Another noobie question, but I followed Fierfeks instructions for the sky dome using the Endor sky, I copied the sky_endor.tga, end1_sky_dome and its end1_sky_dome.msh.option, the end_sky_dome_trees, end_sky_dome_death, end1_lowresterrain and the end1_lowresterrain.tga.option and change End1.sky to MAP.sky and munged. There was no sky. What did I do wrong?

did you make sure you included all the files needed in the sky file? if so, try cleaning then munging.

This isn't really a noobie question. I had a lot of trouble with it also. I don't think fierfek explains this part about adding skies very well.

You have to go to BF2_ModTools\data_MAP\Worlds\MAP\world1. Delete all your old sky files, and rename all the new Endor ones to your maps name. Then open up your MAP.sky file and change everything that says "end1" to the three letter combination of your map. Hopefully I was clear and correct.

fasty wrote:This isn't really a noobie question. I had a lot of trouble with it also. I don't think fierfek explains this part about adding skies very well.

You have to go to BF2_ModTools\data_MAP\Worlds\MAP\world1. Delete all your old sky files, and rename all the new Endor ones to your maps name. Then open up your MAP.sky file and change everything that says "end1" to the three letter combination of your map. Hopefully I was clear and correct.

you don't really need to do this. All you have to do is delete the default ABC.sky file and replace it with the one from the map you want, then open up the new ABC.sky and look for what files it references, then copy those and put them in your world one folder. Then clean and munge. (cleaning is very important)

Commander_Fett wrote:Then clean and munge. (cleaning is very important)

Maveritchell wrote:

Commander_Fett wrote:When you change the sky file, you need to do a clean then remunge or else the sky will not show up.

No, you don't. Or, more specifically - you might have had to before, but changing the sky does not necessitate a clean. No change necessitates a clean; cleaning is never necessary.

It never works for me when I don't change the names in the sky file.

Commander_Fett wrote:Then clean and munge. (cleaning is very important)

fasty wrote:It never works for me when I don't change the names in the sky file.

Cleaning is not important at all, and if you understand what you're doing you should never have to do it. Using it as a magic bullet for any problem you see only reflects a lack of understanding of how munging works and what you are doing.

When files are munged, if a file by that name and filetype does not exist, a compiled copy of that file is created in your _BUILD directory. When you run VisualMunge, the files in your _BUILD directory are compiled together again to create .lvl files, which are then placed into various folders and accessed through scripts.

VisualMunge does not munge every file every time. That would be inefficient and a waste of time. While any file that does not exist in your _BUILD directory will still be munged, if a file already exists there, VisualMunge will check the date stamp of the uncompiled file against the date stamp of the one previously munged. If the date stamp is newer, it will munge the file. If it isn't, the file won't be munged.

You (referencing the above two) have a problem with munging your sky files because you do them in a backwards way. You're deleting a file with a newer date stamp (the one that was created when you made the map) and replacing it with a file with an older date stamp (the one that was created when the assets were made). You should be continually editing your files and updating them, not just replacing them from the assets. If you must, however, use a file from the assets, re-save it so that the date stamp is updated.

Why am I railing against this "clean clean clean" mentality? For one, it's a waste of time - if you clean all the time, that means you're going to have to munge everything again. More than that, though, it's a way of avoiding understanding the cause of your problem and just going after the symptom. You should always try to learn why you're doing something.

Yeah I understand munging. I agree with you about cleaning; I never clean either. I've never heard about that "date stamp" thing before. Is that why it doesn't work for me when don't edit the sky file? Is it just because I haven't tried saving it for a newer date stamp?

fasty wrote:Is it just because I haven't tried saving it for a newer date stamp?

If you're doing this:

All you have to do is delete the default ABC.sky file and replace it with the one from the map you want, then open up the new ABC.sky and look for what files it references, then copy those and put them in your world one folder.

Then yes, that is your problem.

Ok, I thought I did everything right. I opened up the .sky file in notepad and copied and pasted all the necessary files. Still, there is no sky, just black. Yes, I did run visualmunge but I did not clean. And I do not get what you mean when you say a "newer date stamp."
EDIT: I got it to work (somehow) when I made a new map, but the bottom part isn't there and there's a gaping hole in the texture.

EDIT2: Wow, this is a nightmare. Now it said my .tga file needs a bracket which I can't insert. It may have something to do with the date stamp. I opened up all the msh and tga and re-saved them. I used notepad to open the msh up. Is this what you mean by date stamp, saving them again?

EDIT3: My map won't start. I get to choose my class but when I click it stays at the screen and the background is just black.

Maveritchell wrote:

Commander_Fett wrote:Then clean and munge. (cleaning is very important)

fasty wrote:It never works for me when I don't change the names in the sky file.

Cleaning is not important at all, and if you understand what you're doing you should never have to do it. Using it as a magic bullet for any problem you see only reflects a lack of understanding of how munging works and what you are doing.

