Messages

1

Mapping / Re: desert_rock new map WIP

« on: September 25, 2011, 08:55:58 pm »

Hi, just wanted to let you know I haven't abandoned this map, just been busy lately. Should have a good update next week.

2

Mapping / desert_rock new map WIP

« on: September 09, 2011, 05:35:10 pm »

Hi, I just thought I'd start a new thread for the map I'm working on now I have a clear plan and prototype sketched up on paper. I'm making the RMA much simpler. I have a very rough around the edges example of the main feature which will be the centre of the basic 6x6 tile map taking up the middle 6 horizontal. It is a canyon and cave system running underneath two rocky plateaus with a fallen rock bridge connecting the two sides. Two other main tile ideas I am planning for the RMA are a 2x2 ancient ruins tile and a 2x2 oasis tile.

Keeping in mind that I am focussing on the map actually working correctly for game-play before adding more detail, constructive criticism is welcome.

3

Mapping / Re: Making new map, any suggestions?

« on: September 06, 2011, 10:33:03 pm »

So, I've massively simplified the tiles and tile definitions but to do this I had to texture the sides of brushes that previously were no_draw. Is this even an issue? If two brushes connect across tile borders, blocking each other's facing texture does this result in any noticeable performance hit, does the game automatically treat them as no_draw?

4

Mapping / Re: Making new map, any suggestions?

« on: September 06, 2011, 04:24:02 pm »

I've been adding some cactus prefabs. Does it matter if the cactus brush overlaps with the terrain brush or should the base always lie flush to the ground to avoid problems? I am assuming the actor_clip brush is fine to be embedded in the ground as that is how the prefab is made.

5

Mapping / Re: Making new map, any suggestions?

« on: September 04, 2011, 03:24:13 pm »

Ahh, it all becomes a lot clearer now. Is too many tile "definitions" far more of a concern than the actual number of available tiles the RMA can use? I'll get rid of most of the redundant definitions. I am using the development version and I guess the glitches/crahes were a result of my definitions being too elaborate.
Why I was using lots of small tiles was because, as it was natural terrain rather than an urban setting I wanted the RMA to be as truly "random" and varied as possible. This seems to have worked very well on my medium setting with delightful variety. I made the ramp definitions to ensure that it was extremely unlikely that a map could generate with inaccessible areas, particularly from the drop-ship. I also liked the idea of the Firebird landing on a raised area giving your squad a starting height advantage as that is what you would logically expect of a pilot landing at an alien crash site etc. To balance this I will put cover/LOS blocking around the tiles.
I'm going to follow earlier advice and try making some larger, set-piece tiles and play with the tileset stuff in the UMP to make larger RMA's work better. Will also make some detailed terrain tiles so you guys have a better idea of what I'm aiming for for the finished product.

6

Mapping / Re: Making new map, any suggestions?

« on: September 02, 2011, 12:54:34 pm »

OK, will follow your advice, I do have some larger tiles cut up. I kind of thought smaller tiles would end up with with a much wider variety of possible layouts which is why I was keeping the tiles quite small. I will definitely be adding things like boulders, I was going to cut up the terrain brushes more to make them more detailed and varied first. Can anyone tell me why the "grid" variable might be important? I assume it helps the RMA if it can alight a bunch of 2x2 tiles into a equivalent grid. Would a x2 gird cause any trouble with 1x1 tiles though?

7

Mapping / Re: new tile for +oriental

« on: September 02, 2011, 05:32:57 am »

Nice addition, I'll be putting these to good tactical use.

8

Mapping / Re: Making new map, any suggestions?

« on: September 02, 2011, 05:30:54 am »

try to not define that many different tile types - you might get in trouble with it, and maintaining this is often a nightmare.

