		  /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
		  //*****************************************************************//
		  //*			        S.W.A.T                             *//
		  //*								    *//
		  //*		       Special Weapons And Tactics.                 *//
		  //*****************************************************************//
		  //*	            An Unreal Tournament Modification		    *//
		  //*		    http://www.planetunreal.com/swat	    	    *//
		  //*		    - Reference			    	    	    *//
		  //*****************************************************************//
		  /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////


!! If you have some info to share, make this reference THE reference ;) !!


* Maps.
~~~~~~~

  Check SWAT_Mapping.txt



* Textures
~~~~~~~~~~

  They have to be in 256 colors indexed.
  The size if the texture must be a power of 2 (ie: 128*64 is ok, 48*16 is bad).
  But the texture doesn't have to be square.
  The Texture size limit is 256*256, unless you use mipmaps, then the limit is 1024*1024.
  Textures over 256*256 will only work if the 3D card supports it, provide mipmaps if you
  don't want the game to crash.

  Texture file must be a 256 color palettized BMP or PCX.

  But you can find a lot of precious info there:
  http://unreal.epicgames.com/Texture.htm



* HUD icons.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

  S.W.A.T HUD icons are textures so they work the same way.

  HUD icons are in grayscales.
  The color of the icon isn't stored in the file, but chosen realtime.
  You only draw a grayscale image where white (255, 255, 255) stands for the brightest color
  black (0, 0, 0) for transparent, and gray (128, 128, 128) for semi-transparent.
  And all the shades in between.

  Ask for samples if you want to get a better idea of how it works.
  The current icons are 64*64 in size (money, zones, time, ammo, etc..)



* Sniper crosshairs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  They work just like the HUD icons.
  except that black is treated as a solid black color, gray(128, 128, 128) as full
  transparent, and white (255, 255, 255) brightens the screen.
  Each color is multiplied by the texture, so below 128 it darkens the color, above it brightens it, 
  and 128 doesn't change it.

  Be careful with the texture scaling. 
  The texture will be scaled from 256*256 to the whole screen. Therefore design it
  with a 640*480 ratio and scale it back to 256*256.



* Models.
~~~~~~~~~

  The number of polys are those used in Unreal Tournament. I'm not against testing higher
  polys models. We'll give it a try and see if we can get more details and see if it's
  playable.

  Player models must be 800 polys max.
  Weapons (player view) can have 1000 polys max (including arms).
  Weapons (3rd person) below 150 polys.

  Each mesh can have a maximum of 8 256*256 palettized texture files.
  Like all the textures the size must be a power of 2.
  File must be an 8bit BMP or PCX.

  Here's an extract from the Unreal Tech page:

  Models must be made up of a single 3D Studio object, which lives within the 256x256x256 coordinate
  space centered on the origin. (Setting the grid extents to 128..128 and turning on the grid is 
  helpful here.) 
  The model itself should be centered on the origin (0,0,0) because of how Unreal specifies the
  collision cylinders used to determine when objects are touching.

  Models will lose some precision when imported. Specifically, X and Y coordinates are truncated to
  the nearest 1/8th (0.125) unit, and Z coordinates are truncated to the nearest 1/4th (0.25) unit.

  One 3DS coordinate equals 6" in Unreal X and Y coordinates, or 12" in Unreal Z coordinates. 
  You generally dont have to worry about this scaling, as the model can be rescaled when its 
  imported into Unreal.

  Object polygons shouldnt intersect. The hardware supported by Unreal gets confused when polygons
  intersect, resulting in an unpleasant shimmering.

  If your object is a character that will be carrying a weapon that will be separately modeled, 
  place an extra polygon (the weapon triangle) in or on the part of the character where the weapon 
  should be. 
  This polygon will be invisible in the game; its just used to sync the weapons position with the
  characters animation.

  The conversion tool will only convert objects with sequence numbers in their names (Obj01, Obj02,
  ...). The object name itself is meaningless; its the sequence numbers that count. 
  They must begin at 01 (even if thats the only frame!) and you cant have any "holes" in the sequence.
  (Under 3D Studio 4, it was easiest to use the "Snapshot" option; Im not sure how 3DS MAX handles
  this.)

  Objects that wont be animated (e.g. 3rd person weapon views) should be in their own .3DS file (e.g.
  save the angreal of healing as AngrealHeal.3DS). 

  http://www.planetquake.com/polycount/resources/unreal/tutorials/UTut01.shtml

  Read the full article that also talks about model textures.
  http://unreal.epicgames.com/Models.htm

  Here's the website of the lead modeler of unreal.
  http://www.nervedamage.com/

  You need inspiration to model weapons ? 
	http://www.bravotwozero.freeserve.co.uk/ (equipement)
  On the same server you also have a lot of Player models reference.
  or check the reference on our server.



* Models animation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Here's an extract from the Unreal Tech page:

  Make sure that all animation frames stay entirely within the 256x256x256 coordinate space.

  The Unreal animators are typically designing their animations for 30-35 fps playback. Then, to save
  memory, they shave the animations down to 15-17 fps and let Unreal do the tweening.

  Objects that are animated should have a separate .3DS file for each animation sequence (Run.3DS,
  Walk.3DS, Shoot.3DS, etc.). You probably want a separate directory for each animating character, so
  that each can have its own Run.3DS sequence.

  !! To enable vents, we had to decrease the CylinderBox' half height from 39 to 29, because the model
  is centered on its origin, the current crouch player anim is wrong, the player feet go below the
  ground. More info about this we'll be added as soon as we get our first new player model.

  Here's the website of the lead modeler of unreal.
  http://www.nervedamage.com/