When files are munged, if a file by that name and filetype does not exist, a compiled copy of that file is created in your _BUILD directory. When you run VisualMunge, the files in your _BUILD directory are compiled together again to create .lvl files, which are then placed into various folders and accessed through scripts.

VisualMunge does not munge every file every time. That would be inefficient and a waste of time. While any file that does not exist in your _BUILD directory will still be munged, if a file already exists there, VisualMunge will check the date stamp of the uncompiled file against the date stamp of the one previously munged. If the date stamp is newer, it will munge the file. If it isn't, the file won't be munged.

You (referencing the above two) have a problem with munging your sky files because you do them in a backwards way. You're deleting a file with a newer date stamp (the one that was created when you made the map) and replacing it with a file with an older date stamp (the one that was created when the assets were made). You should be continually editing your files and updating them, not just replacing them from the assets. If you must, however, use a file from the assets, re-save it so that the date stamp is updated.

Why am I railing against this "clean clean clean" mentality? For one, it's a waste of time - if you clean all the time, that means you're going to have to munge everything again. More than that, though, it's a way of avoiding understanding the cause of your problem and just going after the symptom. You should always try to learn why you're doing something.

I know it only munges the most recent, which is why I said clean. I never thought of deleting the munged sky in the build directory, though I've done it for sides, so I guess there's no reason for it not to work for skys too. Thanks for the tip.

And wonderboy, all land sky files are designed like that (without the bottom) As for the black square, it is most likely where the death star is supposed to go in the sky file, you're just missing the texture. ( if you want to get rid of it, you can remove the lines where it calls for it in the sky file). As for your texture errors, when you resaved them, did you make sure to turn rle compression off? ( and when Mav said you need to change the date stamp, it would only be for the .sky file, not the other files.)

Commander_Fett wrote:I know it only munges the most recent, which is why I said clean. I never thought of deleting the munged sky in the build directory, though I've done it for sides, so I guess there's no reason for it not to work for skys too. Thanks for the tip.

That's... not what I said at all. If you're replacing a newer .sky file (or .odf, or .msh, or .tga, or .req, or...) with an older one, open that file and re-save it to update the date stamp.

Ok, well I changed the RLE, so thanks for the advice on that. Well I just deleted the world and am going to start from scratch. Now, how do I go about getting rid of that black space (I'm not talking about the Death Star square) below the sky dome?
EDIT: So I did do it right? Well, I fixed the texture problems but there were problems with the mshs and I have no idea how to change this. The text file was just gibberish of foreign symbols.

Maveritchell wrote:

Commander_Fett wrote:I know it only munges the most recent, which is why I said clean. I never thought of deleting the munged sky in the build directory, though I've done it for sides, so I guess there's no reason for it not to work for skys too. Thanks for the tip.

That's... not what I said at all. If you're replacing a newer .sky file (or .odf, or .msh, or .tga, or .req, or...) with an older one, open that file and re-save it to update the date stamp.

When I say most recent, I meant most recently saved, not necessarily most recently added. sorry for the confusion.

And wonderboy, I'm pretty sure that dark space is the death star, unless you added any objects.

EDIT: Wonderboy, are you sure you're opening the .sky file? I opened it up in a text editor and scrolled down to the pc section those two sections may be your problem, if you don't want the death star or the satelite there, remove those lines. If you do, make sure you have the textures.

Wonderboy wrote:Now, how do I go about getting rid of that black space (I'm not talking about the Death Star square) below the sky dome?

Im not talking about that spot. There is a black ring around the entire map but halfway up the texture is there. Thanks for the explanation on how to remove the DS spot, but how do you get rid of the ring?

do you have

end1.sky wrote:end_sky_dome_trees

and

end1.sky wrote:end1_lowresterrain

?

Yes, I do. But now whenever I open and save all the files, the pic files are fine, but the mshs aren't.

you don't need to open and save those files, just the .sky file. you're replacing the sky your map came with by default with the one from endor, but since the default sky file was saved more recently (whenever you made the map) you need to open and re-save the endor one to change the save stamp to be more recent than the default one. The other files wouldn't really matter, since those have different names than the yavin files. There's no need to update them.

Ahhhh....I misread. I thought Mav said to open all files with it. Now I understand. Thanks a lot. I need to go see if it works.
EDIT: ok, I got rid of those squares, thanks fett, but I still have the gap. I have the both files you said. It still doesn't work.

Dont open and save the msh fiels with notepad. Use the Mshveiwer or a hex editor because I always mess up the msh's when opening them in notepad.

CressAlbane wrote:Dont open and save the msh fiels with notepad. Use the Mshveiwer or a hex editor because I always mess up the msh's when opening them in notepad.

Yes I know I am only opening up the sky file. My problem is The gap because the trees don't show up.