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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:36 pm
by rejecht
Don't know if you've fixed it in a later version, but when playing the Ramses map recently, I saw there are UTJumpPad icons visible in the game.

You don't want to manually go through them all; you can select them all and force the bHidden property under Advanced to True.
  1. Find one UTJumpPad actor (one can also use the search function in the editor and type UT, and it will list all actors that start with UT).
  2. Select one of them from the list and click the viewport once so you can see it.
  3. Right click the UTJumpPad
  4. Choose Select
  5. Choose All UTJumpPad (or whatever it says)
  6. Then go to the properties (F4 key) and Advanced.
  7. Since the bHidden state is different from all of the selected actors in this case, it will appear blank, so you have to override it by choosing True.
  8. Rebuild.
The same process applies to other actors as well.

Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 5:02 pm
by Wigglebottom
thanks Rejecht ^^

i think king Carnage already pointed it out to me and i fixed it, i will make another check just to be sure *Wiggle*
have been working on the emitters for the jumppads most of my saterday. damn things are hard to understand XP
they stil dont do exacly what i want them to. and i had an epic fail with em in mytutormap *Wiggle* (seems he doesnt like my custom made emitters *Wiggle*)

Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 5:52 pm
by }TCP{Snowbird
I looked for my tut on emitters from 3dbuzz, but I lost my cd. Sorry man. I have already started work, and will do what I can for you.

Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 6:02 pm
by rejecht
np Wiggle!

Emitters are generalized (can be used to do many effects), and they pack many functions in one, which also makes things messy to figure out, because you have to read about how the settings relate with other settings. Can't give you any help now, since I don't know how you've made them.

I'd suggest you open the BR-Colossus map, find Emitter3 for instance, select it, right click it, and choose Edit | Copy. Create a new map (don't close the editor), subtract some space and right click, choose Edit | Paste | Here where you want the emitter placed.

Now you have a working emitter setup to experiment with. The point is that it probably already does what you want. Maybe all you need to do is to change the Texture, the Colour, and the Acceleration.--There are two emitters in the one emitter; one is the square grid, the other has the smaller particles. You could just delete the one you don't need, of course. Once done, you copy it into the other map.

The best, IMO, would be to use something that has been used in other established maps, because the player gets the same visual experience with regards to jumppad emitters, instead of making something new. I'd have a look at other Egyptian themed maps to see if they show the player the JumpPads in different ways. The problem here, though, is that your jumppad graphics are not square, so maybe only the particle part would do, or you make your own circle/elliptical texture and use that instead.

Reference information:
http://udn.epicgames.com/bin/htsearch.p ... nfig=htdig

Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 6:21 pm
by }TCP{Snowbird
GL

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2009 2:38 am
by Wigglebottom
well , been a while since i had some editing done *Wiggle*
i (finaly) got around to finishing the map i made for Ramses ^^
last sunday i was playing it and noticed its still a pretty old version so i thought it was due time for a update.
the emitters arnt perfect and when i get some skill in those wiggled up things i will re-do them but until than (and it could take a while as ya may have noticed ^^; ) this will be the final version *Wiggle*
i would apreciate a removal or replacement of all the littletemple and }TCP{Ramses maps. not that its a must, but they are very simular except for a few small changes in senary and boostjumps *Wiggle* if there are any bugs i will be happy to try and fix em.

now that i am typing this i do remember 1 thing that could be a bit buggy :S one of the barrels can move and i fergot to check if its moving the right way now :O not that it will matter much couse i bet ya wont find it ^^ *Wiggle* (if ya do find it and ya realy think its anoying i wil remove it but we will see)

the download is edited in my first post in this topic, have fun *Wiggle*


ps. ramses i did remove the edge where i always bump my head ^^ wonder if ya can find the change :P *Wiggle*

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2009 6:17 pm
by }TCP{Coco
Hi!

I'm a little confused now. Wasn't the last version meant to be the final one already? And now you uploaded a fixed one, saying it's final, and when I look at your first post in this thread, the download says }TCP{Ramses-beta.rar ??? Is this really a newer version now? :loco:

Coco.

Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2009 7:36 pm
by Wigglebottom
sorry for the confusion ^^; i used the same map to rar couse the content didnt change (except for the map itself) neither did i change the name of the name of the file i was working on *Wiggle* it was getting late ^^;

to clear things up i will make a new file called }TCP{Ramses_final

i also checked out the barrel , its "working" but not how i want it too. i will delete is while i am at it *Wiggle*
gimme a few minutes and there will be a new download. sorry for the inconviniance,

Wigglebottom

*edit* done *wiggle*

Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 11:13 am
by rejecht
Quick look, quick reply:
It lacks location information, and there's no title (the one that shows up in scoreboards).