Oops;

Code: [Select]

// *********************************
// DESERT THEME
// *********************************

base desert_rock/

//---------------------------------// Tiletypes
// ------
// p: dropship
// o: crash/landing site
// s: generic 1st level tiles
// g: generic 2nd level tiles
// 1: cliff
// i: vertical 2nd level tile
// l: horizontal 2nd level tile
// k: vertical 1st level tile
// j: horizontal 1st level tile
// m: ramp
// u: corner tile
//
//
//
//

//Dropships
tile +des_rock_craft_drop_firebird_132
{
3 5
0   0    0
0   +pg  0
0   +pg  0
0   +pg  0
0   0    0
}

//Alien
//Alien Hotspots
tile +des_craft_ufo_scout_221
{
4 4
0    s1m     s1m     0
ms1    +ls   +ls   ms1
ms1    +ls   +ls   ms1
0    s1m     s1m     0
}
//Landscape

tile +des_rock_df111_01
{
3 3
0    s1m   0
s1m   +s   s1m
0    s1m   0
}

tile +des_rock_df221_01
{
4 4
0    s1m   s1m   0
s1m   +s   +s   s1m
s1m   +s   +s   s1m
0    s1m   s1m   0
}

tile +des_rock_dfh211_01
{
4 3
0    s1m   s1m    0   
s1m   +s   +s    s1m
0    s1m   s1m    0
}

tile +des_rock_dfv121_01
{
3 4
0    s1m   0
s1m   +s   s1m
s1m   +s   s1m
0    s1m   0
}


tile +des_rock_uf112_01
{
3 3
0   g1m   0
g1m   +g   g1m
0   g1m   0
}


tile +des_rock_uf222_01
{
4 4
0    g1m  g1m   0
g1m   +g   +g   g1m
g1m   +g   +g   g1m
0    g1m   g1m   0
}

tile +des_rock_ufh212_01
{
4 3
0    g1m   g1m   0   
g1m  +g    +g    g1m 
0    g1m   g1m   0
}

tile +des_rock_ufv122_01
{
3 4
0    g1m   0
g1m  +g    g1m
g1m  +g    g1m
0    g1m   0
}

tile +des_rock_pne111_01
{
3 3
0    g1m   0
s    +u1   g1m
0    s     0
}

tile +des_rock_pse111_01
{
3 3
0    s     0
s    +u1   g1m
0    g1m   0
}

tile +des_rock_pnw111_01
{
3 3
0    g1m   0
g1m  +u1   s
0    s     0
}

tile +des_rock_psw111_01
{
3 3
0    s    0
g1m  +u1  s
0    g1m  0
}

tile +des_rock_ucn112_01
{
3 3
0    g    0
1um   +1   1um
0    s    0
}

tile +des_rock_uce112_01
{
3 3
0    1um   0
s    +1   g
0    1um   0
}

tile +des_rock_ucs112_01
{
3 3
0    s    0
1um   +1  1um
0    g   0
}

tile +des_rock_ucw112_01
{
3 3
0    1um   0
g    +1   s
0    1um   0
}

tile +des_rock_rqn112_01
{
3 3
0    g    0
1    +m   1
0    s    0
}

tile +des_rock_rqs112_01
{
3 3
0    s    0
1    +m   1
0    g    0
}

tile +des_rock_rqe112_01
{
3 3
0    1   0
s    +m   g
0    1   0
}

tile +des_rock_rqw112_01
{
3 3
0    1   0
g    +m  s
0    1   0
}

tile +des_rock_uf112s_01
{
3 3
0    0   0
0   +g   0
0    0   0
}

assembly drtest1s
{
title "_Desert"
size "4 4"
grid "1 1"
//+des_rock_uf112s_01 "1 1"
+des_rock_craft_drop_firebird_132 "1 1"
+des_craft_ufo_scout_221 "1 1"
//+des_rock_df221_01 "0 1"//
//+des_rock_uf222_01 "0 1"//
+des_rock_df111_01 "0 6"
+des_rock_dfh211_01 "0 1"
+des_rock_dfv121_01 "0 1"
+des_rock_uf112_01 "0 6"
+des_rock_ufh212_01 "0 1"
+des_rock_ufv122_01 "0 1"
+des_rock_pne111_01 "0 1"
+des_rock_pse111_01 "0 1"
+des_rock_pnw111_01 "0 1"
+des_rock_psw111_01 "0 1"
+des_rock_ucn112_01 "0 2"
+des_rock_uce112_01 "0 2"
+des_rock_ucs112_01 "0 2"
+des_rock_ucw112_01 "0 2"
+des_rock_rqe112_01 "1 1"
+des_rock_rqw112_01 "1 1"
//+des_rock_rqn112_01 "0 1"//
//+des_rock_rqs112_01 "0 1"//
}

