Question about prefabs

[Springheel]

I relied on prefabs a LOT while building A Reputation to Uphold, and I think we should give them a bit more love and attention as mapping tools. Really good prefabs have huge potential to speed up the building process.

 

I plan on adding a bunch of new prefabs, and improving some of the ones that are already there, starting with buildings.

 

I have a question though. If I'm going to update an existing building prefab (adding more details, correcting texture mistakes, adding dirt decals, etc), would you prefer that I save the result as a new prefab, or overwrite the one that's already there? Neither option affects existing maps, it just affects how many entries are in the list and the overall quality of what's available.

[Goldwell]

I relied on prefabs a LOT while building A Reputation to Uphold, and I think we should give them a bit more love and attention as mapping tools. Really good prefabs have huge potential to speed up the building process.

 

I plan on adding a bunch of new prefabs, and improving some of the ones that are already there, starting with buildings.

 

I have a question though. If I'm going to update an existing building prefab (adding more details, correcting texture mistakes, adding dirt decals, etc), would you prefer that I save the result as a new prefab, or overwrite the one that's already there? Neither option affects existing maps, it just affects how many entries are in the list and the overall quality of what's available.

 

I would prefer to replace the old ones. There would be no point in using an old prefab with off textures and/or one that looks worse so it makes sense to fully replace.

 

And yes prefabs are an excellent mappers tool! They help me out a lot even if I don't use them it's nice to have a quick reference point in DR.

[grayman]

Replace.

[RJFerret]

Replace please, and thank you.

 

There are so many broken ones and issues, every mission that uses the cash box (or jewelry box?) has missing polygons and screwed up textures, heh. There's no value in maintaining the old broken ones and already a cluttered list in some areas.

 

PS: If/when you get to containers, might chest bases have frobability turned off, so lazy mappers who don't change defaults will have chests that it's easy to loot from as well?

[Melan]

I think it's fair to replace them.

[SteveL]

Replace by default I'd say, retaining where both versions will be useful in your judgment. Where you're adding decals and improving textures, replacing gets my vote too as the two versions might be hard to tell apart in the small preview window, and even where the mapper wants custom decals, adapting the ones you'll have added will be at least as easy as creating new ones, and usually easier.

[Bikerdude]

would you prefer that I save the result as a new prefab, or overwrite the one that's already there?

And while your at it, reset the origin to 0 0 0, as a lot current prefabs are off so dont appear centered in the viewer.

 

if you going to do this then we may as well unclude all of Flanders, Melans and my prefabs that I have zipped up in .pk4 files.

[Springheel]

I'll show some comparison shots soon, but can anyone tell me the proper way to include editor descriptions into prefabs? Do they have to be added to the .pfb file manually or is there a good way to do it from the editor?

[SteveL]

You can do that using a spawnarg on the worldspawn in the prefab: editor_description

[Springheel]

It has to be on worldspawn? What if the prefab is only entities?

[SteveL]

Hmm. There's a suggestion in this wiki article: add a nodraw brush. It seems a bit messy, but I guess you can hide it somewhere inside an entity, and it won't matter much if the mapper fails to add it to their selection set or layer since it won't be needed after the prefab has been inserted, and a nodraw brush does no harm.

[Springheel]

Good idea, thanks.

[Springheel]

Ok, here's the first upgrade. I fixed a lot of the textures, made more realistic windows, added decals and tried to make the shape less boxy and more interesting by adding sections that jut out.

[grayman]

Looks good.

[SteveL]

Lovely staining :-)

[Bikerdude]

Ok, here's the first upgrade. I fixed a lot of the textures, made more realistic windows, added decals and tried to make the shape less boxy and more interesting by adding sections that jut out.

That was a prefab I originally made of that building model we have, nice to see it get some love.

[Springheel]

Here's the next prefab building--this one was created by me for A Reputation to Uphold. Once we get enough of these, mappers should just be able to make 'corridors' and line them with these prefabs to create good-looking network of streets in just a day or two.

[Bikerdude]

Ooh thats very pretty and nice to see sliptips textures being used!

[Springheel]

Which ones are sliptips?

[Digi]

Seems like I should pay attention to this, as someone whose levels will likely rely on others' prefabs heavily for a while. I'll probably be indebted to Melan shortly as it is, whose prefabs I downloaded recently. I also noticed a tree prefab that said Springheel in the defaults. I'm sure there are many people to thank at this point for even the simplest missions.

 

Because on the one hand, you want to blaze your own path and not rely too heavily on others. On the other hand, pre-made sh*t is WAY easier, especially for someone who, for example, hasn't even learned how to place a light yet.

 

Anyway. My first level is going to be an absurdly long, completely straight street, lined by unopenable doors. You spawn in the middle of a fire, armed with only a blackjack and burrick whistle, and 12 guards charge at you. It'll be amazing.

 

#pro

[SteveL]

Because on the one hand, you want to blaze your own path and not rely too heavily on others. On the other hand, pre-made sh*t is WAY easier, especially for someone who, for example, hasn't even learned how to place a light yet.

 

Another nice thing about prefabs (as opposed to imported models) is that you can study and edit them in DR. You can change a bit of the decor, or take just the smoking chimney to use on an existing building, or take a prefab arch and stretch it to make a tunnel.

[Bikerdude]

Which ones are sliptips?

The lovely dirty brick one on the bottom of the house, My only regret was that I wasent able to get better versions of his textures.

[RJFerret]

Anyway. My first level is going to be an absurdly long, completely straight street, lined by unopenable doors. You spawn in the middle of a fire, armed with only a blackjack and burrick whistle, and 12 guards charge at you. It'll be amazing.

 

Off topic for this thread, but so you can make plans without disappointingly going the wrong way down a long road (pun intended), due to needing visportals to divide areas for performance, long straight streets aren't really an option, hence all missions having lots of zig-zags, corners, and uneven city blocks, so streets won't line up with long sight lines.

 

(It's much harder to try to mutate a long street with single digit FPS, into one that performs well with multiple corners in it, rather than to start out making short stretches between sight blocking corners.)

 

The rest sounds action packed!

[Springheel]

Because on the one hand, you want to blaze your own path and not rely too heavily on others. On the other hand, pre-made sh*t is WAY easier, especially for someone who, for example, hasn't even learned how to place a light yet.

 

You just save the 'blazing your own path' for the stuff that really matters, and use prefabs for everything else. Most people don't pay much attention to the specific city buildings they're passing, other than to check and see if they're enterable or not, They won't pay attention to the particular configuration of crates and junk in the street. But they'll notice an overall difference if they look good.

 

It's rather like painting or illustration...you put the most detail into the focus of the piece, and less in the background.

[Melan]

Although that's one point where getting involved in level editing changes people. I used to focus on the big picture, but now have an eye for details... even in real life. I often look at buildings in terms of level geometry, and how I'd reconstruct them in an editor.