Is it possible (wise) to create a level entirely out of models?
So even the walls, ceilings... really everything?

is is actually smarter to do this. Your levels will render several times faster than they would using BSP geometry, and you have tons more control over the look of objects. Also, you have more control over texturing, rather than just the x,y scaling and position that you have using bsp geometry.

Its harder to get used to, but when you get good at it, it is worlds better. To start off, and this is what I usually do. Use a combination of BSP and models. This allows for ease of creation, as well as adding a bit of detail in your level with models.

Talk to Ulillillia about all the numbers for optimum rendering. Hes the authority on all that math related stuff .

Good luck,
Raddaddy

Thanks a lot!! I really am a newbie and I bought 3dgs Commercial Edition somewhere in march this year because I am very interested in game creation. I don't know anything about scripting yet, but luckily I am familiar with modelling.... This summerholiday I really started digging into everything and there is sooo much to learn that it overwhelmes me sometimes. I guess I spent an unhealthy amount of time at my pc this summer but I just can't let it go. It is all waaay to interesting.

I also bought GameSpace by the way. Quite a nice program since I am used to 3d Studio Max.

What did you mean with optimum rendering by the way?

Only problem is level lighting. Models don't respond to level lights in the normal way that blocks do, so you'll have to use dynamic lights (and there's a limit on those) or bake lightmaps into models' textures.

So what would be the limit on dynamic lights?

8 (given by directX)

There's a ton of advantages to using model-only levels and very few disadvantages.

Pros:
1. Near-instant build times. With BSP levels times times, especially a final build, can take days for large levels. Model-only levels, even with ten times the detail, take a fraction of a second to build, even with the highest quality build settings.
2. Rendering exceeds 50 times faster than that of BSP levels. I've proven, from experiments, that you can have 300,000 visible polygons (even without LOD) and still get over 60 fps. 300,000 polygons makes a good-sized level with high-level detail and is otherwise hard to comprehend. Tossing in LOD, the amount of detail you can have in your level is just phenomenal, simulating even a million visible polygons. Levels made from blocks can barely manage 5,000 polygons per second. For maximum efficiency, have your models between 3000 and 6000 polygons (assuming the usual 2:1 polygon:vertex ratio), especially focusing around 4000 to 5000.
3. Freedom of size. BSP levels must use integerical positions and can cause noticable inaccuracies, especially with blocks smaller than 2x2x2. Model-only levels don't have this limitation and thus high-precision fractionals can be used. Anything with more precision in positioning than 1/16 of a quant is otherwise meaning less as such detail can only be detected with clip_near set very low (like 1), very high resolution (1600x1200), and a narrow field of view (30°).
4. Freedom of shape. Blocks must always be convex. Concave blocks are not allowed. With models, use whatever shape you want, no matter how twisted or screwy it gets.

Cons:
1. Lighting is a big downside. Normal level lights do not affect models at all, only dynamic lights. The problem with dynamic lights is that there is a very limited number of them, usually 8, so getting decent lighting can be quite tricky to do.
2. Collision is a bit trickier. This, however, is a one-time thing only. Once you figure it out (enable polygon-precise collision), you're good to go.

I'm sure there's more, but these are the major ones. I'm trying to develop a "points" system to help gauge rendering capabilities. If each face, without shaders, collision, etc., but only a texture with mipmaps, is worth 1 point, how many points is each entity, vertex, collision polygon, etc.. The more points, the slower the rendering gets. As far as I know, each vertex is worth 2 points and each entity is about 300 points. For 60 fps in most modern hardware (since 2004 anyway), you can get to about 800,000 points. Maximum efficiency seems to be from about 9000 to 10,500 points.

Edit: check out my benchmark tester on the download page (link at the top). With it, you can find where your peak performance is.

Thanks a lot all of you! This is really a big help understanding the theory behind it all. Now I can go an venture again for a while There is only one more question concerning the lighting problem.

What possibilities do I have to deal with this?
I am sure there must be a few solutions, so if anyone would be so kind then you really made my day!

Thanks a lot to all of you!!

It's actually based more on a "points" system, of which I'm trying to develop. If your models use the usual 2:1 polygon:vertex ratio, then 4000 to 5000 is the best area to focus toward. If you have a 1:1 ratio (an equal number of vertices to polygons), then you'd focus more into the 2500 to 3200-polygon range as both have about the same number of "points". You can see where the peak is by using my benchmark tester program and looking at the data.