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## 4.9 Mesh Object Plug-In System

This section covers the Crystal Space Mesh Object plug-in system. This is a very general system for defining various kinds of 3D objects and using them in the Crystal Space 3D engine. There are already a number of mesh objects predefined in Crystal Space: particle systems like snow and fountain, 2D sprites, a general mesh, etc.

In practice you will probably want to use the following mesh objects in your own game:

- ``GenMesh'` (see section Genmesh Mesh Object). The genmesh object is one of the most useful mesh objects. You can use it for static data (walls, buildings, floor, ...) or for dynamic data (moving objects). It supports multiple materials, vertex lighting, and even animation.
- ``Thing'` (see section Thing Mesh Object). The thing object is often used for static geometry (walls and buildings). It is currently the only object that supports lightmaps (although that will change in the future). It doesn't support animation and in general it is less suitable for moving objects.
- ``Terrain'` (see section Terrain Mesh Object). The terrain object is very useful if you want landscapes although you can do landscapes with genmesh too. But the terrain mesh object can do it more efficiently.
- ``SprCal3D'` (see section SpriteCal3D Mesh Object). The sprcal3d object is one of the options you have for animated skeletal models. Both Blender and 3DSMax can export CAL3D models. The other option is to use the genmesh skeletal animation system.
- ``Particles'`. If you want particles then the particles mesh is the best choice.

In the first section a general overview is given on some of the concepts in the mesh object system.

In the second section you will see how you can use mesh objects in your own applications and how you can work with them.

The third section covers everything needed to write your own mesh object plug-in modules.

After that there is a section for every specific mesh object plugin that Crystal Space supports.

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