OpenZone : Presentation

[KhaN]

OpenZOne : Presentation

Author : KhaN
Credit : WindCatcher

Informations :
This tutorial will present you OpenZone, program made by WindCatcher which allow you to design/make your custom zones for EverQuest.
This tutorial was made from my experience with OpenZone.

Requirement :
-None


1. What is OpenZone ?
OpenZone is a Delphi program made by WindCatcher able to build S3D/WLD files readable by EverQuest. This software will allow you to import your 3DS meshes into OpenZone, or simply create your zones from scratch using OpenZone tools. Note that no knowledge in 3D modeling/texturing is required.
OpenZone is still in early stage, but it currently support objects transparency, lights, sounds, animated textures, ... all the things that you will ever need to create a nice zone.

2. OpenZone Possiblities
OpenZone have a lots of possiblilities, that will allow you to enhance your zones.
- Export zones as S3D to use them in EverQuest.
- Import 3DS to your OpenZone scene, to import your own custom 3D Mesh into the zones you are making.
- Add lights to your zones, like torchs, or glowing crystals.
- Add sounds, for zone ambiance like hearing the birds in the forest.
- Create your ground mesh using OpenZone tools, create moutains, lakes, ...
- Add PVP zones to create arenas, or PVP only zones.
- Animated your textures, to create moving waters.
- Add objects and place them where you want.
- And more ... !

3. Work with OpenZone.
There is actually two ways to use OpenZone :
- Import a 3DS file that you have created with another 3D modeling software and then, import it into OpenZone. OpenZone will do the conversion, and you will then be able to export it as a S3D file usable by EverQuest.
- Create your zone using OpenZone inbuilt tools and then export it as S3D. Creating a zone with OpenZone is fairly easy, there is no 3D modeling requirement, you just create your ground mesh, add elevation to it, add objects, lights, water, sounds, its fairly easy.

4. OpenZone limitations.
There is a lot of things that OpenZone dont support "for the moment", but the main limitation with OpenZone is the quality of the zone you will be able to create. If you are using OpenZone inbuilt tools to create your zones, keep in mind the general quality of the zone wont be better than EverQuest Old World zones, because even if OpenZone is a great software, its not a professionnal software designed to build 3D mesh. If you want to build better looking zone, the best way is to create your 3DS mesh, and then import it into OpenZone, there are good free software out there, like GMax.
There is a strict limitation regarding the EQ client: it will only load those zones that it knows about. If you wish to create zones with OpenZone and use them *without* overwriting any existing zones, you'll need to use ZoneProxy and you'll have to connect to an EQ server that takes advantage of ZoneProxy. Otherwise, you'll have no choice but to export to an .S3D file that is the same name as an existing zone and overwrite it.

If anyone have questions, regarding zones creations, post, i will do my best to try to answer you.