A newbie mapper is working on his first playable map

[PranQster]

I am very, very far from having the skills of the rest of you who have created FMs. But I'm working on a map and I'm going to share it anyway. I still have a lot to do, several months worth, and, as I'm typing this, I'm trying to figure out a potential name for it to list in this posting. Please excuse my spamming of screenshots

For now I'm calling it "The Blueprints", but the reason for that title are not included in the screen shots... I'm saving that for the mission release.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"... with her head tucked underneath her arm..."

This last one is a hint of what I intend to include. So far my dungeon is nothing but a nearly empty room, but I promise vast improvement

Edited April 22, 2011 by PranQster

[PranQster]

Crap! I was in the 'What are you working on?' thread, but I pressed 'New Topic' instead of 'Reply'. This was not supposed to be a new topic Sorry all.

[grayman]

It looks like you've gone quite a ways down the mapping road. These are interesting shots from what looks like will be an enjoyable mission.

[Fidcal]

Good luck with this PranQster. Promising start. Because it's your first map I always recommend keep it small and simple and not over-ambitious.

[Sotha]

Looks really good.

 

And much better than my very first mapping attempts..

 

Because it's your first map I always recommend keep it small and simple and not over-ambitious.

I recommend this too: a mapper's very first map is somehow special. You're learning new things at it is easy to make big mistakes that would require complete and tedious redesign and building of areas. Keeping it small allows you to make these mistakes without you having huge areas to redesign. Also it makes the map more finishable and you get the nice feeling of accomplishment when you get your work released.

 

I always find the last pushes of the map building to be the most painful ones.

[ungoliant]

Good luck with this PranQster. Promising start. Because it's your first map I always recommend keep it small and simple and not over-ambitious.

 

woops. i may have screwed that one up . 1 year and counting now. granted i'm treating it more like a fairweather hobby and less like work.

[nbohr1more]

That looks great PranQster!

 

Welcome to the Upcoming Fan Missions club.

[Bikerdude]

very impressive for a first map dude! much better than my first map.

[Jesps]

Looks very good. Especially for a fist map. I like little details, like that spoon on the cooking pot.

[PranQster]

Thanks all for the encouragement. I really appreciate it.

I am keeping the map reasonably small, with the architecture fitting within approx 2600x2600 units. There are 2 main buildings, one of which is a one-room siege workshop while the other is a small fort for the defense of the workshop. There will be 3 main objectives, obtaining each of 3 blueprints for the siege weapons being developed there... plus a loot objective and a couple of other (maybe optional) objectives.

 

One thing I discovered last night which may be related to problems I often have with released FMs giving the AAS out of date error... I moved the axe from one position to another without doing a dmap afterward. I thought I remembered that moving a model did not require a dmap. The model was moved just fine when I ran the map, but I did get the AAS32 out of date error when the map loaded.

[PranQster]

Looks very good. Especially for a fist map. I like little details, like that spoon on the cooking pot.

 

Thanks I had to put the spoon there. I spent 21.5 years of my life working full time in restaurant kitchens. I placed that spoon exactly where I would have if I was the cook.

BTW, the other saucepan in that screenshot has oil in the bottom of it. I found that the yellow glass texture works well for simulating cooking oil.

Edited April 22, 2011 by PranQster

[Fidcal]

One thing I discovered last night which may be related to problems I often have with released FMs giving the AAS out of date error... I moved the axe from one position to another without doing a dmap afterward. I thought I remembered that moving a model did not require a dmap. The model was moved just fine when I ran the map, but I did get the AAS32 out of date error when the map loaded.

Yes years ago I felt sure that this didn't happen. I could be wrong but I started noticing this only in the last couple of years. It doesn't affect anything except pathfinding so ignore during development if just testing and AI not important. But definitely always always dmap before releasing. In fact, delete all the proc, cm, and aas files before dmapping at that time and dmap to make sure they are all uptodate.

[Melan]

I like where this is going. Already some nice architecture, and the imagery is fascinating.

 

Good luck with this PranQster. Promising start. Because it's your first map I always recommend keep it small and simple and not over-ambitious.

That's arguably the best way. OTOH my first map was the extra-large Bad Debts, so I'm probably not the person to throw stones at ambition.

[PranQster]

I like where this is going. Already some nice architecture, and the imagery is fascinating.

That's arguably the best way. OTOH my first map was the extra-large Bad Debts, so I'm probably not the person to throw stones at ambition.

 

Right on Thanks.

The map really is not big, not many rooms, but has a couple with multiple locked doors and a certain sequence of objectives to get through. I'm not planning on building a town for anything more than decoration. It is a semi-long building, with an adjoining building and a dungeon. I'll try to make it challenging with AI placement and lighting. I'm planning on putting in quite a few AI. It has a unique feature right from the start which has not yet been seen in TDM... possibly not in T1 or T2 FM's either, but I can't verify that claim.

