Dmap compiling

[Procession 0]

Hi,

 

I am following the A-Z Tutorial on the Dark Mod Wiki page.

 

I am up to 'Dmap: Compiling the Mission' at the foot of page 1 but am having a lot of trouble understanding how to do this.

 

The instructions say:

 

From any Dark Mod menu select the Doom console. Ignore the following if you have this working. By default, the console is CTRL+ ALT+ ~ (US Keyboards) or CTRL+ALT+ ' (UK Keyboards) but most people set up a shortcut to just use the ~ (` in UK) on its own. This key is the top left below Esc and to the left of "1" on all keyboards I believe. By shortcut I mean a Windows desktop shortcut. If you don't have one you can right cick the desktop and select New. Right click the shortcut and select Properties and in the target section at the end of the line with doom3.exe in it add a space then +seta com_allowConsole 1. Another useful thing to add is +set r_fullscreen 0 so it plays in a window while testing.

 

So yes, I can enter the console from the Dark Mod menu using CTRL+Alt+Tilde - all fine and good.

 

I then have created a desktop shortcut with the target box as follows.

 

"C:\Games\Doom 3\DOOM3.exe" +seta com_allowConsole 1+set r_fullscreen 0

 

So this shortcut is launching the Doom 3 menu and I'm hitting tilde by itself and the console is coming up - so far so good.

 

Then I'm typing dmap Tut/First mission and getting an error "warning: couldn't load map file".

 

When in Dark Radiant I saved my mission under the file path C:\Games\Doom 3\darkmod\maps\Tut\First mission.

 

Can you please tell me what I'm doing wrong and why it won't compile or load

 

Thanks,

 

Procession

[New Horizon 524]

Do you mean it's saved as C:\Games\Doom 3\darkmod\maps\Tut\First mission.map or C:\Games\Doom 3\darkmod\maps\Tut\First mission\First mission.map ?

[Sonosuke 10]

Then I'm typing dmap Tut/First mission and getting an error "warning: couldn't load map file".

 

When in Dark Radiant I saved my mission under the file path C:\Games\Doom 3\darkmod\maps\Tut\First mission.

 

I had the same problem a while ago, open the map in DR again and save it as tut\first_mission or tut\firstmission. without any spaces

[Baddcog 114]

Yeha, a space is for another command.

 

So it thinks your map name is

 

tut/first

 

and then it would think

 

mission is a new command.

 

so no spaces, and probably all lower case is best. (not sure this matters though)

[HappyCheeze 1]

I think we all ran into the problems with spaces in the filename.

 

Try underscores _ next time

 

@Baddcog

It might matter for Linux users. Or at least make it a little bit easier for them.

[Procession 0]

Do you mean it's saved as C:\Games\Doom 3\darkmod\maps\Tut\First mission.map or C:\Games\Doom 3\darkmod\maps\Tut\First mission\First mission.map ?

 

Yes, it's saved as the former. There is no subfolder after Tut.

 

I had the same problem a while ago, open the map in DR again and save it as tut\first_mission or tut\firstmission. without any spaces

 

Yeha, a space is for another command.

 

So it thinks your map name is

 

tut/first

 

and then it would think

 

mission is a new command.

 

so no spaces, and probably all lower case is best. (not sure this matters though)

 

 

I think we all ran into the problems with spaces in the filename.

 

Try underscores _ next time

 

@Baddcog

It might matter for Linux users. Or at least make it a little bit easier for them.

 

Well, I have tried what you all suggested and unfortunately no joy. I tried all of the following combinations but none have worked.

 

First_mission

 

first_mission

 

mis1

 

Any other ideas ? I know Dromed didn't like long file names but even shortening this didn't fix it.

 

Here's a screenie

 

[Mortem Desino 66]

I see what you're doing. Don't use vanilla Doom 3 to compile your map. Use the console while in The Dark Mod to compile it.

 

If you do it in plain doom 3, the dmapper looks in "C:\Games\Doom 3\maps\tut"

If you do it in TDM, the dmapper looks in "C:\Games\Doom 3\darkmod\maps\tut"

[Procession 0]

I see what you're doing. Don't use vanilla Doom 3 to compile your map. Use the console while in The Dark Mod to compile it.

 

If you do it in plain doom 3, the dmapper looks in "C:\Games\Doom 3\maps\tut"

If you do it in TDM, the dmapper looks in "C:\Games\Doom 3\darkmod\maps\tut"

 

Ok, that makes perfect sense, but that also raises 2 more questions for me.

