Sir Taffsalot's mapping thread

[Sotha]

Someone with texturing skills would need to do splat textures that are almost identical to the d3 textures but free.

 

After adding those to the mod, the splat problem would be solved for future maps.

 

Existing maps could be updated by opening the .map files and find/replacing the blood decals to use the free ones.

 

But as always, someone should do the work.

[Springheel]

Existing maps could be updated by opening the .map files and find/replacing the blood decals to use the free ones.

 

Easier than that, the new splat decals would just replace the D3 ones, so existing maps would not have to be changed. But that means the replacement textures would have to be quite similar (size, shape, etc) to the originals. But that will be the case for all the assets that need replacing.

[Mortem Desino]

Someone with texturing skills would need to do splat textures that are almost identical to the d3 textures but free.

 

...

 

But as always, someone should do the work.

If only we could hold a forum thread competition like Black Mesa Source for tiny little community contributions. I think they already had a blood splat decal competition.

[Sir Taffsalot]

I have a steel grate in my map that can be opened using a knife to dislodge it. Once dislodged I don't want it to just slide out of the way. I'd like to get this as realistic as possible and have it so that once it has been dislodged by the knife it can be picked up and moved to the side by the player. So I guess what I'm looking for is a way for the the grate to turn into a movable once it's been unlocked by the knife.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Sotha]

Design: First, you should make the grates surroundings 'loose.' This means that if the grate fits the portal tightly, it is difficult to get off because it is welded to the portal sides. You need to design it so that the moveable is slightly smaller than the portal.

 

Figure out if your knifing is logical; how does the player know that is the right thing to do? It will be stupid to use a knife if you have all kinds of other items you could logically use to pry a grate open, but the only thing that will work is the knife.

 

You have a dummy func_static grate that sits on the portal. When the grate gets touched in the correct place with the knife, the grate is removed and replaced with a moveable one.

 

Implementation

1) make the func_static grate object.

2) make a collision brush which is the size of the func_static object.

3) bind the func_static to the collision brush.

4) make the collision brush into a moveable. I cannot remember the spawnargs, but you can always check them from the transaction.map firewood blocks that are in the derelict house. The ones the player carry to the fireplace. They are a func_static model, which is bound to a moveable collision brush that has all the spawnargs you need.

5) make your knifing system. You can check the knighton manor metal-disc-tomb-opening thing. That was done, if I recall correctly, like this: a ) metal disc emits a custom stim. b ) the hole in which the disc was inserted was listening to the stim the disc emits. Once they meet, the disc was removed and a dummy disc was placed in the hole and the stim receiver was disabled. Check the knightons manor .map for how to set that up in detail.

6) once the stim / response system has been satisfied, you remove the dummy func_static grate from the grate portal and replace it with a moveable one. You could even make a cool effect by causing an impulse so that the grate is dislodged and it falls down as per normal physics. Removal of the dummy and the teleportation of the movable into place can be done with S&R, exactly the same way the metal disc was removed and teleported in knighton manor, but in this case you substitute it with a moveable and maybe make the impulse. I've never done impulses, so I have no idea how to do that.

[Sir Taffsalot]

Thanks Sotha. As soon as I posted that I thought about trying the ball / painting in a cage concept from earlier in this thread which consisted of using triggers and teleporters. It actually seems to work. One thing though how do I make it that the gate becomes movable so that the player can pick it up. I don't want it to go into thier inventory or anything. Just so they can pick it up and move it to the side. I've had a look down the list of properties and the only things I can see of relevence are Frobbable and Grabbable. It frobs but I can't pick it up though.

[Sir Taffsalot]

OK I've managed to get it so the player can move it around. I had a look at the fire wood in Sothas FM. Only thing is the gate just disapears when the teleporter is activated instead of appearing where its supposed to.

[Sotha]

Place the moveable grate in the correct position and check its coordinates. Be a sure the coordinates are correct. If they are not and you teleport it on something, it will fail. Test if the teleportation works in an unobstructed scenario. That is, can you teleport it successfully into a clear area.

[Sir Taffsalot]

What do you mean by "place the movable grate in the correct position"? It's in a blue room and the the teleporter is targetting the grate to appear where the non movable one was.