assembly drtest1m
{
title "_Desert"
size "5 5"
grid "1 1"
//+des_rock_uf112s_01 "1 1"
+des_rock_craft_drop_firebird_132 "1 1"
+des_craft_ufo_scout_221 "1 1"
+des_rock_df221_01 "0 1"
+des_rock_uf222_01 "0 1"
+des_rock_df111_01 "0 6"
+des_rock_dfh211_01 "0 1"
+des_rock_dfv121_01 "0 1"
+des_rock_uf112_01 "0 6"
+des_rock_ufh212_01 "0 1"
+des_rock_ufv122_01 "0 1"
+des_rock_pne111_01 "0 2"
+des_rock_pse111_01 "0 2"
+des_rock_pnw111_01 "0 2"
+des_rock_psw111_01 "0 2"
+des_rock_ucn112_01 "0 2"
+des_rock_uce112_01 "0 2"
+des_rock_ucs112_01 "0 2"
+des_rock_ucw112_01 "0 2"
+des_rock_rqe112_01 "1 1"
+des_rock_rqw112_01 "1 1"
+des_rock_rqn112_01 "0 1"
+des_rock_rqs112_01 "0 1"
}

assembly drtest1l
//SOMETIMES CRASHES Error: R_ModAddMapTile: maps/desert_rock/de.bsp (or similar)//
{
title "_Desert"
size "6 6"
grid "1 1"
//+des_rock_uf112s_01 "1 1"//
+des_rock_craft_drop_firebird_132 "1 1"
+des_craft_ufo_scout_221 "1 1"
+des_rock_df221_01 "0 4"
+des_rock_uf222_01 "0 2"
+des_rock_df111_01 "0 8"
+des_rock_dfh211_01 "0 3"
+des_rock_dfv121_01 "0 3"
+des_rock_uf112_01 "0 8"
+des_rock_ufh212_01 "0 2"
+des_rock_ufv122_01 "0 3"
+des_rock_pne111_01 "0 3"
+des_rock_pse111_01 "0 3"
+des_rock_pnw111_01 "0 3"
+des_rock_psw111_01 "0 3"
+des_rock_ucn112_01 "0 4"
+des_rock_uce112_01 "0 5"
+des_rock_ucs112_01 "0 4"
+des_rock_ucw112_01 "0 5"
+des_rock_rqe112_01 "1 1"
+des_rock_rqw112_01 "1 2"
+des_rock_rqn112_01 "0 2"
+des_rock_rqs112_01 "0 1"
}
Might explain why it starts to crash around 6x6 and higher or is that a hardware limitation? The map tiles are very very basic at the moment but had some good RMA results though:






The problem with larger maps is that certain tiles start to stop rendering or the game tries to load a shortened filename:

9

Mapping / Re: Making new map, any suggestions?

« on: September 01, 2011, 07:30:22 pm »

Just realised I'm making it overcomplicated. No need to have the level up/down transition on the centre of a tile when I could have it on the edges and get things to align logically in the UMP.

10

Mapping / Re: Making new map, any suggestions?

« on: September 01, 2011, 05:21:20 pm »

OK, making progress, understanding the RMA a lot better now.

Edit: All these are using the second assembly, I will scrap the first one once I have worked out why it totally crashes rather than giving an error.

