Modding Noob Here.... don't groan!

MutantMonkey · Post by **MutantMonkey** » Thu May 12, 2005 2:14 pm

Erm... ok??? Neva mind ppl... its randomly started working after I looked at it and decided nothing was wrong... I tried it again and its fine (I re-munged it - maybe it cocked up last tiem?)

MutantMonkey · Post by **MutantMonkey** » Thu May 12, 2005 4:00 pm

Ok... I tried to do this on my own but I dont know exactly what and where files belong in order to place a vehicle on ur map
- I tried puting a snowspeeder on my lvl... I moved every single file that i could find containing snowspeeder from odf, msh and req folder in assets to my my odf & msh folders... but w8... no req folder (datamapname>worlds>mapname...) ok so maybe it belongs under side or in the world1 folder??

OMG - What goes where???

Aside from that... all i have to do is place the vehicle, save and munge, right?

MutantMonkey · Post by **MutantMonkey** » Thu May 12, 2005 5:08 pm

Ya think i didn't already do that, again? I'm sure it does not say which path it jus rambles on about editing the files... which is not what I wanna do... jus wanna use them how they r in my level.

MutantMonkey · Post by **MutantMonkey** » Thu May 12, 2005 5:52 pm

Can some1 plz tell me the basic principles?

Plz, plz, plz.....

Rippentuck · Post by **Rippentuck** » Thu May 12, 2005 6:47 pm

Hey Monkey,

Go here modules.php?op=modload&name=Downloads&f ... load&sid=4 and download the vehicle tutorial. Vehicles are easy. While you're there, download any other tutorials you think you'll need. Read them and apply the principles therein to your own map, changing values and names where necessary.

You also should calm down a bit and take it under advisement that the tools work correctly, the documentation does give valuable information which you should print out, and you should realize that it takes a while to learn how it all works. You can't make a good map in a few hours. If you want to make a decent map, then prepare to hunker down for a long haul and rack your brain like it's never been racked before. Learning the tools requires a huge amount of patience and brain power, and you must listen to what people tell you (especially the guy who built the tool), and not argue with them.

Just some hopefully helpful advice from someone who is having what seems to be a major crisis with his own map. I wish my problem were as simple as placing vehicles. Sigh....

Rip

MutantMonkey · Post by **MutantMonkey** » Fri May 13, 2005 8:26 am

Thanx.
But I wish ppl wouldn't assume that I haven't read the documentation... I read it for a couple of hours when I got it... but parts of it made little sense to me then, some of which I can now understand now. I've read parts of the documentation over and over but I cannot find a part which says where to put what when adding vehicles... theres the ODF guide and a list of what folders r for what but that is rather basic and does not help me understand how or what to do... I'm not saying there is such a thing as the perfect documentation and maybe from an experienced persons point of view the docs r sound but thats the problem - we rn't experienced. I know its self explanatory to add colour but other things r not.

I dont wanna sound ungr8full its just sometimes "read the documentation" really isn't helpfull and in some cases gets annoying, not this time because ppl have given me alot of help and I have thanked them. I am not impatient - I have been learning for a week now and I only ask when I am truly stuck... the last thing I wanna do is admit I need help... I'm a man!

Sorry Psych0fred if I insulted u (r u the guy who made it? I dont pay much attention to the famous)

PS. hope u find the solution to ur prob Rippentuck and thanx again.

Leviathan · Post by **Leviathan** » Fri May 13, 2005 12:06 pm

No... for capturing - like the middle 1 on Bespin Platforms

OK...
To spawn vehicles, you just need to create a new entity by selecting a file named "com_item_vehicle_spawn.odf" in your map's ODF folder...

Rippentuck · Post by **Rippentuck** » Fri May 13, 2005 12:32 pm

Leviathan wrote:
OK...
To spawn vehicles, you just need to create a new entity by selecting a file named "com_item_vehicle_spawn.odf" in your map's ODF folder...

...Then you place that ODF file where you want it on the map. Make sure it isn't inside any barriers, boundaries or objects. After you place it, select it, and on the right side, there will be some "object instance" boxes. In the top box (ControlZone), put in which CP you want it to be associated with, like say, CP3 (all your CPs are named like that). Below that box you can change the spawn time, decay time, etc.

Below those are the boxes where you put the actual vehicle names in (e.g., "all_fly_snowspeeder"). Depending on which team you have as the attacker (ATK) and which you have as defender (DEF), you type the name of whatever vehicle you want in that corresponding box. ALL means Alliance, IMP means Imperial, REP means Republic, and so on. There's more (mainly editing your mission luas), but refer to Majin's vehicle tutorial and Fred's documentation for the details.

Rip

Leviathan · Post by **Leviathan** » Fri May 13, 2005 1:20 pm

Thanks to have completed my explanations' beginning, Rip' !...

