Archived news.

20/04/2000 - Banners.

[KLR8] - Hello all. The site that hosts these pages (fragland) now requires me to put banners on them. I don't get any financial benefit from this, in case you might be wondering :-). Anyway, sorry for the inconvenience the banners might cause you.

13/04/2000 - Version 1.2.3 beta2 available!

[KLR8] - As promised, I'm making the latest 1.2.3 beta2 available to the public. This update has quite some useful bug-fixes in it:

• Fixed artefacts-during-interpolated-animation bug.
• Fixed some-MD3-models-don't-load bug.
• Fixed some-textures-don't-load bug.
• Fixed interrupted-player-model-assembly bug.
• Fixed corrupt-screenshot bug.

All you have to do is download the update using this link:

Java_MD3View_1_2_3beta2_Update.zip (210KB)

Additional remarks:

1. The viewer now uses mipmapping to display textures. To check whether or not mipmapping is active, select the 'Help | Render Info...' menu item. If this tells you mipmapping is not active, you'll have to replace your GL4Java libs with newer versions you can download from the download area. Follow the exact same installation procedure as when you originally installed the viewer, but replace your old files with the new ones!
2. If you would like the latest source code, mail me and I'll send it to you!

13/04/2000 - New beta coming soon.

[KLR8] - Hello everybody! Just letting you know that I'll release 1.2.3beta2 this weekend! I've finally fixed the bug in the MD3 loader that was causing it to not accept some models.

27/03/2000 - Where is that new beta?!

[KLR8] - Well, I'm not quite releasing it yet. The reason being that I'm waiting for the source code release of the Quake 3 tools by ID. That should provide me with info on a couple of things that I want to finalize. (BTW: I did finally fix the 'some-textures-don't-load' bug :-)

Further, if you're a programmer with some Java knowledge who would like to contribute to this project, please let me know! The more people we get working on this, the better we can make the viewer!

On a sad note, it seems like the Metal Vortex MD3 Viewer is now officially dead. This means that the Java MD3 Model viewer is the only serious viewer left! All the more reason to make it the best we can!

15/03/2000 - New email address!

[KLR8] - Hello everybody, I'm back from the dead! :-) The main reason for this post is a change in my email address. From now on you should use klr8@fragland.net to contact me!

As far as progress on the viewer goes: right now I have to little time to do any real work on it. I'll try to release the latest beta (with some new bug fixes) this weekend!

09/02/2000 - Broken link?

[KLR8] - Some of you seem to be having problems downloading the version 1.2.3 beta update using the link provided below. I have no idea what is causing this, it seems to work fine for other people. Anyway, if you have a problem, try to download it using the directory listing you get with this link:

http://fragland.net/md3view/dist

update: I've fixed the problem with the link below (used a backslash i.s.o. a slash :-).

05/02/2000 - Version 1.2.3 beta available.

[KLR8] - Finally! I've gotten around to putting this thing together and making it available to all users. First of, use the following link to download the 1.2.3 beta update:

Java_MD3View_1_2_3beta_Update.zip (207KB)

• Fixed searchForPath method not able to deal with backslash bug.
• First command line argument can now also be a directory. This way you can tell the program on startup from which directory files should initially be loaded.
• Fixed .obj texture coordinate export and face orientation problems. Thanks to dAVE for the help!
• Added background color selection functionality using the JColorChooser class.
• Looping frames are now used correctly during animation. The last 'looping number' frames of the animation are repeated, the first few frames are only played once.
• Integrated an MD3 save function and import 3DS function (disabled for now because it's not finished yet), both written by Donald Gray.
• The 'save screenshot' functionality now makes use of the LittleEndianDataOutputStream class that Donald Gray contributed.

19/01/2000 - Another status update.

[KLR8] - Just letting you all know what's happening with the Java MD3 Model Viewer. As I mentioned before, Donald Gray was adding a .3ds importer to the viewer. Unfortunately, Donald is currently very low on time so his efforts are somewhat stalled. To avoid letting this nice work go unnoticed for to long, I think I will probably release a beta version of 1.2.3 soon.

Here's a complete overview of the changes so far:

• Fixed .obj texture coordinate export and face orientation problems.
• Added background color selection functionality.
• Looping frames are now used correctly during animation.
• Integrated an MD3 save function and import 3DS function.
• The 'save screenshot' functionality now makes use of the LittleEndianDataOutputStream class that Donald Gray contributed.

09/01/2000 - Status update.

[KLR8] - First post of the new year, best wishes to all! Anyway, on to the real news. Donald Gray has been contributing some very interesting code to the project! Among the things to expect in the new version are his 3D Studio .3ds importer and an MD3 exporter. So it will be possible to use the Java MD3 Model Viewer to convert .3ds files to .md3 files!