Still not much to show but here is the code:

Code: [Select]

// *********************************
// DESERT THEME
// *********************************

base desert_rock/

//---------------------------------// Tiletypes
// ------
// d: dropship
// h: raised horizontal
// o: step up to the North
// l: step up to the East
// 2: step up to the South
// 4: step up to the West
// p: step up to the NE
// 3: step up to the SE
// 1: step up to the SW
// i: step up to the NW
// w: outcrop NE
// s: outcrop SE
// a: outcrop SW
// q: outcrop NW
// u: raised flat area
// 5: low flat area
// a: ufo/alien squad

//Dropships
tile +des_craft_drop_firebird
{
6 3
0   hu2  hu2  hu2  hu2  0
u4  +du  +du  +du  +du  ul
0   huo  huo  huo  huo  0
}

//Landscape
tile +des_rock_u_h
{
6 3
0   hu2  hu2  hu2  hu2  0
u4  +hu  +hu  +hu  +hu  ul
0   huo  huo  huo  huo  0
}

tile +des_rock_d_flat
{
4 4
0    o5   o5    0
45   +5  +5   15
45   +5  +5   15
0    25   25    0
}

tile +des_rock_d_flat2
{
4 4
0    o5   o5    0
45   +5   +5   15
45   +5   +5   15
0    25   25    0
}

tile +des_rock_u_flat
{
4 4
0    u2   u2    0
1u    +u   +u   4u
1u    +u   +u   4u
0    uo   uo    0
}

tile +des_rock_n_u
{
4 4
0    u2   u2    0
u    +ou  +ou   u
54   +o5  +o5   51
0    52   52    0
}


tile +des_rock_s_u
{
4 4
0    5o   5o   0  
0    +25  +25  0
0    +2u  +2u  0
0    u5   u5   0
}

tile +des_rock_e_u
{
4 4
0    5    u1   0  
54   +l5  +lu  u4
54   +l5  +lu  u4
0    5    u1   0
}

tile +des_rock_w_u
{
4 4
0    ua   5o   0  
u1   +4u  +45  51
u1   +4u  +45  51
0    u5   u5   0
}

tile +des_rock_ne_u
{
4 4
0    uo   uo   0  
uo   +2u  +2u  u4
5o   +25  +2u  u4
0    52   u5   0
}

//Alien Hotspots
tile +des_craft_ufo_scout
{
4 4
0    o5    o5    0
0    +a    +a    0
0    +a    +a    0
0    25    25    0
}

assembly des_rock_test
{
title "_Desert"
size "8 8"
grid "1 1"
+des_craft_drop_firebird "1 1"
+des_rock_u_h "1 3"
+des_rock_d_flat "1 4"
+des_rock_n_u "1 4"
+des_rock_s_u "1 4"
+des_craft_ufo_scout "1 4"
}

assembly desrocktest2
{
title "_Desert2"
size "8 8"
grid "2 2"
+des_rock_d_flat2 "1 2"
+des_rock_d_flat "0 12"
+des_rock_n_u "0 8"
+des_rock_s_u "0 8"
}
Still need to tweak some of the tile definitions I know. Results are this:







I hope it goes without saying that the brushes are just for a rough outline and I will be adding detail and making it look a lot more organic for the proper release. I'm going to work on getting escarpment corners/outcrops etc working so there is some real variety to the map. Not sure if I am naming my .map files well, I understand the syntax I've created but is there any standard mappers are encouraged to stick to?

Just for reference this my base tiles map where I store a collection for reference, might give you a closer idea of what I am trying to do with the RMA. Right now all my tiles are 2x2 big with the exception of the Firebird which is 4x1 and a 4x1 filler to go next to it to avoid confusing the RMA.

11

Mapping / Re: Making new map, any suggestions?

« on: September 01, 2011, 11:43:07 am »

Thanks Kildor, sorry about the formatting, I was neck deep in the file when I posted. Will use your advice about common fillers, have a crack at this this afternoon and see if it's worth uploading the maps and ump. They are just very basic tiles for testing at the moment, steps up, corners etc. I made a simpler assembly last night and had mixed successes. It's just when it starts crashing the game I loose all the error logs from the console so makes troubleshooting tricky. If I put a 0 does that mean the game will try to make that edge of the tile face onto nothing (end of map) that would explain all my probs, I thought they would just try to combine with any tile.

Edit: Just to clarify, I try not to ask any questions before looking at the wiki so you can take for granted that I am looking through the wiki guide thoroughly. I've just never messed around with UMP files before so some of the more obvious things to you lot are probably going straight over my head. I'll continue with trial and error and upload the .maps with the UMP as soon as I have something vaguely working.

