Newbie DarkRadiant Questions

[Sonosuke]

Fidcal saved me again, i am really glad you are here, thanks!

[Springheel]

Fidcal isn't our mapping lead for nothing.

[Neb]

Okay, this is very off-topic, I'm sorry, but - I ran into the second T2 FM I ever played (but had forgotten about) recently, and I was like "Oh hell, it's this one. It's crazy". I'm nowhere near finished playing it, but it's really fun.

 

Turns out it's by Fidcal.   Really fantastic. Check out The Night Watch.

 

 

[Sneaksy Manfool]

Thanks for the reply Fidcal, I'll give it a shot tonight.

 

btw thanks for the tut... I've never edited anything before and it surely helps make the process much easier to understand.

 

 

 

Worked great.

 

Thanks again.

[Sonosuke]

can anyone tell me what "game error - l>= max_reach_per_area" means and what to do? Starting the map in dr works, i can dmap but i cant start the map in DM

 

edit: oh its working O.O, it has something to do with monsterclips and trees

Edited December 25, 2009 by Sonosuke

[Fidcal]

yes, pathfinding problem:

 

http://www.modwiki.net/wiki/Common_Mapping_Issues#Error:_i_.3E.3D_MAX_REACH_PER_AREA

[Melan]

Inexplicable crash-related question:

1) When I am testing my FM, it tends to crash when I look in a certain direction.

2) This error did not crop up on my home PC; now I am using another, with an ATI Radeon 1650 card. I disabled Catalyst A.I. since that produced problems for others, but to no avail. The full system config is:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5600+ 2.81 GHz

ATI Radeon 1650

2.00 GB RAM

Running Windows XP, SP 3

3) Other fan missions run without a hitch.

 

I suppose the problem may be related to either visportals or something being rendered that TDM doesn't like. What makes the whole thing suspicious that neither my home PC nor other fan missions have this issue. What could be the problem?

[Fidcal]

Only a couple of situations come to mind - and they fit your theories. Some players reported crashes when they looked in the direction of one of the plinth or pillar models. This occurred in the Chalice of Kings Parlour and in the objects section of the trainer. As I recall that was fixed by some settings change (have to search.) But your problem doesn't seem to be that specific one but may be related for all I know.

 

The other is a problem I have had with my own FM. This was crashing on both my PCs. I've tracked it down to when my eyeline is level with some very large horizontal visportals over a courtyard. I've had to remove the visportals. Technically the visportals worked correctly but for some reason caused a bad lockup when I looked in their direction and level with them.

 

If you suspect visportals then first remove them all in a separate test save to confirm or eliminate the theory. I wasted a lot of time trying to tweak them until I realized in the end only total removal worked.

[Melan]

Hm, I followed your suggestions on removing visportals; that did not stop crashes, only made them occur sooner. I wonder if it is models causing problems or architecture. I will need to experiment tomorrow, but it is getting too late for this. I am not happy about the thought of potentially having to nuke parts of my level to start over; hopefully it is something relatively small. :/

[Fidcal]

Well, that eliminates the visportals so that's progress.

 

Try deleting models in the suspect view. If that fails you can upload the map and pm me the address if you want - or there are others here willing to help. If you do then first move your player start to just before where the crash is and give specific instructions where to look to cause it. This will not only make it easier for me but also I need not see any other spoilers. I can then confirm/deny if I get the crash at all and if I do perhaps I can spot what's causing it.

[Melan]

Fidcal: I sent you a PM.

[Springheel]

Here's a newb question: Is there any way to quickly move the camera to another spot on the map?

[lostbuthappy]

Here's a newb question: Is there any way to quickly move the camera to another spot on the map?

 

Yep, ctrl + mmb in orthogonal view iirc.

 

edit: you can also save camera positions with ctrl + alt + [0-9] and then restore them with alt + [0 - 9].

Edited December 26, 2009 by lostbuthappy

[Sonosuke]

ok, one last question (i think), i have set up everything for ambiant sound and chosen the files but putting in "volume" or "s_volume" does not seem to have any effect, somtimes the sound is overlapping too when i do that. Wiki could not tell me anything i can understand on that matter ;-)Can anyone tell me what to do?

Edited December 27, 2009 by Sonosuke

[demagogue]

ok, one last question (i think), i have set up everything for ambiant sound and chosen the files but putting in "volume" or "s_volume" does not seem to have any effect, somtimes the sound is overlapping too when i do that. Wiki could not tell me anything i can understand on that matter ;-)Can anyone tell me what to do?

 

Volume on the location_entities (i.e., ambient speakers) isn't working right yet. I don't know why.

 

You can either re-do it with normal speakers (the fail-safe way), try using a custom soundshader (I'm not sure that works either, though), or you could use something like Audacity to lower the ambient sound's volume natively then use that as a custom sound (I don't know if that will work, either). Sorry I don't know how to help you more... This is a known issue.

 

Edit: For the record, I think this is related to the problem that the ambient volume for some people is way too loud and for other people too soft. *Something* is setting the volume quite independently of what the mapper does, which varies across computers (so even if you could set it, it might still vary for everybody anyway). I just wish I knew what it was! Then we might be able to control it and normalize it for everybody...

[Sonosuke]

Thanks demagogue, so if i set normal speakers, do i have to set them global? Are the location separators still working?