1. Hit F6, LevelSummary, Title. Also set Author and IdealPlayerCountMax and Min, which are used by the game to determine how many bots to fill in, when necessary.

2. No location information. There's a radar in Freon, though. Location info is set by adding Volume actors, or when a map is divided into zones, by using a ZoneInfo in each Zone. Zones are primarily used to optimize the map, making the engine draw less. Right now the engine draws everything, even things outside the view of the player, which might slow it down for some.

3. Must be a BSP error. See image.

Usually nearby brush subtractions or additions are the problem.

Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 2:45 pm
by Wigglebottom
thanks for the quick test. ^^

trying to fix the holes in the walls first but they seem to have a different origin than the last time i delt with those damned invisible walls *wiggle*
nothing got changed in that part so i wonder why its showing up now and didnt in my last version. when rendering it even shows the wall as it seposed to be untill it gets to the part of iluminating. *wiggle*
2. No location information. There's a radar in Freon, though. Location info is set by adding Volume actors, or when a map is divided into zones, by using a ZoneInfo in each Zone. Zones are primarily used to optimize the map, making the engine draw less. Right now the engine draws everything, even things outside the view of the player, which might slow it down for some.
i think i can do this but i wonder if the map minds if i put the zones in afterwards. usualy when i do things afterwards they mess up *wiggle* (remembers a castle i made that cant get an outside no more :P)
and is there a maximum to the size of the zone ? becouse some area's are petty big.

last but not leadt. i was wondering about the drawing thing ya mentioned last. Frank told me about it once i think , compleatly fergot thoug *shame on me* at the moment everything gets "made" by the comp as you are playing i guess. but once i set up area's does that mean that only the things that are out of sight are left out or also area's where you are at that time?



on a sidenote , i finaly found out how triggers work *Wiggle* or at least a part of it. does that have anything to do with this map you may ask yourself ? no , but i am just glad to be able to make movers move without anything having to bump against it first ^^ *Wiggle*


*edit* eek, there allot of volume types x.X gonna open up a tutorial for that one *Wiggle* (lvl info is fixed, the holes in the wall are erm... proving more dificult than expected. might change a little more in the map ^^; *Wiggle* *edit* *edit* never mind , think i got it ^^

Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 3:19 pm
by rejecht
np

It's going to eat up more of your time, though. :)

* Try deleting nearby brushes and doing a rebuild first to see if the problem is solved.

* I've also noticed that Full Build does more than a simple Build regarding the BSP/geometry. I think it restructures the internal representation of the map (the BSP), something a simple build doesn't.

* Also: Look into using semisolid brushes. They make the BSP simpler, which reduces errors. Simply right-click an added (blue) solid brush and make the type to semisolid, however, study their limitations first.


http://udn.epicgames.com/Two/LevelOptimizationBSP.html
http://www.angelmapper.com/gamedev/tuto ... ation1.htm

* About the zoning issues you mentioned: Just make sure you select ZonePortal, not AntiPortal, and verify that you use a Sheet, not a rectangle. That's the main problems I can think of.

* There is no maximum size for a ZonePortal sheet, but they are small to be effective. I mean, your larger room might not be zoned well anyway, but the smaller rooms will.
* A level can be divided into 64 zones.
* Zones are best used in smaller areas such as doorways. For instance, if you can look through many zones in a hallway, the point is lost.
* The engine might draw two or three zones ahead sometimes.
* Level has to be rebuilt each time a zone is added, and also when you add a new ZoneInfo actor into the map (one ZoneInfo actor in each Zone).

* Just start easy and isolate certain areas, use the zone view, and follow guides.

* With ZoneInfo actors you can also use fogging for simple decorative purposes. Just know that bots don't care much about fog.

* When you run the game, type rmode 1 in the console, and it will show what is being drawn and when, as you move around. oh and rmode 5 to get the normal view back.


hm What movers did you change with triggers?

Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 3:56 pm
by Wigglebottom
wow :D thanks for the info , it will prove very usefull to me *Wiggle*

i used a normal "volume" to place a box around the lower part. guess i will have to change tactics on that :P i was planning to make the areas pretty big since its an open map for the most part *Wiggle* as you said the smaller rooms will get their own zone's but for the larger party i will make easy names like Mainroom (high/low/mid)

the soft and hard brushers was nearly gibberish to me :P since i never used it but i will look into it when i get a new project (still working on 2 . well actualy 3 becouse it seems this one isnt finished yet *wiggle* )

as for the bugging wall of mirrors , i was thinking of sneeking my way around it :P breaking open the mirrors and see where the new hallway will lead me to ^^; if they arnt fun i can always delete em and make a decoration out of it. i know its kinda cheating my way out and might give me pretty new bugs to mess with. but the main problem with editing this map is that there's so much there that its hard to make sense of (open it in the editor and see the spot where the mirrors are. its coverd in lines XP *wiggle*. the spot next to it is almost empty. only had the secret bathroom above it *Wiggle* so at this time i think breaking open one or two walls might be a safer idea for a beginner like me ^^;

the fogging of the zones might be fun. than again i hate bots and will defenatly do anything to give them a disadvantage.

as for the mover i have succesfully triggered *Wiggle* i used a simple static mesh of a glass plate. placed it as a standerd mover and set up the keypoints , time open , timedelay etc. at fist when i linked a trigger to it the trigger worked but the mover didnt wanna move when triggered *Wiggle* after some time i found a tutorial that told me that i should change a moversetting from "playerbump etc" to activatewhentriggered or something in those lines ^^ works fine now *Wiggle* i could look up how i exactly did it or send you the map i used it on (thoug the map is still only a half boult main room :P) but it does give me allot more freedom with movers ^^ especialy since there are so many triggers (for this one i just used a standerd "trigger" ) *Wiggle* havnt found the way to let the mover stay at the spot as long as the person stands on the trigger. but in time i might find the right options (or the right tutorial :P)

Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 5:10 pm
by rejecht
:) The basic volumes are used for location information, so that's no problem.

The general rules for semisolids:
* shouldn't be huge.
* must not touch any other semisolid brush (some workarounds are possible, by making a single brush out of many brushes).
* perfect for pillars (the map does have many pillars).
* can't be used when a subtraction is in the solid brush. That is, a semisolid can't have any holes.

* Having those rules in mind, and by turning pillars into semisolids should simplify the BSP in that level, since it does have many pillars.

* If a semisolid for some reason doesn't work, the editor can't tell you, but you'll see it when players can go through it. But when following the rules it should be safe.

* I wouldn't work around the BSP problem with the map, since the problem is still there, and you'll probably continue to get errors, such as players dying in that spot, or the typical hall of mirror effect. Just delete the subtracted brush you see on the right in the image I posted, and check if the problem is still there after a full build. If it goes away, try redoing the subtraction a bit different.

* Also, in Build Settings, disable path building temporarily, so you don't have to wait for bot paths to be rebuilt each time.

* Noticed another thing that also applies to the AnataWa map; the weaponbases uses the wrong static mesh textures because Epic Games messed up or something like that. Run the command NewPickupBases in the editor's console to correct it, although it didn't fix every weapon pickup in my map--so in that case, select the pickup properties, Display, and under Skins, select Empty.

* I'm sure that there are no options for letting the mover stand still while a player is on it, but it could probably be done using triggers, but then, if someone is frozen on the lift, the mover won't come down, and if the mover is the only route away from that place, the player is stuck.

Lots of mappers contribute articles to beyondunreal, where they document how they change the behaviour of things, like movers. Could be something that helps there.

Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2009 5:36 pm
by Wigglebottom
alright , i will try to replace most to all the pillars in the map with semisolid ones. *Wiggle* not braking open walls is bad news thoug , i had nice plans for a fun piece of hallway :P i will try to find out wich subtracted form is bugging there. just in case i will make another backup for all the stuff i am gonna delete trying to get there *Wiggle*

the mover staying open wont be a big problem, bit anoying but there will be other routes. its in a main room , there are 4 of those movers places above a jumppad ^^ to make a long story short it makes it allot easier to outrun someone when getting away. the staying open part would be nice couse at the same time ist a good place to camp for a wile since they cant come from beneath you , and its a hard place to shoot at from below *Wiggle* hmm , that didnt realy make a long story short :P

i will try to check those weapon bases too , but i guess first things first. gotta find me some buggy substraction *Wiggle*

thx for the help ^^

Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2009 6:14 pm
by }TCP{Snowbird
Just a quick fix for your, mr wiggle. The BSP cuts that reject found. If you take the doorway, and make it a bit smaller, so that it does not "touch" the walls, it will solve your "holes". ;) Frank