12

Mapping / Re: Making new map, any suggestions?

« on: August 31, 2011, 09:56:51 pm »

Making nice progress but got an RMA that crashes the game (after debugging from console errors to get to that stage). Could someone look at my UMP code and see if there are any obvious errors?

Code: [Select]

// *********************************
// DESERT THEME
// *********************************

base desert_rock/

//---------------------------------// Tiletypes
// ------
// d: dropship
// h: raised horizontal
// o: step up to the North
// l: step up to the East
// 2: step up to the South
// 4: step up to the West
// p: step up to the NE
// 3: step up to the SE
// 1: step up to the SW
// i: step up to the NW
// w: outcrop NE
// s: outcrop SE
// a: outcrop SW
// q: outcrop NW
// u: raised flat area
// 5: low flat area
// a: ufo/alien squad

//Dropships
tile +des_craft_drop_firebird
{
6 3
0    0    0    0    0    0
0    +d   +d   +d   +d   0
0    0    0    0    0    0
}

//Landscape
tile +des_rock_u_h
{
6 3
0    0    0    0    0    0
0    +h   +h   +h   +h   0
0    0    0    0    0    0
}

tile +des_rock_d_flat
{
4 4
0    0    0    0
0    +5   +5   0
0    +5   +5   0
0    0    0    0
}

tile +des_rock_u_flat
{
4 4
0    2u   2u    0
lu   +u   +u    4u
lu   +u   +u    4u
0    ou   ou    0
}

tile +des_rock_n_u
{
4 4
0    2u   2u    0
lu   +o   +o    4u
lu   +o   +o    4u
0    ou   ou    0
}


tile +des_rock_s_u
{
4 4
0    52   52   0  
0    +2   +2   0
0    +2   +2   0
0    uo   uo   0
}

//Alien Hotspots
tile +des_craft_ufo_scout
{
4 4
0    0    0    0
0    +a   +a   0
0    +a   +a   0
0    0    0    0
}

assembly des_rock_test
{
title "_Desert"
size "8 8"
grid "1 1"
+des_craft_drop_firebird "1 1"
+des_rock_u_h "1 3"
+des_rock_d_flat "1 4"
+des_rock_n_u "1 4"
+des_rock_s_u "1 4"
+des_craft_ufo_scout "1 1"
}

13

Mapping / Re: Making new map, any suggestions?

« on: August 31, 2011, 03:37:47 pm »

Thanks guys, will look up blending and play with materials a bit more before asking more. I'll get a rough tile set up and work from there. Going to poke around other people's maps and see if I can pick up some useful pointers too.

14

Mapping / Re: Making new map, any suggestions?

« on: August 30, 2011, 04:46:27 pm »

Could anyone give me some pointers on blending. These are my experiments so far:

Code: [Select]

# sandy rock to rocky rock blend
{
material tex_nature/desert004
scale.s 0.25
{
texture tex_nature/desert001
scale.s 0.25
terrain 0 32
lightmap
}
{
texture tex_nature/desert002
scale.s 0.25
terrain 32 192
lightmap
}
}







Wasn't exactly what I had in mind but quite nice results anyway. I think I am misunderstanding how the gloating point variables work. "Scale.s" isn't mentioned on the wiki but is used in many material files. Does it actually scale the texture sizes up and down and does it work on the referenced textures as well at the main material texture?

What I really would like to know is can you blend along the x/y axis instead of the z axis so I could have a blend at the edges of a flat tile, if not is the only way to have a slope running down to the edges of the tile and blend it towards ground level?

Sorry for so many questions in such a short time, I couldn't find the answers on the wiki.

Edit: Also, I notice the other desert tiles often start on a 12 high brush that goes 8 down below z-0. Is there any reason for this or just to make the brush less fiddly? I assume anything below z-0 is ignored in-game.

15

Mapping / Re: Making new map, any suggestions?

« on: August 30, 2011, 02:09:16 pm »

Thanks for the info guys, that answers the questions I had about tile sizes without me having to ask it.