Basic Modeler Info
Despite it’s name the Surreal Modeler is not used so much for modeling. Instead the Surreal Modeler was designed to accurately texture and bound models for placement in Surreal’s Riot Engine via the Level Editor. Just like the Level Editor it's important to learn these tools carefully. If you are going to make new art it's important that you understand the key features to ensure your level will work properly. It may take some time and trial and error but before long this tool will become second nature.
Before diving into the tutorials make sure you have the modeler and plug-ins downloaded and installed properly. See setup for instructions.
FORMATS
Working with the art tools you will become familiar with 3 file formats developed by Surreal. They are REO, REC and REA. REO’s, short for Riot Engine Object, are static models placed in the Level Editor. These models contain texture and bounding information. REC’s, Riot Engine Characters, in addition to texture and bounding information, also contain weighted vertices for use in animating. REA’s, Riot Engine Animation, if you haven’t already guessed, are motion files that are attached to REC files in the Surreal Level Editor.
When making textures be sure to save them out as BMP’s. The Level Editor and Modeler will only except textures sizes that are a power of 8 pixels. That is 8, 32, 64, 128, 256,512, etc. However, 3DFX cards running Drakan will not display 512 textures, so do not exceed 256X256 pixels.
LAYOUT
One of the most efficient ways to work in the Modeler is to have the windows you use most open and arranged neatly at all times. The most common windows have quick buttons located in the far right section of the menu bar. They include the texture window, view options, texture mapping, bounding, and the character skeleton window. Although the bounding and character skeleton windows are a key feature to the Riot Engine they are often used less frequently and don’t need to be open at all time. Also be sure to open the tools window located under view\toolbars\main toolbar.