UT99 Map making thread

[Pileyrei]

So..................

I've decided to try my hand at map making.
Only 13 years or so after the game came out but hey - better late than never eh :thumbup:

I appreciate this is not a mapping forum but I know there are some clever folks here who will know the answers I need :cool:

Just to reiterate, I'm a complete beginner to mapping.
Yes I can make a cube, fill it with weapons and call it a "map".
But thats not really a map if you ask me. I'm drooling about making a map with many levels, lifts (movers), water/lava zones, secrets rooms, triggers, events, etc. But for now all my brain can comprehend in UED 2.0 is a single room and pretty textures :mellow:

Anyway, gotta start somewhere.

First questions:

1. After making a cube/room, can you resize it and if so how?

2. I'm struggling to fully understand the add/subtract options. I know you create a room/cube and subtract it from the mass void. When would you use the add? I think its when you want to add something to the subtracted space? Yes? :unsure: . I need some basic examples.

Many more questions to come but this is a small start.

Thank you.

Piley

[UTrustedPlayer]

Go here:
http://www.birrabrothers.com/drac/index.php?dsps=3
The dude on the page is BBDrac and he's a super nice guy. He likes helping new mappers and he's been doing it a very long time.

UT99.org is also a fairly active mapper forum.

[Pileyrei]

Go here:
http://www.birrabrothers.com/drac/index.php?dsps=3
The dude on the page is BBDrac and he's a super nice guy. He likes helping new mappers and he's been doing it a very long time.

UT99.org is also a fairly active mapper forum.

Thanks, I've been using those tuts!

It looks like the only way to contact him is by email, no forums?

I could be his super new pest :evil:

Thanks again.

[YouKnowWho]

I used to hang out at: http://www.unrealplayground.com/forums/index.php

I don't know if the mappers are still arround, but if they still are they are all you need :thumbup:

1. After making a cube/room, can you resize it and if so how?

Yes, just go into the properties of the brush, go into Brush>MainScale>Scale , here you'll see the variables X,Y and Z. These are defaulted to 1.0, setting e.g 2.0 for the Z axis will make your brush twice as high. Remember that the brush will have to be rebuild in order to make the changes to the level.

2. I'm struggling to fully understand the add/subtract options. I know you create a room/cube and subtract it from the mass void. When would you use the add? I think its when you want to add something to the subtracted space? Yes? :unsure: . I need some basic examples.

You got it right, many mapper (me as example) just subtract one big room, and then add the "decorations" to that room. e.g. you want to make a corridor with pillars, your subtract one big cube for the corridor, then you add brushes to that room afterwards. In short, the unreal universe is one big solid rock, you'll need to dig holes into it in order create space for the battleground.

[Pileyrei]

Thanks very much :)

[Pileyrei]

welll......


Finally worked out how to make a simple lift, with thanks from bbdrac great tuts.

Simple stuff but not that simple IMO.
Didn't fully appreciate how hard mapping can be.

I have a long way to go

[YouKnowWho]

Mapping is one of the most time demanding aspects of ut development.... unless you ofcause settle for a funnel cube with a zillion weapons which is fun to play for about ..... 1 second (IMO!!)??

About the lifts(movers), they are not as simple as they appear, once you fiddle arround with it you'll se it can do quite a lot other than "just" to transport the player up/down :-)

[Hook]

Hey, NOW is a very good time to make maps for UT99.:D
We can ALWAYS use new maps - especially maps made from fresh ideas and new viewpoints.
Mapping does not have to be difficult at all, or even that time consuming either.
It is only as difficult as YOU want to make it. :thumbup:
I find mapping rather easy, and after doing it a while, it will be for you also.
If you want, you can whip out a pretty darn good map in no time at all, at least after you know most of the basics.

So YES - just do it!
Thank you for starting to map! (anytime is a good time to start mapping)

PS: we have some good mapping tutorials and help on our site also.:P

[Pileyrei]

Hi Hook

Thanks for the nice post :)

I'm busy learning how to make simple lefts, water zones, etc.
Baby steps first!

I keep flooding my entire level and haven't worked out if you need to add or subtract a sheet to cover a cube of water I made in the ground.

Keeps the brain going!

Piley

[Pileyrei]

Ok, worked out a simple water zone and how you have to ADD a sheet over the hole so as not to flood the map. I was subtracting it.

Now to work out a fun DM map, how it could flow,etc.

Hmmm!

[Pileyrei]

Simple door and lift working fine now.

BBDRAC's tuts are great!

