OK I want to load a Map file from Worldcraft. But the file that worldcraft produces dosen''t contain Verticie data but rather. Data that describes a plane. What the hell is a plane i have sean this term everywhere and why do they use planes instead of vertices. How Do i draw the plane data. Has it got something to do with the plane equation. Ax + Bx + Cx + d What is the plane equation used for. Is it to convert this plane data to vertice data. PS I am new to the world of 3D mathmatics and i''m only studying GCSE maths in the UK Thanks alot for the help Steve

I''m gonna TRY and explain it... otherwise I think I''ll leave the question up for grabs

The form for the equation is Ax + By + Cz - D = 0

A, B, C is a normal vector (length = 1)... ABC correspond to XYZ.

Example: If your normal was the X-axis, A = 1, B = 0, C = 0.

X, Y, Z is the closest point to the origin that lies on the plane. (that is, if you are forming the equation, otherwise if you already have ABCD then it is used to test points against the plane)

Example: If the normal was (1,0,0) then the closest point would be somewhere ON the x-axis... depending on the distance.

D is the distance from the closest point on the plane to the origin.

Example: If the normal vector was (1,0,0) and the closest point was (10,0,0) then D would be 10.


I hope I have explained clearly and I haven''t left anything out... I''m going to CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Sydney today so I probably won''t have a timely reply in the event that I have not explained well enough. Sorry.