 

The problem has (maybe) something to do with the settings in the options, i had some bugs here and there like setting the ambient volume down, reloaded and the sound juped back to max but if i move the ambiant soundbar only a bit it goes back to what i have set.

[Sonosuke]

ok, the locationseparators are not working for global speakers, i better go with to loud or to silent ambients :-)

[Carnage]

1. I would like to have the AI react to switching of electric lights, extinguishing torches and certain doors that are open but shouldn't. I only want them to do so on the highest difficulty. I read a bit about it on the wiki but can't really figure out how to do it. Could someone explain it to me step by step?

 

2. Is it possible to have an objective that you want a certain person killed but only this person and no one else besides that? I guess it is but could someone explain this to me as well?

 

Thanks in advance

Edited December 27, 2009 by Carnage

[Fidcal]

1. I'll have to look up this myself. I think there is a thing to set the spawnarg for a difficulty I'm sure.

 

2. Yes, first note down or 'copy' the name of the AI. When you create a new objective then add a component then the default is 'kill'. Below it, select 'kill' in the list so it's highlighted and below it where it says no specifier select name of single entity then paste in the name of the AI.

[Fidcal]

1. Here's the link: http://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Difficulty_Levels#Changing_Properties_on_Entity_Instances_based_on_Difficulty_Settings

 

I don't think AI can yet switch electric lights back on.

 

For torches I think you want to put on the AI:

 

"diff_2_change_0" "canLightTorches"

"diff_2_arg_0" "1"

 

2 = Expert

[Carnage]

Thanks Fidcal. Could you also explain how to let the AI notice that the lights and torches are off/on and that the doors are open. I see that how I typed it in my first post, one couldn't see that I also needed that info. Sorry about that.

 

Edit: Is it also possible to include an objective like 'don't get caught'. So you'll fail if the AI see you or find a body, anything that gives away your presence?

Edited December 27, 2009 by Carnage

[Fidcal]

1. Sorry - missed the notice doors thing. Not tried this myself but try adding shouldBeClosed 1 to the door then I think AI get suspicious if it is found open.

 

2. Yes, I have already set up two ghosting optional objectives in my own FM - one allows very low level alert but nothing higher and the other only fails on high alerts. Because they are optional the player sees 'Objective failed' if there is an alert but the mission doesn't end so ghosters can reload their last quicksave if they want or other players can just shrug it off and continue playing. If you want one that is mandatory of course then only set one of these objectives. For quickness I'm just pasting here from my own map. To see it in the editor, save a test version of your map, open it in a plain text editor, find your existing objectives entity, paste in the below (or just one of them) and save then load in Dark Radiant and look in the editor. (you might need to renumber the obj I'm unsure what DR will do with missing numbers - or else quicky create 15 dummy ones!) I'll answer any queries tomorrow: I think these two cover alert level 2 and 5 eg in the first line below:

 

"obj16_1_args" "1 5"

"obj16_1_irreversible" "0"

"obj16_1_not" "1"

"obj16_1_player_responsible" "1"

"obj16_1_spec1" "none"

"obj16_1_state" "0"

"obj16_1_type" "alert"

"obj16_desc" "You have a professional reputation well above ordinary thieves. Try not to start a major alert. (optional)"

"obj16_irreversible" "0"

"obj16_mandatory" "0"

"obj16_ongoing" "1"

"obj16_state" "0"

"obj16_visible" "1"

"obj17_1_args" "1 2"

"obj17_1_irreversible" "0"

"obj17_1_not" "1"

"obj17_1_player_responsible" "1"

"obj17_1_spec1" "none"

"obj17_1_state" "0"

"obj17_1_type" "alert"

"obj17_desc" "Best not let them know that anyone is here at all (optional)"

"obj17_irreversible" "0"

"obj17_mandatory" "0"

"obj17_ongoing" "1"

"obj17_state" "0"

"obj17_visible" "1"

[Sonosuke]

1. Sorry - missed the notice doors thing. Not tried this myself but try adding shouldBeClosed 1 to the door then I think AI get suspicious if it is found open.

 

 

I have a door and a slider-door that "shouldBeClosed", somehow it works on the door but not on the slider.

[Springheel]

Sorry - missed the notice doors thing. Not tried this myself but try adding shouldBeClosed 1 to the door then I think AI get suspicious if it is found open.

 

Last I heard closed door behaviour wasn't working properly. AI were alerting themselves by opening the doors. Possibly that's been changed but I haven't heard anyone mention it.

[Carnage]

Thanks Fidcal, I'll test it out asap and will let you know how the ghosting objective works. I think it is too difficult to complete a mission without switching off the lights and extinguishing torches, so I think I'll leave that as it is. But if I change my mind, to understand what you said earlier the following line means that the AI will be alerted when a torch is put out:

 

"diff_2_arg_0" "1"

 

Or will they only notice it and their alert status wouldn't change?

 

Regarding the doors, I'll only use it on doors that are locked and the AI won't go to those rooms, so that solves the problem that the AI would be alerted when they open the doors themselves.

 

About the kill objective. If I have a don't kill anyone objective and a kill a certain person objective in the same mission. Will the don't kill anyone objective not fail if I kill that certain person?

Edited December 28, 2009 by Carnage