Mapping-Noob Questions

[Tantalus]

Hi all,

after working through Wanderer's "Mapping for Dummies" (great work, btw.) I've started work on my first map, and as you can imagine, I've some stupid questions.  :wink:

1. What is the maximum brush count a map should have? Currently my map has about 330 brushes, and until it's finished I think ther will be more than 1000 brushes. Is this still Ok?

2. Is it possible to set a "starting level", so when the map is loaded in the game, the player's view is set to level 2 instead of level 1 (background: the "ground level" where the dropship will be is level 2, while level 1 is the basement)?

3. Is it possible to "intersect" (i think it was the phrase in UnrealEd) brushes, what means to cut off one brush exactly at the edge of an other brush, no matter of the shape of the two brushes?

4. How can I play the map for testing? (very stupid question, i know. Sorry)


I've decided to make a map of a power plant (a conventional one, no nuclear as suggested in the wiki), maybe it is also helpful for your plot (attacking the infrastructure is a realistic strategy when attacking a planet, and what would we do without electricity?). As soon as the map is in a playable state, I'll set a download-link here, so maybe one of you "mapping geeks" :wink: can test it.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Tantalus

[blondandy]

i can answer q4. to have a quick look at your map. load game. go straight to console:
devmap <mapname>
eg devmap transport06d
to play vs aliens. start a new campaign, build your first base, go to geoscape, then console:
map <mapname>

q2. slight guess here, but i think you always start looking at your own troops, possibly number 1. so this is determined by spawn point setting.

[Tantalus]

Hi blondandy,

thanks for your answers. I tried "map [mapname]" in console, but didn't know that I've to start a campaign first. I'll try it this evening, time permitting. Then I'll also see if your guess is correct about q2. I'll give a feedback any case.

Regards
Tantalus

[Mattn]

1. What is the maximum brush count a map should have? Currently my map has about 330 brushes, and until it's finished I think ther will be more than 1000 brushes. Is this still Ok?

yes - 1000 and even 2000 is still fine - there are maps with much higher brush count - type "r_speeds 1" to game console to see the brushcount

2. Is it possible to set a "starting level", so when the map is loaded in the game, the player's view is set to level 2 instead of level 1 (background: the "ground level" where the dropship will be is level 2, while level 1 is the basement)?

as blondandy guessed ;-)

3. Is it possible to "intersect" (i think it was the phrase in UnrealEd) brushes, what means to cut off one brush exactly at the edge of an other brush, no matter of the shape of the two brushes?

maybe you mean the csg substract (shift + u) and csg merge (ctrl + u) features?

4. How can I play the map for testing? (very stupid question, i know. Sorry)

if you start with devmap you can test the pathfinding, because there won't be any aliens in the map then

I've decided to make a map of a power plant (a conventional one, no nuclear as suggested in the wiki), maybe it is also helpful for your plot (attacking the infrastructure is a realistic strategy when attacking a planet, and what would we do without electricity?). As soon as the map is in a playable state, I'll set a download-link here, so maybe one of you "mapping geeks" :wink: can test it.

yes, why not - if you have some screenshots to show us... show them, then we can decide.

best regards
martin

[Tantalus]

Hi Martin,

thanks a lot for that info. I've used the csg substract already, will try the merge this evening. I think that will do what I meant. Maybe I can then post some first screenshots already.

Oh, by the way, can you tell me what a suitable value for lights is? There's a wide hall on my map. and currently there are 2 light sources with a value of 80 each. But as I didn't test the map in-game until now, I don't know if that is enough or even too much.

Regards
Tantalus

[Wanderer]

Hi Martin,

thanks a lot for that info. I've used the csg substract already, will try the merge this evening. I think that will do what I meant. Maybe I can then post some first screenshots already.

Oh, by the way, can you tell me what a suitable value for lights is? There's a wide hall on my map. and currently there are 2 light sources with a value of 80 each. But as I didn't test the map in-game until now, I don't know if that is enough or even too much.

Regards
Tantalus

80 is going to be around 'make out lighting' levels... very low.  Quite spooky.  Around 110-150 would be normal indoor lighting.

Also, a fast way to scan around your map without loading campaigns is devmap <mapname> at the title screen's console.  You can't move around your own guys, but you can see how the map builds out.

[Tantalus]

Hi again,

I've a problem with info_player_start, they don't work. When I want to test my map by entering "map [mapname]" or "devmap [mapname]" in console, there are no soldiers on the map. Info_alien_start and info_civilian_start work fine. Any idea? I've set team=1 in the entity properties of each spawnpoint, but without success. Console doesn't show anything wrong.

Tantalus

[Mattn]

info_player_start is for multiplayer - use info_human_start for singleplayer

[Tantalus]

Hi mattn and wanderer,

sorry for the late answer, RL was consuming much more time the last days than expected.  :x
I''ve tried your suggestions and i can test my map now. Thanks for your great help.

I'm still a bit curious about the csg merge function, always I want to use it (with two brushes selected), console reports "result would not be convex" (or something similar). Currently I'm using csg substract an leave the active brush in place, so that's a workaround for me.

Maybe I can give you some screenshots by tomorrow afternoon (european time).

Tantalus

[Wanderer]

Merge only works on a brush you could have built anyway.  So if you have two straight brushes next to each other, you can make them into one brush.  It's merely used to help reduce brushcount for when a split breaks up an existing brush oddly.

The subtract is not used, probably, the way you're thinking.  It's a great way to include windows, or corner off an area.  What it does is chops off any piece of any brush in the area your brush is in.  So, if you create a 'window' sized brush, and subtract it from the wall, you get a window sized hole.  You can then move your window template brush to a new position and make another window.

[Tantalus]

Hi Wanderer,

I used the substract tool to create complex structures, and it works quite ok. I know that this is not the way it is meant to be used, but I couldn't find any other way to create what I wanted.

Tantalus

[Tantalus]

Back again, and here are some screenshots, too:




An overwiew of the entire map




a closer look into the main building with what caused me the most headache: the control room  :?





another close look into the main building, here the ground level.


If you want to, you can test the map yourself. Any comments and criticisms are welcome. There are still a lot of details missing, but I'm working on that.
http://www.tantalus11.de/misc/ufoai/power01test_1.bsp


Tantalus

[Mattn]

nice, really nice - add some lightning to the inner buildings and this might become a very nice map - good work. please also share the map file not only the bsp - are we allowed to release this map with the game, too (e.g. gpled?)

[Tantalus]

I've uploaded the .map-file, you can get it here: http://www.tantalus11.de/misc/ufoai/power01test_1.map

Thre's also an updated version of the .bsp-file, added some more light and a few details.

And of corse you are allowed to use and release this map for the game (that's what I made it for :wink: ).

Have a nice evening

Tantalus

[Mattn]

you should try to add some more details via misc_model - e.g. open prefabs_*.map and insert some trees and so on.

also don't forget to add the actorclip and stepon brushes