Newbie DarkRadiant Questions

[Rek]

I have got a little trouble with blood texture (from decals). The blood is visible in editor but not in game. Does anyone know where is the problem? 

[demagogue]

If it is the same problem I had that I reported in this exact thread: some decals are broken so they do not show up in game, so you should just use another blood decal. Try another couple of different blood decals to see if they work, and if all of them are broken then post again.

[stumpy]

shift+s brings up the patch division editor, its at the bottom of the popup, put a tick in the box and play with the verticle, horizontal settings till it looks right, unless I've got the wrong end of the stick.

[ungoliant]

Ok I'm having some serious issues with creating a tower-like structure with windows that open. I completed the tower tutorial that uses patches, but no explanation on windows at all. How I would even do that with patches is completely unfathomable to me, plus with 3 stories that all overlook the outside of my house, how on earth to properly portal that would be beyond me as well.

 

So, I have been working with a brush tower for multiple hours now, and DAMNIT this is getting rediculous. Heres a ss of the work + explanation:

 

 

This is a 30 sided prism room (to be cut in half) created by making a large and small 30 sided prism, and CSG subtracting. The result is z fighting (which i attempted to solve by creating it with no-draw texture, and then texturing only the outside faces the player can see with my chosen material [which did not work]).

 

Putting in windows as you can see by the SS is a MAJOR pain, and will require patches to texture the inside of the room anyway, and i cannot figure out how to patch around windows for the life of me.

 

I searched through the forum about prism rooms and found something by badcog about this. he said: "Yeah, the round parts started as a cylinder (20 sides), then cut like a pie, then cut each wedge into wall thickness, then vert edit to clean it up."

 

what does that even mean?! like clipper tooling 20 slices or something? That is the only lead I have found on a resolution to this. Can anyone explain the proper way to make a multi-story half-tower with open windows please?

 

P.S. CSG merge on those brushes did absolutely nothing.

 

edit: here is my interpretation of badcog's idea thus far:

somehow this bad hackjob of a tower wall is not aesthetically pleasing... but is this the "proper" way to do it..?

Edited March 10, 2010 by ungoliant

[killhour]

My map compiles fine, but when I try to run it, I get "error: i >= max_reach_per_area." What does this mean?

[Serpentine]

From modwiki :

Severe: An error issued by the AAS compiler. An Area that has been created has more than 256 adjoining Areas. You should simplify the map's brush geometry (which the aas compiler uses as input) using monster clip to block off areas that the AI won't/shouldn't go.

 

This error may also be caused by surrounding the map with a large caulk hull with leaks between the map and hull.

 

Try think about changes made before your map stopped working correctly, think about how those changes might have given access to pretty much the whole map via an internal leak or something...

[Fidcal]

killhour: have you visportaled? If not, see http://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Visportals

 

If you have then consider if you have internal leaks between the portal areas: http://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Performance:_Essential_Must-Knows#Internal_Leaks

 

If still a problem then consider pathfinding complexity: http://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Pathfinding#Preventing_and_Reducing_Pathfinding_Complexity_in_Select_Locations

[Fidcal]

ungoliant: What you are doing is very difficult so not surprising you are struggling. I did the spiral stair prefab using quarter patch segments, bevels I think, so I could fit in doors - but that was only an 'internal' tower (not visible outside) but even so it took me a long while to get it right.

 

I cannot see your second image because photobucket is giving a maintenance error but I think you might be on the right track.

 

• 
   
  
• What I would try in your case is this (and this straight out of my head so is probably rubbish)
  
• Make a tall brush the height of the tower; its cross section to be the thickness of the wall one way and about 1/32nd of the circumference of the tower.
  
• Clone it 4 times and rotate as needed and move those blocks to form the N, S, E, W blocks.
  
• Select all 4, clone, and rotate 45 degrees.
  
• Repeat 22.5 degrees and so on until you have the 32 vertical blocks
  
• Make them align only on the outer edges; internally let them fully clip into one another.
  
• When done then go over the lot and cut from the tower centre to each of the outer joins.
  
• Then remove the internal fragments.
  

 

Horrible but all I can think of right now. Hopefully someone will come up with a better solution.

 

Windows you can then cut out as needed.

 

The above will never look as good as patches but it is very difficult to do with patches.

[AluminumHaste]

Ok I'm having some serious issues with creating a tower-like structure with windows that open. I completed the tower tutorial that uses patches, but no explanation on windows at all. How I would even do that with patches is completely unfathomable to me, plus with 3 stories that all overlook the outside of my house, how on earth to properly portal that would be beyond me as well.

 

So, I have been working with a brush tower for multiple hours now, and DAMNIT this is getting rediculous. Heres a ss of the work + explanation:

 

 

This is a 30 sided prism room (to be cut in half) created by making a large and small 30 sided prism, and CSG subtracting. The result is z fighting (which i attempted to solve by creating it with no-draw texture, and then texturing only the outside faces the player can see with my chosen material [which did not work]).