29/12/1999 - New web page art!

[KLR8] - I've replaced the sucky web graphics on this page (that I cooked up - I suck at web graphics) with beautiful art by dines. Looks a lot better in my opinion :-) If you feel the same way, give dines your nudge of approval!

28/12/1999 - New version and new look!

[KLR8] - Lots of changes today! I've released a new version of the viewer: 1.2.2. This one is again packed with neat new features:

• There's a new splash screen and icon, made by David 'dines' Durrenberger.
• Added export to the Alias Wavefront .obj file format.
• The different parts of a player model are now automatically assembled when you open one part.
• Added detach part functionality to model menu.
• Added apply texture to mesh functionality.
• Textures are now exported to the same directory as the .wrl file when exporting a model to VRML97.
• Donald Gray contributed to the project by writing a Autocad DXF exporter.
• Various bug fixes.
• ...

Another thing that you've probably noticed is the new look of this site. It follows the same style as the new art that comes with the viewer.

Finally, I would like to remind the people that already run the viewer that they do NOT have to download the Java runtime and GL4Java library again. You just need to replace your old Java MD3 Model Viewer files with the new ones.

27/12/1999 - 1.2.2 update coming soon!

[KLR8] - First of, happy holidays to anyone reading this! Next, I just want to let you know that the 1.2.2 version is coming very soon now. It has quite some new features (most of them requested by users of 1.2.1) and will have new art (splashscreen & icon)! Look for it on this site in the next few days!

12/12/1999 - Version 1.2.1 released!

[KLR8] - Good news! I've released the 1.2.1 version of the Java MD3 Model viewer. Don't be fooled by the small version number increase, this update has TONS of new features:

• Full featured .PK3 file browser: open models, skins, ... directely from pak files!
• TGA and JPG texture support!
• Advanced inspection of model properties: boneframes, vertex normals, mesh names, ...!
• Complete support for the Quake 3 animation system!
• Complete support for the MD3 file format: loads all MD3 files!
• ...

Important note for those of you who allready run an old version. To upgrade your old version, just replace your old Java MD3 Model Viewer files with the new ones. There is NO need to reinstall the Java runtime or the GL4Java library!

02/12/1999 - Version 1.2.1 on its way!

[KLR8] - Just another short status update about the 1.2.1 version. Well, not really an update, just a notice that I'm going to try to release it ASAP, probably this weekend!

On another note, there have been some new releases of the GL4Java library (version 2.1.2.1 and 2.1.2.2). I'm happy to say that they are completely compatible with the Java MD3 Model Viewer!

Below are 2 new screenshots: the first showing the viewer running on Solaris, the second showing the bone frame box and vertex normal visualization.

15/11/1999 - Q3Demo Test & viewer status update!

[KLR8] - I'm back after two weeks of silence, and I must say a lot has happened meanwhile! I just downloaded and installed the Q3Demo test: IT ROCKS!

Lot's of new stuff for the viewer also. Below is a screenshot with Q3Demo's Daemia in all her splendor to wet your appetite. As you can see the GUI has changed, there's pak file support, and lots more. I'll have a more complete change list for you soon!

31/10/1999 - Quick status update.

[KLR8] - Sorry for the lack of updates, but I currently don't have enough time to do any major work on the viewer. So for now it's just little improvements. Here's another quick status update:

• Fixed small mistake in light source setup.
• Cleaned up OpenGL code a bit which led to some performance improvements.
• Last directory from which a file was opened and last directory to which a file was saved are now maintained independently.

13/10/1999 - Worklog.

[KLR8] - A short list of the new stuff:

• Added save screenshot function. This will dump the viewport to a TGA file.
• Fixed some NullPointer bugs in MD3View.

10/10/1999 - The coma's over.

[KLR8] - After a long period of inactivity, I've finally put some more time into the Java MD3 Model Viewer. An hour of coding/debugging and we've got some new stuff for the upcoming 1.2.1 version already:

• Fixed a NullPointer bug in MD3GLModelFactory.
• Fixed bone frame boxes having all kinds of colors. Now they are allways white.

7/10/1999 - New Java SDK and Mental Vortex update.

[KLR8] - I just tested the Java MD3 Model Viewer with Suns new Java 2 SDK v. 1.3 Beta release. Everything worked flawlessly. This new release has some nice new features: the Hotspot JVM is now standard, and there's also a new, faster compiler.

Also, after a long absence, the Mental Vortex guys finally posted an update on the state of their MD3View. I must say, it looks promising. However, they will only release the viewer after the final release of Quake 3 Arena because they do not want to violate the EULA. Visit the Mental Vortex MD3View home page for more info and some screenshots!

