The Model Previewer

The models loaded into our scene—the player car, nonplayer cars, and the road signs—each require a bit of manipulation after being loaded. We just saw how to change the texture on the Camaro models to give the illusion of different cars. But we also may need to change the models in other ways. You never know what you are getting with stock art: coordinate systems, units, normals, and so on may have to be changed to get them game-ready. Rather than load each model into the finished art scene on a trial-and-error basis, it would be better to use a simple tool to preview each model and find the issues.

To that end, we have adapted the model viewer from the preceding chapter. The new version provides information we’ll need for the game. Figure 8-4 depicts the viewer after loading our player car. Check it out by loading Chapter 8/game-model-viewer.html into your browser.