 

It teleported fine until I binded it to the collision brush so I think the issue might be something to do with that.

[Sir Taffsalot]

Got it working. The teleporter was targetting both the movable gate and the collision brush.I deleted the target for the gate and it works fine just targetting the collision brush.

 

Thank you very much for your help Sotha. It's much appreciated.

[Sir Taffsalot]

Does anyone know where I can get a knife image for the inventory icon or where I can find them in the TDM folder? Is there even a knife image?

[Mortem Desino]

You'll find all the HUD icons in darkmod\dds\guis\assets\hud.

[Sotha]

Got it working. The teleporter was targetting both the movable gate and the collision brush.I deleted the target for the gate and it works fine just targetting the collision brush.

 

Thank you very much for your help Sotha. It's much appreciated.

 

Great! No problems!

 

Does anyone know where I can get a knife image for the inventory icon or where I can find them in the TDM folder? Is there even a knife image?

 

You can make your own icon easily! Put a knife against a black texture, in the game, pick up a moveable candle or similar do you get it lit nicely and take a screenie of the knife.

Then open your favourite image editor and make a icon out of the screenshot it. You can check phrase_book package for an example icon. All you need is the correct resolution and alpha to the background. Example: phrase_book/guis/assets/hud/inventory_icons/lead_ball.tga

 

Add an ordinary moveable knife in you mission, but make it go into inventory using spawnargs (you could check phrase_book/def/phrase_book.def for guidance, it contains the spawnargs how the lead ball in phrase_book was done. It should be exactly similar to the stuff you want: a special moveable that goes in inventory, does not do much, but can be dropped). Give that "inv_icon" "guis/assets/hud/inventory_icons/lead_ball.tga" or whatever.

[Sir Taffsalot]

You'll find all the HUD icons in darkmod\dds\guis\assets\hud.

 

I'm probably being V stupid here but I can't see a dds folder in my Dark Mod folder.

 

@ Sotha - for the knife all I've done is use a key. I've changed the model to that of a knife. Everything wors fine really. I just need a knife icon for when it goes in to the inventory.

[Mortem Desino]

I'm probably being V stupid here but I can't see a dds folder in my Dark Mod folder.

Oh, right.

 

That's because they're all hiding in tdm_gui01.pk4.

[Sir Taffsalot]

Thats brilliant! Extemely greatful for all the help chaps!

[Sir Taffsalot]

Well how stupid is this? I've created swimmable water dozens of times in DR with no problems but now it won't work. I fall straght through the water as if there was nothing there. No splash or anything.

 

Anyway after messing around for a while I discovered that texturing the face of the surface is the problem. If I texture the bottom of the liquid entity it becomes swimmable. Of course this looks rubbish as the ripples are on the bottom and there's nothing on the surface. No problem just rotate the water entity right? Apparently not as this cause a leak! There was no leak before the water entity was rotated and I haven't moved it into the void, I've just turned it upside down.

 

Anyone know how I can get the water to work? Why is this even happening? I've created water dozens of times. Create brush - texture nodraw - create entity atdm_liquid_water - texture surface.

[Sir Taffsalot]

Well the water works as long as the bottom of it is textured ie given the clear water texture. I can texture the surface fine now but the bottom has to be textured too. This is a bug right? I read the swimmable water tut by Angua and even the water section of Fidcals tut just to be sure I didn't miss anything. Yeah your only supposed to texture the surface.

 

I even made a new map with just a room with water created the usual way and it works fine. Any idea why the water in my main map is acting in an odd way?

[Sir Taffsalot]

I'm putting the finish touches to my FM. One thing i've noticed is that I'm very unhappy about the scale of the wood texture I am using. What is the best way to change this?

 

I've created a brush with a wood texture that has the scale I'm happy with. I'm selecting a face and copying it then pasting it onto my wood brushes in my map. However some of the faces of the brushes now have the wood grain going the wrong way. I know that you can select indivdual faces of a brush and rotate them but taking into account that my map is on quite the large side, doing that will be a very long and boring job.

 

Probably my own fault for not making sure I was happy with the wood texture to start with and then making a large map. Oh well, what's done is done

[Melan]

You can select multiple surfaces at the same time by clicking on them one after the other. That means you can select, say, 20-30 faces at once, rotate them, move on to the next batch etc. That should cut down on your time.