 

Why does the wiki Tute talk about setting up a shortcut with the Doom .exe in the target box if I'm meant to be using Dark mod launcher ?

 

Right click the shortcut and select Properties and in the target section at the end of the line with doom3.exe in it add a space then +seta com_allowConsole 1. Another useful thing to add is +set r_fullscreen 0 so it plays in a window while testing.

 

I am guessing the desktop shortcut Fidcal mentions should be set up as follows:

 

"C:\Games\Doom 3\darkmod\tdmlauncher.exe"+seta com_allowConsole 1+set r_fullscreen 0

 

....though when I tried this originally (and now) it wont accept it as a valid path.

[Mortem Desino 66]

That's a remnant of Saint Lucia/Thief's Den. With tdmlauncher, there's not need to create messy shortcut args. Just start TDMlauncher normally without the arguments tacked on the end.

 

Edit: Fixed that part of the beginner's guide Wiki. That shortcut hack is obsolete for TDM 1.0 anyway.

[Procession 0]

That's a remnant of Saint Lucia/Thief's Den. With tdmlauncher, there's not need to create messy shortcut args. Just start TDMlauncher normally without the arguments tacked on the end.

 

Edit: Fixed that part of the beginner's guide Wiki. That shortcut hack is obsolete for TDM 1.0 anyway.

 

Thankyou for changing that. - ( P.S. I don't mean to be critical of any authors or the team [what you have achieved is absolutely fantastic] but I think if people are going to adopt DR then this sort of very basic info needs to be right from the get go, otherwise it's going to mess with people's heads, particularly newbs.) - (Gets off soap box and fades back into the shadows)

 

Ok, so how can I reconfigure the console to come up by just using the tilde key and set it to a window screen size. Is there a .cfg file somewhere ?

[chatumao 2]

Hi!

 

Ok, so how can I reconfigure the console to come up by just using the tilde key and set it to a window screen size. Is there a .cfg file somewhere ?

 

 

 

Same Question for me please, and by the way, is there a possibility to minimize TDM, as for me on Vista there is no way tom"jump" out quickly.

 

Best Regards and thanks alot for all the modding!

[Mortem Desino 66]

I'm afraid I don't have an answer for that one. I will mention that whenever I'm mapping, I have TDM running at a low resolution (800x600) in windowed mode. Doom 3 doesn't like to be minimized on my new PC build, so I just alt-tab between Dark Mod and Dark Radiant.

[Procession 0]

Yep, Alt-TAB works great - thanks Mortem.

 

Chatumao - The above works much better if you set the Fullscreen option to 'No' under Video options in Dark Mod.

 

 

Thanks to everyone else also for your suggestions in this thread.

[Fidcal 174]

Only just seen this thread and glad you got everything sorted out. A word of caution about using tdmlauncher for developing your own FMs. First, when I wrote that A-Z, tdmlauncher didn't exist but I reviewed it later and decided it's safer to leave it as a shortcut to Doom3. I still myself almost use a direct shortcut to Doom3 except when playing FMs. The reason is this:

 

When you launch Dark Mod via tdmlauncher it sets darkmod as the base folder and the current FM as the game folder. What this means roughly is that all the stuff in the darkmod folder and subfolders within it are accessible but it also means all the stuff in the game folder is accessible to your FM too. Which game folder? Whichever by chance was the last FM you installed. So there may be some conflict of assets. Probably rare but possible. Don't be surprised if you see someone else's briefing or title loader or game map etc when you play your FM via the console. You might also find when you dmap that all your dmap files go in the current FM's game folder, perhaps the point file too (I'm unsure about this) so you may be getting a leak error but Dark Radiant can't find the point file.

 

I recommend a shortcut direct to Doom3 for developing and test playing your own maps via the console and another for tdmlauncher to play FMs.

[chatumao 2]

Only just seen this thread and glad you got everything sorted out. A word of caution about using tdmlauncher for developing your own FMs. First, when I wrote that A-Z, tdmlauncher didn't exist but I reviewed it later and decided it's safer to leave it as a shortcut to Doom3. I still myself almost use a direct shortcut to Doom3 except when playing FMs. The reason is this:

 

When you launch Dark Mod via tdmlauncher it sets darkmod as the base folder and the current FM as the game folder. What this means roughly is that all the stuff in the darkmod folder and subfolders within it are accessible but it also means all the stuff in the game folder is accessible to your FM too. Which game folder? Whichever by chance was the last FM you installed. So there may be some conflict of assets. Probably rare but possible. Don't be surprised if you see someone else's briefing or title loader or game map etc when you play your FM via the console. You might also find when you dmap that all your dmap files go in the current FM's game folder, perhaps the point file too (I'm unsure about this) so you may be getting a leak error but Dark Radiant can't find the point file.