MutantMonkey · Post by **MutantMonkey** » Sat May 14, 2005 9:17 am

I'm confused, y u r telling me this now after having given me a link to a tutorilal and y u r quoting my command post problem, which I have already stated that I have sorted.
The tutorial was helped - I added a combat speeder then changed it into a Y-wing. Thanx

Now I'm jus trying to understand how to add water I keep reading the documentation but I'm not sure what I am doing wrong, I dont understand how the water tool works - I thought it would be fairly easy like the texture tool but I cant seem to place water:
-I copied the REQ file from Kashyyyk1 and the FX file and looked thru and changed references to kashyyyk map into my own map name.
-I copied all the water files I could find in effects and pasted them into my own maps directory
-I started up the editor and typed the texture file name, then tried to place water but nothing seems to change.
-I tried adding textures and lowering parts of the terrain then adding water just in case it has a relation.

Thanx again 4 all the help... seeing a vehicle on my map jus made my day, I barely slept last night cause I was thinking about making maps!

I'm off to look for a water tutorial

Leviathan · Post by **Leviathan** » Sat May 14, 2005 11:20 am

I'm off to look for a water tutorial

I don't think it exists... Just major modders could help you...

Rippentuck · Post by **Rippentuck** » Sat May 14, 2005 11:22 am

Monkey,

Please don't argue, just listen to those who are trying to help you. I didn't say anything about your CP problem. I told you how to place a vehicle and associate it with a CP. I referred you to the tutorial to edit your mission luas because its a little more involved and Majin has already explained it.

To see where you're placing water, turn up the alpha value in the editor, to like 200 or so to start with. I think the default value makes it clear, that's why you can't see it on the map. If you already copy/pasted the water lines from Kashyyyk's FX and req files to your own files, you should be fine -- don't change any names in it to your own map name. If, for example, your water texture is "Kas1.water," you leave it as that in the FX file. Once you have these two files (FX and req) edited, and place the water in the editor (with alpha up high enough where you can see it), you should have water in your map. I don't think I forgot anything.

You can take this same idea and apply it to things like godrays, clouds and foliage, changing number values where you want to. Just look at the various files of shipped worlds, compare your own text files with them, and make yours look like them (changing values and names where necessary). That's the central idea to making maps -- copying and pasting. Just remember that whatever you copy goes into the equivalent folder of your own map (msh to msh, effects to effects, odf to odf, etc.).

Now DON'T ARGUE OR COMPLAIN, just do it, and you'll save yourself a lot of time. Remember it takes patience and a willingness to cooperate and learn.

Rip

Leviathan · Post by **Leviathan** » Sat May 14, 2005 11:28 am

Wow, nice tutorial !...

Post by **Qdin** » Sat May 14, 2005 12:00 pm

Well, Saturn's Tutorial on Saturnlabs is INCLUDING how to make maps, AND how to make water

check it out

C ya - and we should make some more tutorials... so non-mappers like me

have a chance to learn, so why don't some of you makes MORe tutorials about mapping??? and to skinning?? and to modeling??? and to insert objects??? (man, I STILL don't know hoe to do THAT yet) and all thoose others simple commands???

Leviathan · Post by **Leviathan** » Sat May 14, 2005 12:08 pm

Saturn's Tutorial on Saturnlabs is INCLUDING how to make maps, AND how to make water

I've never noticed these details...

MutantMonkey · Post by **MutantMonkey** » Sat May 14, 2005 12:35 pm

At the risk of "arguing"; I was talking to Leviathan who quoted me:

"No... for capturing - like the middle 1 on Bespin Platforms"

Then Leviathan wrote:

"OK... To spawn vehicles, you just need to create a new entity by selecting a file named "com_item_vehicle_spawn.odf" in your map's ODF folder..."

I jus dont understand y he went back to that.

And I was not arguing, I was stating that I was confused and thanked him for the help neway, so please do not try to order me around - I dont say things to annoy ppl, I only came here to get helpful advice and when advice is un helpful I state it, when advice is helpful I thank the person especially If they went to the bother of writing it out for me to understand.

Thanx for the help rippentuck.

ps. I plan to make a tutorial when i have learnt enough - aside from some kick @#$ maps!

MutantMonkey · Post by **MutantMonkey** » Sat May 14, 2005 1:15 pm

It wasn't the alpha value - I jus needed to change to colour mode
well this is interesting...
- I made water that was flat and flashed from water/plain black at a steady rate
- Then I made the water too high (oops) and we all started off in water that drowned us, so i chose dark trooper and jet packed to the land where u can c the water eerily defy physics turok style!

Saturn_V · Post by **Saturn_V** » Sat May 14, 2005 3:51 pm

I've never noticed these details...

Those details are right there in the tutorial.

Leviathan · Post by **Leviathan** » Sun May 15, 2005 11:17 am

I jus dont understand y he went back to that.

I did this because I considered vehicle spawning's problem more important than CP's one... Moreover, I asked this question about neutral CP's to obtain more infos and maybe to make a "preliminary diagnostic" of your problem...

MutantMonkey · Post by **MutantMonkey** » Sun May 15, 2005 2:39 pm

Ok, makes sense I suppose.
I can't seem to get the skiff in a map... I do it the same way as the combatspeeder but it doesn't appear. In the tutorial it says to do it exactly the same way for all vehicles (obviously accounting for vehicle type and entering different names)
I made a map with both a skiff and combatspeeder but only the combatspeeder appeared and they r both hover, right? Ne ideas?
Theres another problem - I made a couple of levels with water and now when I try to make water exactly the same way it just freezes, I have no idea y and I cant give ne more info so I dont suppose ne1 can help me on that.