[Sir Taffsalot]

I know. I was just wondering if there was a way to paste a texture onto a brush without any surfaces getting rotated. I know that you can click on multiple surfaces and rotate them at once. Unfortunately if I'm going to alter the textur on all my wood I'm going to have to do an awful lot of pointing and clicking.

[Sotha]

Yup, doing stuff like that over is really a chore. But worry not. You just learn from mistakes like this and next time it will go smoothly.

 

I've end up with something I call Sotha's Modular Principle (SMP):

*Build mostly modular corridors and doorways of standard width and ceiling height. (Of course you have a modular wide corridor and a modular narrow corridor.)

*Plan your map into this modular format. (Ie, don't make sudden moves that make inclusion of your modules difficult, you need to have enough space so the modules go in without a hassle.)

*Build modular parts: vaulted corridors, vaulted chambers, vaulted intersections, niches, windows, alcoves, doorways (with doors, handles and visportals attached), etc. These must fit the modular dimensions.

*Note that each module must be optimized into each direction since DR occasionally screws up if you rotate many things simultaneously. This means you have a north, east, west and south versions of the doorway with a door and a handle and a visportal.

*Reuse the modules as much as possible. Retexture them to make them look different.

*When you build a new area that requires a new style, build new modules to fit the style. Store them. After a time you should have lots of easily reuseable parts.

*Everything you build, build it so that you can easily select it and clone it around so you can reuse it. You could store modules to an abandoned big room in the side of your map so that you can easily just shift-drag-select, clone and drag modules into place.

*You can even modularize detail things so that they will fit your setting (barrels with snow patches on top of them (Mandrasola), windows with moonlightbeam func_static + window light (Phrase book)).

 

Important: be very careful when you build the module first time! Inspect it DR, ingame and spend some time to make sure it is as perfect as possible. Remember to set module parts, func_statics so that they are perfect: optimize, set noshadows for parts that do not need shadows, etc. This is insanely important. After you are sure the module is 100% fine, THEN that start cloning it around!

 

This principle applies to my workflow with ceiling beams as well:

I build one perfect alpha-beam, then clone it around. Once you got a corridor filled with them, adjust the beam textures so that they look good. Again, carefully examine them. If they are as perfect as possible, start cloning those as needed. If you use 3 or 4 different looking beams and clone them, no one will spot add the beams are from the same 'stock' and you save a lot of trouble. Since your rooms are of standard size and the ceiling is on standard height, the beams will land there nicely.

 

Of course, sometimes you do everything individually by hand, but having this modular state of mind and workflow really saves time and lets you focus on quick, productive, easy and fun creation process. When you create something by hand, make sure it is something you can pick up, clone and drag elsewhere with ease.

 

I hope these tips will help.

[SeriousToni]

Be careful if you're using this kind of very strict and structured (even mathematic like) work flow, your map is in danger to become very predictable and symmetrically looking. Before you start building "modules" and stuff you need a clear idea (concept art, building plan) of what you want to achieve and how you want it to look like!! I call this "TSDCABYSTM". (Toni says: Do concept art before you start to map!")

 

The benefit is of course a faster working speed you're save from leaks (if you tested your single parts before sticking them around).

[Melan]

My strategy is to start building and let the flow of it carry me forward. Well, okay, I do sketches of architecture I wish to build, too, and I create prefabs of some of my work. But I am a lot less disciplined than Sotha.

Edited July 12, 2012 by Melan

[demagogue]

I'm happier building when I have it all on paper & have a good vision of what I want to do. But I have to say, the occasional times where I free-build often end up to be interesting things. It's just if I try it too much I'll have a mental block and just sit there and stare at the map. If I have something on paper, I can be a lot more efficient ... so maybe I'll draw out a general plan, but sometimes leave spots open to free-build.

 

Oh, the other thing I like sometimes, is when you're building and realize your plan isn't going to work well -- like you have to change something to get the portalling or lighting or gameplay right -- so you have to improvise to have the thing work but also have it look good. I like those moments because it's directed enough to give you an idea what to do, but free enough interesting ideas come out in the moment.