 

Putting in windows as you can see by the SS is a MAJOR pain, and will require patches to texture the inside of the room anyway, and i cannot figure out how to patch around windows for the life of me.

 

I searched through the forum about prism rooms and found something by badcog about this. he said: "Yeah, the round parts started as a cylinder (20 sides), then cut like a pie, then cut each wedge into wall thickness, then vert edit to clean it up."

 

what does that even mean?! like clipper tooling 20 slices or something? That is the only lead I have found on a resolution to this. Can anyone explain the proper way to make a multi-story half-tower with open windows please?

 

P.S. CSG merge on those brushes did absolutely nothing.

 

edit: here is my interpretation of badcog's idea thus far:

somehow this bad hackjob of a tower wall is not aesthetically pleasing... but is this the "proper" way to do it..?

 

I think you found the only instance where DromED/DarkEngine is superior lol.

What you are doing there is one of the most difficult things to do, of course it's going to be hard. I would suggest something more simple for your first or second map. Don't get burned out on one single aspect of your map, no matter how much you want to do it.

[ungoliant]

I think you found the only instance where DromED/DarkEngine is superior lol.

What you are doing there is one of the most difficult things to do, of course it's going to be hard. I would suggest something more simple for your first or second map. Don't get burned out on one single aspect of your map, no matter how much you want to do it.

 

i've already successfully done it, and this is my first map for any game ever, and i fully plan to learn everything TDM related and showcase the full spectrum of TDM features in this map. I'll be modifying textures, picking up a copy of maya and making my own custom animations for drunken guards (including in combat), and learning blender to make my own models. I'll also be making some good use of particles, and use some voiceacting from me and my roomates for some of the AI as well. Might even try to fit in some ghosts, who knows. Anyway, i'm going all out on this map and its going to take a long time. But once its done and i've learned all i need to know, i plan to whip out subsequent missions like hotcakes. This is the first map of a campaign i'm designing. I've got a few pages of backstory written already.

 

If you don't believe my ambition, heres the concept for the mansion mission i've decided on, and this baby is a total architectural nightmare. The front wall (minus some of the detailed patchwork on upper stories) is almost complete already.

[AluminumHaste]

i've already successfully done it, and this is my first map for any game ever, and i fully plan to learn everything TDM related and showcase the full spectrum of TDM features in this map. I'll be modifying textures, picking up a copy of maya and making my own custom animations for drunken guards (including in combat), and learning blender to make my own models. I'll also be making some good use of particles, and use some voiceacting from me and my roomates for some of the AI as well. Might even try to fit in some ghosts, who knows. Anyway, i'm going all out on this map and its going to take a long time. But once its done and i've learned all i need to know, i plan to whip out subsequent missions like hotcakes. This is the first map of a campaign i'm designing. I've got a few pages of backstory written already.

 

If you don't believe my ambition, heres the concept for the mansion mission i've decided on, and this baby is a total architectural nightmare. The front wall (minus some of the detailed patchwork on upper stories) is almost complete already.

 

EXCELLENT!!! I LOVE those old houses! I can't wait to play this.

<3

[Fidcal]

Well, if you're going all out then the best procedure is to make a small fully completable test map first. Even NASA didn't shoot straight for the moon.

[demagogue]

I would second that, except it's not like you have to stop on your big, epic FM. But it might be a good idea while you're working on it for the next year or so to do a small sized FM in a few weeks and release it. That way you'll learn a few things (that you often don't notice until an FM nears release) that might affect your early design (like effective visPortal placement, or AI pathing, etc), and it's just good for motivation to release something, even if it's small. And you could just spend a few hours here and there to work on it aside from your big project.

 

But do as you like. That's just stock advice we give everybody that's starting TDM editing based on our own experience.

[Springheel]

Anyway, i'm going all out on this map and its going to take a long time.

 

That's an understatement. Taking on that much (learning four different skill-sets?) is just setting yourself up to fail, IMO. There are team-members who have been working on much less ambitious projects for more than two years. Do you have the motivation to go three or four years before having anything to release?

[ungoliant]

That's an understatement. Taking on that much (learning four different skill-sets?) is just setting yourself up to fail, IMO. There are team-members who have been working on much less ambitious projects for more than two years. Do you have the motivation to go three or four years before having anything to release?

 

i've been a thief fan for a decade, and i need a new hobby. If that doesn't work for you, I've been addicted to lord of the rings online for the past 2 years, and since i started working with DR i haven't touched it for 2 weeks. You know how us mmorpg nerds are. It takes something major to break that.

