UFO:Alien Invasion
Development => Mapping => Topic started by: Latino210 on September 30, 2012, 02:59:15 pm
-
Hi guys
I am thinking about making an ambitious modification to the game. Right now, I am building some new maps more appropriate to the mod. For example, I am going towards a more "high tech" map, since the vast majority of maps looks like a world where humanity has reverted to the same technology of the '80!
I've made some 1024X1024 sections, maybe I will combine them in a large map or I will make my first RMA if somebody helps me with the RMA logic.I've used some textures from the burningwell.org site, they should be OK to use.
The main section is a geologist's camp in the middle of the desert. There are about 10 people living in really Spartan condition, a common building and a satellite dish.
-
The second section is a big coring room where the geologist are using a laser to sample the minerals. The enemy will come from underground
-
The last one is the landing spot for the craft.
-
Looks promising. It would be good if you would attach the .map files instead of the .bsp for _main and _coring.
From looking at the dropship file - you should give some attention to this : This links to the Mapping/Dimensions section of the UFO:AI Wiki. I already know you dont want to work through this, but if you want to make quality maps you have to. (http://ufoai.org/wiki/index.php/Mapping/Dimensions#Side_view)
-
Looks promising. It would be good if you would attach the .map files instead of the .bsp for _main and _coring.
From looking at the dropship file - you should give some attention to this : This links to the Mapping/Dimensions section of the UFO:AI Wiki. I already know you dont want to work through this, but if you want to make quality maps you have to. (http://ufoai.org/wiki/index.php/Mapping/Dimensions#Side_view)
I am really sorry, but I do not understand what are you talking about. I've tested the dropship, AFAIK it works fine. The player starts in a trench at level 1 and climbs to level 2 to face the aliens. The RMA should work like this
dropship
main
coring
with several +main and +coring to choose from. If you would explain what the problem is, I would be very grateful. I am including the .maps and the textures, too.
-
I am talking about the vertical dimensions.
From sideview one floor has a height of 64 units. The ground floor goes from 0-64 the second from 64-128 and so on. The lowest 4 units of each floor are used for the block the actors are standing on.
This is done well in _main, not so for the other two.
-
Latino210: all texture dimensions must be multiples of 2 (64, 128, 256, 512). Remember you had to fix some textures from your previous map because of this too.
-
Latino210: all texture dimensions must be multiples of 2 (64, 128, 256, 512). Remember you had to fix some textures from your previous map because of this too.
Oh, thanks, I totally forgot about that. I will make the textures powers (not multiples) of 2.
I am talking about the vertical dimensions.
Fix'd, Sir!
All right, I've just finished an alternative of the "coring room". Now a couple of geologists are checking some strange rocks with a laser, but they have awakened something from the deep.
-
All right, I've resized/cropped the textures to make them powers of 2 and I have redone the doors in the main and main2. Now I'd just need a clue on how to implement the RMA. Can somebody help? Maybe giving to me a decent tutorial? Here is my idea for the assembly:
craft
MC-main or MC-main2
MC-coring or MC-coring2
The craft is just a trench 1024X896, the other maps are 1024X1024. How many aliens would I need to put in such a map?
I am including some modified textures from burningwell. Since I have modified all of them I think that there will be no copyright problems. They are in the zipped dir, to be put into the "textures" dir.
The screenshots depict the result of the final assembly. I've tested and I could not find any bugs. Any feedback would be really appreciated. I know that the backstory (aliens emerging from underground in a wasteland/desertic setting) does not make any sense in the UFO:AI backstory, I am working towards making an ambitious mod for this game. Well, even the vanilla UFO:AI could benefit from some different maps, no?
-
http://ufoai.org/wiki/index.php/Mapping/Random_map_assembly
Also, 896 is a bad dimension, since RMA tiles' dimensions are required to be multiplies of 256. Pad extra 128 units worth or truncate it, your choice. Personally, I would recomment to pad, so it would match other tiles in size.
Also, modifying textures typically does NOT clear the licenses -- be careful there. Some open licenses even disallow derived works.
-
The textures are from burningwell, they are already free to use. I will pad the craft tile to make it 1024X1024.
http://ufoai.org/wiki/index.php/Mapping/Random_map_assembly
That "tutorial" is totally unreadable, it's by far the worst amongst the tutorials for UFO:AI. The author is probably a starving Ethiopian boy that was beaten half to death with an Amharic-English dictionary before being smuggled to China and forced to write tutorials for an unusually cruel sweatshop owner.
-
That "tutorial" is totally unreadable, it's by far the worst amongst the tutorials for UFO:AI. The author is probably a starving Ethiopian boy that was beaten half to death with an Amharic-English dictionary before being smuggled to China and forced to write tutorials for an unusually cruel sweatshop owner.
Yeah, I still wonder how I could learn to do RMAs from this tutorial without any problems.
-
The RMA info should typically be read alongside this (http://ufoai.org/wiki/index.php/Mapping:Random_map_parts), which gives you an example of a single RMA tile.
The best way to learn how to make an RMA is to look at an already existing one. Check out the .map and .ump files for an RMA theme you're familiar with.
-
Maybe you are more intelligent than me ;D Care to share some of your wisdom? For example, talking about the .ump file I reckon that you have to define al of your tiles. My 1024X1024 main.map tile would need something like this:
tile +main
{
4 5
0 a a 0
a +a +a a
a +a +a a
0 a a 0
}
but I have no clue about what to write after "assembly default". The assembly would need to be like this:
craft map
main or main2 map
coring or coring2 map
all six maps are 1024X1024. Any help would be appreciated.
