Is this true? And if so, what exactly does that mean for existing model mods?

5. fnzmeatpopsicle's tutorial shows two different methods of animating models: Rigged, and Rig-less. Is there a noticeable difference in quality between these two methods? And which of these methods are used for the characters in the base game? I've heard that rigging is very complicated, and while I want to focus on making quality content, I would hate to choose the harder option if the difference in the end results are negligible.

6. Do you have any additional resources you'd recommend to me for learning DRRR modding?



If I think of any more questions, I'll add them below. And, if I get proficient enough with this, I'd love to make an updated comprehensive tutorial on DRRR blender modeling for the community.

Thanks!

 

[nonya]

I'm not an expert by any means, but I'll try and answer what I can

1: So those aren't specifically recognized by Blender, but you can find .md3 import plugins that will do the job if you want to check them out as reference. The current Ring Racers model template by fznmeatpopsicle also comes with its own neatly labeled example stickfigure model, which is a very handy reference.

2: If you join the Kart Krew Discord and check the custom-racers channel, you can find the template for the DRRR styled kart model along with the necessary plugin to export it to DRRR's format. You shouldn't have to use an existing character model for anything other than study, and the process itself is very similar to that SRB2Kart tutorial you mentioned

3: I've always just used the standard green, but as far as I can tell the green color doesn't particularly matter to the 3D models aside from visual consistency with the sprites. The important part is the _blend.png file, which is what tells the game which part of the model should be recolored for the alternate palettes

4: As far as I know, this isn't something users will have to worry about. The current Legacy GL renderer is buggy and crash-prone, and the devs are working on a more stable replacement. I'd imagine all the models will continue to work with the new renderer when it comes

5: It's just a matter of preference in your workflow. The .md3 files don't actually have rigging after being exported, they're moreso a series of poses that a model can switch between. You would rig your models for the purposes of quickly and cleanly puppeteering your model and lining it up with the kart. But if you really, really don't want to mess with rigging, you could get away with manipulating the character's model manually- it'd just be a pain in the ass.

Other than that, I'd honestly just recommend joining the Kart Krew discord if you need more specific help on anything