 

Also, on top of that monumental undertaking, i've been thinking of picking up my old c and c++ textbooks, downloading all the source code, and building a patch clipper tool for DR. it would use the geometry of a selected patch(es?) in a CSG subtract sort of way. Any patch intersected by the selected patch on at least 2 edges (or even 2 times on the same edge) would be clipped with new vertices added to the new patches as needed (potentially >2 new patches). There would be exceptions though, like clipping a circle through the middle of a patch cookie cutter style where none of the edges are intersected at all. i've been putting some thought into it, not sure if i can really get up the gumption to do it with everything i've already set on my plate already.

[AluminumHaste]

i've been a thief fan for a decade, and i need a new hobby. If that doesn't work for you, I've been addicted to lord of the rings online for the past 2 years, and since i started working with DR i haven't touched it for 2 weeks. You know how us mmorpg nerds are. It takes something major to break that.

 

Also, on top of that monumental undertaking, i've been thinking of picking up my old c and c++ textbooks, downloading all the source code, and building a patch clipper tool for DR. it would use the geometry of a selected patch(es?) in a CSG subtract sort of way. Any patch intersected by the selected patch on at least 2 edges (or even 2 times on the same edge) would be clipped with new vertices added to the new patches as needed (potentially >2 new patches). There would be exceptions though, like clipping a circle through the middle of a patch cookie cutter style where none of the edges are intersected at all. i've been putting some thought into it, not sure if i can really get up the gumption to do it with everything i've already set on my plate already.

 

Hmmm that would be useful, here I wrote this a few weeks ago, might help.

http://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Patch_Splitting_-_Basic_Tutorial

[ungoliant]

Hmmm that would be useful, here I wrote this a few weeks ago, might help.

http://modetwo.net/d..._Basic_Tutorial

 

yep i read (skimmed) it last week, and figured i'd put that one off for a rainy day. Been planning on following it in detail to see what i could discern out of it.

[AluminumHaste]

yep i read (skimmed) it last week, and figured i'd put that one off for a rainy day. Been planning on following it in detail to see what i could discern out of it.

 

I know it looks complicated, but as I told another member, it's as simple as copy/paste, delete, delete, delete, save, done. I just used this to split up a 5x9 patch mesh into 3 5x3 meshes, and it took me literally 5 minutes of work.

[Zinski]

I've read elsewhere on the site one way to deal with items being frobbed through chests is to create a thin caulk layer with 'frobable: 1' enabled to block this effect. I've tried this, but to no avail. In fact, the whole chest's interior has been 'painted' with this effect. I also noticed that all worldspawn brushes on the map have this feature enabled now - something not necessarily desirable.

 

Is there something I'm missing here, or is there another way to deal with this problem?

 

I have also set the chest (not the lid) as frobable, but this helps only a little. Items near the edge can still be frobbed through the chest and objects in the middle are impossible to get at because the chest hogs the frob.

 

Tried fiddling with the frob distance but I have yet to nail it properly.

 

EDIT: NM, I've played around with the settings and have the problem worked out.

Edited March 12, 2010 by Zinski

[Zinski]

Oh, and also, I've encountered problems placing the compass and spyglass within the mission. Whether it is on tables, in chests or just plain old hanging in the air it doesn't seem to spawn. Any suggestions?

 

EDIT: Lol, NM, worked out that I need to change inv_map_start to 0. Geez this is starting to turn into a personal twitter log.

Edited March 12, 2010 by Zinski

[Mortem Desino]

I also noticed that all worldspawn brushes on the map have this feature enabled now - something not necessarily desirable.

Keep in mind that Doom 3 does not treat each world brush as unique in the game. Your frob-blockers should be an entity all their own (like a func_static, or a non-moving & silent func_door)

[stumpy]

you can also change frob on items via script

 

$<name of item>.setFrobable( 0 ); //disable frob on item

$<name of item>.setFrobable( 1 ); //enable frob on item

[Zinski]

Gah! I've been trying to get a sliding door to open by throwing a switch but I have had no success in doing so. I've checked http://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Button_Functionality_and_Frob_Triggers and a few other related links, but it's still all Greek to me. Would a kind soul show this poor retard how to do this?

 

Example: All I want is for atdm:mover_lever named 'lever1' to open atdm:mover_door_sliding called 'door1' by sliding it east 50 Doom Units (or whatever the unit of measurement is called).

 

It's frustrating because it's within reach, but its like telling a chimp to operate the lever without using body language: the chimp can do it, but I'm simply not speaking its language. I just need to throw a banana at the lever... or make the lever a banana itself.

 

 

[Mortem Desino]

Hee hee, my Undergrad Major is Greek...

 

Give door1 the spawnarg "translate = 50 0 0" to make it move east 50 units.

Give lever1 the spawnarg "target = door1"

 

Now when the level is pulled, the door will move.

 

You might also want to set door1 to "frobable = 0" so you're forced to use the lever.

[Zinski]

Cheers, that's the ticket!