-
Here is a quick example:
base MC/MC- //assuming you put your maps in base/maps/MC (and going by the names in your .zip)
tile +craft-Firebird
{
6 6 //Size: 4 x 4 RMA tiles (one tile is 256 x 256 radiant units) surrounded by 'requirements'
0 a a a a 0
a +a +a +a +a a
a +a +a +a +a a
a +a +a +a +a a
a +a +a +a +a a
0 a a a a 0
}
//More pieces here
assembly default
{
size "4 12" //Size in RMA (256x256) tiles
grid "4 4" //All pieces are multiple of 4 x 4 (in this case they are exactly 4x4)
+core "0 1" //0 to 1 of these
+main "0 1"
// Other pieces here
+craft-Firebird "1 1" // always 1 and only 1
}
for this it would be best to use fixed tilesets and tiles, but lets start with the basics
-
All right, thanks for your help. That ump format is NOT user friendly and those formatting rules are NOT written on that "tutorial"!
I have managed to use the tilesets (easy), now I just need to understand how to place the tiles in the correct order...
-
For this case I suggest using fixed tiles:
assembly default
{
size "4 12"
grid "4 4"
fix tileset coretiles "0 8" // Put one tile from tileset 'coretiles' in coordinates "0 8" (With its origin "0 0" in the bottom left corner of the map. )
fix tileset maintiles "0 4"
fix +craft-Firebird "0 0" // This is a fixed tile at "0 0"
}
or something like that
-
I have managed to do that. Maybe I am less stupid than I thought. Care to check my code? I have defined the "firebird" square as "d", the "habitat" central square as "a" and the "coring" square as "b". This way I will be able to put other sections on the map as soon as I make them. I've tried six times and the .ump always got the right placement.
// *********************************
// Prospectorcamp
// *********************************
base Prospectorcamp/MC_ //assuming you put your maps in base/maps/MC (and going by the names in your .zip)
tile +craft_Firebird
{
6 6 //Size: 4 x 4 RMA tiles (one tile is 256 x 256 radiant units) surrounded by 'requirements'
0 a a a a 0
a +d +d +d +d a
a +d +d +d +d a
a +d +d +d +d a
a +d +d +d +d a
0 a a a a 0
}
tile +main
{
6 6 //Size: 4 x 4 RMA tiles (one tile is 256 x 256 radiant units) surrounded by 'requirements'
0 d d d d 0
a +a +a +a +a a
a +a +a +a +a a
a +a +a +a +a a
a +a +a +a +a a
0 b b b b 0
}
tile +main2
{
6 6 //Size: 4 x 4 RMA tiles (one tile is 256 x 256 radiant units) surrounded by 'requirements'
0 d d d d 0
a +a +a +a +a a
a +a +a +a +a a
a +a +a +a +a a
a +a +a +a +a a
0 b b b b 0
}
tile +coring
{
6 6 //Size: 4 x 4 RMA tiles (one tile is 256 x 256 radiant units) surrounded by 'requirements'
0 a a a a 0
a +b +b +b +b a
a +b +b +b +b a
a +b +b +b +b a
a +b +b +b +b a
0 a a a a 0
}
tile +coring2
{
6 6 //Size: 4 x 4 RMA tiles (one tile is 256 x 256 radiant units) surrounded by 'requirements'
0 a a a a 0
a +b +b +b +b a
a +b +b +b +b a
a +b +b +b +b a
a +b +b +b +b a
0 a a a a 0
}
tileset center
{
+main
+main2
}
tileset core
{
+coring
+coring2
}
//More pieces here
assembly default
{
size "4 12" //Size in RMA (256x256) tiles
grid "4 4" //All pieces are multiple of 4 x 4 (in this case they are exactly 4x4)
tileset core "1 1" //
tileset center "1 1"
// Other pieces here
+craft_Firebird "1 1" // always 1 and only 1
}
-
Indeed, using the surrounding requirements is another way to achieve the same result, it is faster to assemble the RMA with fixed tiles, but since you are only using three tiles, that shouldn't be a big problem.
-
Thanks for your help and for your knowledge, Dark! I will update the maps and the .ump as soon as I finish testing some firefights. Looking at that, I made a map where a good sniper will really, really earn his pay!
-
Glad to help, and looking forward to your map.
-
...but please always use lowercase filenames ;)
-
That ump format is NOT user friendly and those formatting rules are NOT written on that "tutorial"!
Yes they are.
-
Here we are, my first RMA map is finished! Here's the legal blurb:
I, Davide "Deadman" Amato release this under the GNU General Public License 2.0 or later versions. I am using some textures that I've found on the site burningwell.org. These textures have been included into the "burningwell" directory.
I've played the map several times without finding glitches. Any playtesting would be appreciated, especially about difficulty and number of aliens. I am going to add support for other crafts and other tiles as soon as I can, but the map is playable as it is. I am including the rescaled textures from burningwell.org in a separate dir, just in case. Thanks to everyone who helped me!
-
Congrats on mastering the RMA! Looking forward to your future work.
For those concerned about the textures, this is the license from BurningWell.org:
The images in the BurningWell repository are in the public domain. Basically, this means that you are allowed to use the images freely for any purpose, commercial or private. You do not have to pay to use them, or even acknowledge or give credit to the BurningWell repository or original photographer (unless you are feeling generous).
When recognizable people appear in any of the images, the photographers have obtained a "model release" and assigned all rights to the public domain. This allows the images to be used in any manner, including advertising.
-
It is not about the licences only, but also about the quality. Imo we should only add textures of high quality that come with a normalmap.