Even if you dont get it right first time, the tuts give you enough info to work it out.

Messed around with a skyzone......bit trickier.

[Pileyrei]

Can anyone tell me the significance or use of the camera (eye symbol) when making a map? I see it's there by default but don't understand what its used for?

[YouKnowWho]

lol, i have made 50+ maps (DM/CTF/AS/MH/SV/DOM) from scratch and never cared/known about what to use the camera for, so my advice for you is to simply ignore it :-)

[Pileyrei]

lol, i have made 50+ maps (DM/CTF/AS/MH/SV/DOM) from scratch and never cared/known about what to use the camera for, so my advice for you is to simply ignore it :-)

This is the kind of answer I was hoping for, one less thing to worry about :thumbup:

[Sp0ngeb0b]

It's the actual point of view which the 3D viewport of the UnrealED uses ;)

[Pileyrei]

It's the actual point of view which the 3D viewport of the UnrealED uses ;)

Nice!
That makes sense.

As long as it doesn't affect the map play so I'm happy. Thanks for the info :thumbup:

[Pileyrei]

I've worked out how to make jump pads using the kicker actor.
I want to put some jump boot sounds on it when the player jumps/is kicked.

I created a trigger to call a special event. In the special event I put the jump boots sound.I made sure the tags are correct. However when I hit the jump pad there is no jump sound. How is the trigger triggered? :confused:

I must be doing something wrong.

[Sp0ngeb0b]

Did you set the InitialState of the SpecialEvent to 'PlaySoundEffect'?

I would advise, doesn't matter which problem you have, to think of maps/mods/whatever which achieved what you want and check how they did it :)

[Pileyrei]

Did you set the InitialState of the SpecialEvent to 'PlaySoundEffect'?

I would advise, doesn't matter which problem you have, to think of maps/mods/whatever which achieved what you want and check how they did it :)

Thanks - I'll check that setting.

Also - I opened up Woot and had a look at how it was done. I think I may well have missed that simple setting you mention. Will confirm.

Thank you!

[Pileyrei]

Woohoo!!

You were right Sp0ngebob, initial state was set to none *smacks forehead*

Thank you!!

[YouKnowWho]

Woohoo!!

You were right Sp0ngebob, initial state was set to none *smacks forehead*

Thank you!!

no need to smash your forehead ... you'll find many of these little tweaks along the way :-) ... so get a helmet or stop!! :thumbup:

[Pileyrei]

no need to smash your forehead ... you'll find many of these little tweaks along the way :-) ... so get a helmet or stop!! :thumbup:

Ha-ha, I'm sure I will indeed!

I'm just trying out creating the various things you can create before I embark on my first map.

I'm trying to think of what maps flow well and why they work.

No point creating a massive room and a few weapons with no real structure or flow - boring!

At least I'm more confortable with the editor now but have SO MUCH more to learn.

[Pileyrei]

Ok..............

So my first uber newbie map is coming along nicely (I think).
Nothing special, just a first map which has taught me a few basics.

Randon questions:

I spent a lot of time manually aligning brushes (red lines) to walls and the floor. Is there a way to auto align to floor/wall/ceiling?

I tried adding a screen shot to the level properties but cant see how to do it? I take a screenshot, resize it to 256 x 256 and add it to Mylevel in the texturee browser - however it doesnt show up. Any step by step ideas pls?

How do I create and import my own textures? For example, if I want a picture of my butt to appear on a wall, how to I do add it from my jpeg/bmp? :P

Thanks!

[Pileyrei]

Ok - worked out how to add a custom texture and/or picture as a texture.

[YouKnowWho]

if I want a picture of my butt to appear on a wall, how to I do add it from my jpeg/bmp?

Sorry I didn't step up and helped, but the idea was too scary ... I just couldn't risk the chance of stumping into your butt in a game ... the shock would be too massive!! ..... :thumbup:

A little tip for you when importing textures, always use bmp or pcx format, and always be sure the are sized matching the bit system. sizes must be 1-2-4-8-16-32-64-128............... bla bla bla in order to be imported correctly, you can combine the x and y sizes e.g. a texture of 16x128 pixels will import just fine. Be sure to check the mipmap setting when importing larger textures ... people tend to discuss what the limit is, but I use to check it always when using textures sized 256x256 or above. (this to avoid some old gfx cards/drivers to crash ingame)

[Pileyrei]

Thanks very much! :)

Next noob questions - the intersect and deintersect buttons.
I haven't used them and dont really understand when you would use them?