I'm nearly done with the basic brush work and have made the main objectives, but then will come the decorating and placement of loot, AI pathing, audio, keys distribution, monster-clip, visportals, rofl, the kitchen sink (quite literally, I forgot to put a sink in the kitchen)

If all goes well, players will smile, be surprised, laugh and cringe... all within a few dozen minutes.

[Glyph Seeker]

Looking good! Seeing new mappers getting started is an inspiration in itself!

 

I do hope that the dungeon is haunted... ;-P

[PranQster]

Looking good! Seeing new mappers getting started is an inspiration in itself!

 

I do hope that the dungeon is haunted... ;-P

 

Right on! Thanks

So far, the 'dungeon' isn't much more than a jail, but we'll see.

[PranQster]

Major progress has been made since my last post here. I did a test package of my mission last night and everything works quite well.

Completed:

1. Objectives

2. AI and paths (might need some minor tweaking)

3. Most brush work is finished and most textures aligned; most caulk work is done

4. Ambient music (might change some music, one track is starting to annoy me)

5. Loot (always subject to change the final amount)

6. Most lighting finished

7. Doors, locks, visportals, elevator (needs new call buttons)

 

To Do:

1. Finish the skybox with a surrounding town

2. A mostly-empty hallway to do something with

3. Decorative items (plates & cups on tables, junk items, plants outside, etc.)

4. Script to turn off a looping sound if a certain AI is KO'd or killed.

5. A few more readables for aesthetic value

6. Mission Briefing - template made and tested... just needs text content.

7. Adjust shop and start items for 3 skill levels

8. A few speaker entities for sound effects in various places

9. Some patch work needed to round off some hard right angles in a few places

10. Decals - grime, spider webs, etc.

11. Decide upon the name of the mission and adjust file names and xdata, etc. accordingly

 

Once I complete this list I'll be looking for beta testers.

[fllood]

Glad to see your much promising work steadily progessing PranQster

[Fidcal]

Yes, it sounds very advanced.

 

ToDo #4 can be done without a script if you prefer. If you already have kill & KO objectives just give them a completion target to the speaker to turn it off. If not then make optional invisible objectives.

[PranQster]

Glad to see your much promising work steadily progessing PranQster

Awesome. Thanks for the encouragement.

 

Yes, it sounds very advanced.

 

ToDo #4 can be done without a script if you prefer. If you already have kill & KO objectives just give them a completion target to the speaker to turn it off. If not then make optional invisible objectives.

Thanks Fidcal, I'll look into an invisible objective. But I might not keep the sound effect. It's no game secret, so I'll just explain it. In the screenshots above there is one which shows a small blacksmith forge and anvil. I acquired a sound file of a blacksmith hammering, which loops. But it would be silly if the sound kept looping if the smith were to be knocked out or if he leaves his work area.

In any case it is already silly since the smith just stands there with the hammer in his hand but doesn't have an animation to show him hammering on his work. So I may just scrap the sound altogether and pretend that the smith is just resting a bit.

 

I discovered the joy of using the shop entity to set starting gear last night, but was confused at first since the gear did not show up when loading the map directly. I was doing the old 'fill the blue room with tools and weapons' method until then. As soon as I did an actual FM install and loaded the map that way, of course the gear and the shop both loaded. Looks like I may need to keep a blackjack and some water arrows to load with the map until it comes time to package it for real... or set myself a temporary "care package", right next to player start, filled with all the tools and weapons.

 

[Fidcal]

Yes a smithy hammering would be a good animation. Probably could be used for other things too like cook chopping food

[fllood]

In any case it is already silly since the smith just stands there with the hammer in his hand but doesn't have an animation to show him hammering on his work.

A smithing sound would add well to the atmosphere I think. So why not using the hammer sound until opening the room door (or crossing some stim brush)? It can be heard taffing around nearby and making the player aware that there is a blacksmith. Maybe even let the smith pause his job, sit and eating upon the player entering the room (explaining the sound did end). With Fidcals solution if the AI is KO/killed.

Just an idea...

Edited May 23, 2011 by fllood

[PranQster]

Hmm.. good ideas. I was considering stopping the sound and having the smith take a sitting break. I could put a trigger_multi for him to walk through to toggle the sound so it starts again when he returns to work (yes??).

I also like the idea of the animation to double for a cook chopping. I'd put a knife in my cook's hand, but he wanders all over and hasn't learned proper kitchen safety yet. He would forget to carry the knife point-down and edge-backward.

[PranQster]

Putting a trigger multiple right behind the smith did the trick just fine. Now the speaker turns off when he walks away and resumes when he returns and my player does not trigger it. I have yet to test a different AI walking into it.

[Tels]

Putting a trigger multiple right behind the smith did the trick just fine. Now the speaker turns off when he walks away and resumes when he returns and my player does not trigger it. I have yet to test a different AI walking into it.

 

Hm, if someone creates a hammering animation for you, then you can sync the sound of "hammer hit" to the animation. That way the sound only playes whenever the hammer hits the object, and not any other time.

 

Edit: Btw, in one of your screens is a clean fireplace - use the "dirty" skin for it, as this looks much better