 

I recommend a shortcut direct to Doom3 for developing and test playing your own maps via the console and another for tdmlauncher to play FMs.

 

 

 

When trying to dmap with console of doom3.exe, it says "could'nt find map". Now where to save .map file to?

[Fidcal 174]

If your map file is in darkmod\maps then your shortcut to Doom3.exe should have the argument:

 

+set fs_game darkmod [plus any other args you want]

[chatumao 2]

That was helpful indeed. I bow both to your knowledge and your kindness

[Neb 3]

What this means roughly is that all the stuff in the darkmod folder and subfolders within it are accessible but it also means all the stuff in the game folder is accessible to your FM too. Which game folder? Whichever by chance was the last FM you installed. So there may be some conflict of assets. Probably rare but possible.

Ahhhh, right. A little while back I made a tiny area, gave myself loads of arrows. Every time I fired one at the wall the map would crash with a message asking for a script. I figured that it was looking for the one from the training mission that checks whether you got the bullseye. Makes sense now.

 

EDIT: Okay, I realise that it's not the same thing. I had it installed, but you're talking about folders in general. Ooops.

Edited November 26, 2009 by Neb

[Jedi_Wannabe 219]

I was having roughly the same problem the other day as Procession did in the OP and realized my error lies in my folder structure. I had multiple tutorial projects going and confused myself on the names, so I wiped them all and decided to start fresh. Which leads me to these questions:

When I get to dmapping again is it still necessary to dmap with console of doom3.exe?

This thread was started before TDM was standalone right? So I should pull up the console and dmap within TDM these days? And is it still a favorable practice to have separate shortcuts for mapping and playing?

Thanks for any clarification!

[duzenko 659]

This thread was started before TDM was standalone right? So I should pull up the console and dmap within TDM these days?

I think so

[peter_spy 1602]

This thread was started before TDM was standalone right? So I should pull up the console and dmap within TDM these days? And is it still a favorable practice to have separate shortcuts for mapping and playing?

 

With TDM you have to compile the map in the game, you use DR only to save things. You don't really need shortcuts for mapping and playing, you can have your project in fms folder, and switch to it with mission selecting menu in-game.

[Jedi_Wannabe 219]

Awesome, makes perfect sense.

Thanks a ton for your quick replies!

[HMart 334]

I was having roughly the same problem the other day as Procession did in the OP and realized my error lies in my folder structure. I had multiple tutorial projects going and confused myself on the names, so I wiped them all and decided to start fresh. Which leads me to these questions:

When I get to dmapping again is it still necessary to dmap with console of doom3.exe?

This thread was started before TDM was standalone right? So I should pull up the console and dmap within TDM these days? And is it still a favorable practice to have separate shortcuts for mapping and playing?

Thanks for any clarification!

 

The TDM idtech4 version has been modified so much that i'm sure that if you tried to compile with the original Doom 3 exe it would explode.

 

Btw even tho you don't need to have two different shortcuts for playing and developing in TDM, imo it would not be stupid to have them, why, because in that way you can dmap in a special window version (makes it very easy to alt-tab between the game and DR to test stuff in real time) with extra console commands like: +set developer 1 +disconnect +set com_allowConsole 1 +set r_fullscreen 0 +set r_multiSamples 0 +set r_mode 6 +set r_gamma 1 +dmap test.map

 

And on the play shortcut you use final settings, like the final user will have, in that way you make sure everything works fine to the end user and no console cmd is masking some bug, just saying.

[Jedi_Wannabe 219]

I see.

Your input is highly valued.

Many thanks.

[Jedi_Wannabe 219]

So I'm stuck at the bottom of page 1 again under Dmap: Compiling the Mission.

I know my blunder lies somewhere in folder structure. I've tried every variation I can think of along the lines of dmap maps/tutorial/tutorial but still keep coming back with "Couldn't load map file." I've attached a thumbnail of the top of my DR window that has the full file name, hopefully that will help to clue me in to where I goofed up. Any help finding a better way to organize my folders is greatly appreciated!

Thanks.