[Pileyrei]

Im trying to change a Crossbow weapon to stay(weapon stay setting) rather than respawn after 30 seconds again which is the default.

I change it and hit save.

CRASH!
Assertion failed blah blah blah......I can play after making the change but hit that save button.......crash!

Any one seen this?

edit: Every time I try and change the Chaos Poison Crossbow to weapon stay, UED crashes when I hit save:

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f141/pileyrei/error.jpg

[YouKnowWho]

another way could be to just set RespawnTime=0.001?? that should do the same. You'll find that in the actors properties. You need a rebuild to assign the values.

[Pileyrei]

another way could be to just set RespawnTime=0.001?? that should do the same. You'll find that in the actors properties. You need a rebuild to assign the values.

You beauty! :D

I had tried the time of 1.0000 but that crashed too. Your suggestion of 0.00001 worked a treat - thank you :thumbup:

Weird that you have to do that but hey ho.
The editor seems very.........nervous at times. You have to build, play the level then save for some things to work as I've come to learn. Otherwise it throws a wobbly and crashes.


edit: random question - where the heck do you increase the ammo amount of a weapon? Ive look in the actor properties and cannot find it for the life of me. I suck :(

[YouKnowWho]

edit: random question - where the heck do you increase the ammo amount of a weapon? Ive look in the actor properties and cannot find it for the life of me. I suck :(

well, I'm not sure I understand the question fully, but there are things to change regarding ammo in either the weapons class or the weapons ammo class:

Weapon (SniperRifle as example):

PickupAmmoCount=8 (this defines how much ammo the weapon has when a player picks it up, or gets it assigned as default weapon)

BulletBox (sniper ammo class):

AmmoAmount=10 (this value defines how much ammo you gain from picking up the ammo)
MaxAmmo=50 (This value defines the total amount of ammo the weapon can hold)

All variables are found in the actors properties. Now, setting it in the map will work fine unless it is later changed by a mutator. All you put into the maps are considdered as base settings, once you load mutators they can very well change the properties of the pickups.

[Pileyrei]

well, I'm not sure I understand the question fully, but there are things to change regarding ammo in either the weapons class or the weapons ammo class:

Weapon (SniperRifle as example):

PickupAmmoCount=8 (this defines how much ammo the weapon has when a player picks it up, or gets it assigned as default weapon)

BulletBox (sniper ammo class):

AmmoAmount=10 (this value defines how much ammo you gain from picking up the ammo)
MaxAmmo=50 (This value defines the total amount of ammo the weapon can hold)

All variables are found in the actors properties. Now, setting it in the map will work fine unless it is later changed by a mutator. All you put into the maps are considdered as base settings, once you load mutators they can very well change the properties of the pickups.

I'll check those settings out and confirm - thanks :)

[Pileyrei]

Next Noob question.


I've added some ChaosUT weapons (dont laugh) to a map.

I thought if you add weapons from a mod to a map its all included in the map?
When testing the map online ACE timed out/errored saying it cant find the file ChasoUT.u. So I guess this map needs to be "released" with the ChaosUT.u file if I were to put it up for download? Or is it because ChasoUT.u is not on the server? I'm thinking this is why!

I've sent the file to be added to the server in the mean time.

[YouKnowWho]

yes, all packages you use in the map needs to be on the server running it. You can use map manager or simular tool to zip the map with all dependencies.

However, it shouldn't be ACE that times out i think? the server should resolve to another map or crash from missing package? ... not sure .. been a long time since I've managed a server lol

[Pileyrei]

yes, all packages you use in the map needs to be on the server running it. You can use map manager or simular tool to zip the map with all dependencies.


Roger that pink leader!

I have uploaded the ChaosUT.u file to the server and will test again - the server never had it installed in the first place so that explains it.

[Pileyrei]

Time for another newbie question please.

Is it possible to add a weapon to a map and include the dependency in the map?

For example, if I wanted to add the Chaos UT Poison crossbow to Deck 16, could I add it without the need of including the chaosUT.u file/s? i.e. include it in the map download - you just needed to download the "new" map only.

In that example, it seems I have to add a million extra chaos ut files to the download just to add one of the chaos weapons?! :(

I hope my question makes sense.

Thanks
Piley

[Wormbo]

You'll have a hard time trying that. Let me put it this way: You won't be successful without doing a recompile. And an unauthorized recompile is something the Chaos team doesn't seem to like anyone to do.

[Pileyrei]

Thanks for the reply Wormbo