29/9/1999 - UT Demo and more.

[KLR8] - I just gave the Unreal Tournament demo a try and I must say it looks cool: great graphics and some nice little twists on the FPS genre. Certainly way better than the original Unreal. However, personally I still prefer Q3A. In UT you just don't seem to be 'in touch' with the game play as much as in Q3A. The movement, fighting, ... seem more artificial. Also, UT does not run on NT which I think is a big minus :/

Further, not much news on the Quake 3 front. The new test doesn't seem to be due anytime soon... The Java MD3 Model Viewer also stumbled into a temporary coma ;)

21/9/1999 - Hello, anybody home?

[KLR8] - A quick note to point to the reason for the lack of updates: I've just changed jobs, so I'm a bit low on free time at the moment. Anyway, word from John Carmack has it that the next Q3T will NOT have the MD4 format in it, but will still use MD3. That's good news for the Java MD3 Model Viewer :)

12/9/1999 - Java MD3 Model Viewer version 1.2 released!

[KLR8] - Finally, I've gotten around to releasing this puppy. It's got lots of cool new features, visit the about area for an overview and then head to the download page to download it.

Just a quick note for those of you who allready run an old version. To upgrade your old version, just replace your old Java MD3 Model Viewer files with the new ones. There is NO need to reinstall the Java runtime or the GL4Java library!

6/9/1999 - Skeletal model system in Quake 3.

[KLR8] - John Carmack updated his .plan and he says Quake 3 is going to work with a skeletal modeling system, instead of the current vertex based system. This means that the model file format in Quake 3 Arena will not be MD3, but a new MD4 format. Given this turn of events, I'll finish up version 1.2 and release it asap.

When the new Q3Test comes out with the MD4 format, I'll try to include support for that in the viewer... Untill then, I'll probably not spend to much time on the viewer because those efforts might turn out to be useless :-/

3/9/1999 - New version of GL4Java.

[KLR8] - A new version of GL4Java has been released: version 2.1.0.0. I've tested it with the viewer and everything seems to work fine! You can find it on the GL4Java home page. I've also updated the local download copies in the download area.

2/9/1999 - Technology info added to about section.

[KLR8] - I've added a technology info item to the about section. Some extra info on the technologies used in the Java MD3 Model Viewer is provided.

2/9/1999 - Skin file support and more.

[KLR8] - Another short status update. With some help from the people over at HK I've been adding skin and shader support to version 1.2. Loading of .skin files works, shader files are next... Also, I've added an icon to these pages, so bookmark them in IE5!

31/8/1999 - Local download links for required software.

[KLR8] - By popular request I added some links to the download area that will let you download required software directely from this site (JRE, GL4Java). I also added some required-software-installation-steps.

29/8/1999 - Version 1.2 status update.

[KLR8] - Just a note to let everybody know what's happening. I decided to axe anti aliasing (didn't get the desired results...more work needed) and go for transparency instead. So far it's working out great, per mesh transparency is implemented crudely (had to hard code some info because it seems that i.e. blending modes aren't specified anywhere...). Look at the screenshots for a sample. In the armor shard you can see per mesh transparency at work: the inner mesh is not transparent, while the mesh with the energy effect is.

26/8/1999 - Updated about section.

[KLR8] - I've updated the about section. Check it out if you're new to the Java MD3 Model Viewer. It contains, among other things, a feature list and some screenshots. More coming soon...

25/8/1999 - Version 1.2 coming soon!

[KLR8] - The up and coming new version 1.2 of the viewer will be released pretty soon now. Look for it on these pages in the next week or so. For now, here's a list of new features added so far:

• transparency
• new animation system: the animation.cfg files are now parsed, interpolation was also added
• gray scale and 24 bit color map support in the TGA file loader
• quick manipulations function

Before I release this baby, I need to improve multi threading during animation ... If you would like to beta test it, please let me know!

25/8/1999 - Java MD3 Model Viewer home pages launched!

[KLR8] - Hello and welcome to the Java MD3 Model Viewer home pages. Here you'll find the latest info and versions of this nice little program. If you're not sure what the hell the Java MD3 Model Viewer is, I suggest you consult the about area. Head on over to the download area to download the latest version!

As you can probably see, this site just got started. I'll be adding more stuff in the next few days, so come back regularly!

For those wondering who I am: my name is Erwin 'KLR8' Vervaet, and I wrote the Java MD3 Model Viewer. Visit my homepage for some more (outdated) info on me.

Finally, if you have any comments, bug reports, ideas, ... please let me know! Use the link on the left to contact me!