.Map :: MoHAA Mapping

I've just spent an hour making a locomotive to add to my map, and I saved it as a prefab. When I go to load it into my map, it doesn't show up. When I went to inspect the prefab file, it was 0 bytes, so I'm guessing it didn't really save at all. An hours worth of work is now wasted.

Sometimes I just want to throw a brick through my monitor.

And even though my prefab is 0 bytes, when I add it to my map, it still acts as if changes have been made. How can anything have changed when nothing has been added?

And I'll never be able to recreate that locomotive. It was perfect, and I didn't document the steps because I was saving it every five minutes. Of course, I didn't know that it wouldn't save correctly.

Damn it.

You can save to a new map too. If you highlight something and then open a new map, it will ask if you want to copy the selected brushes. Then just save the new map as a backup to your prefab. Its easy to select everything in the new map with Selection > select inside (requires a surrounding brush).

I know that already. I just didn't do it this time because I've never had a reliability issue with saving things as prefabs. It figures that the one time I don't do it, things go awry.

Whatever.

I dought there is anything in it, but you can open .pfb files with Notepad or Wordpad.

My friend you should look into snapshots, it has save my arse dozens of times. Go to preferences and turn em on every 5 minutes or so. It saves hundreds of files but like i said its better than loosing work. I learned the hard way too.

I'll just make it again.

It's just irritating when you realize that you've wasted an hour of your life for nothing.

Once I was messing around and I deleted my whole entire lod terrain ...I could have used some bricks for that one...luckly I had saved a backup and was able to copy and paste it right back in...else I may not be mapping anymore.

This is kidna just blatantly capitalizing on your pain to beg for tips but .....

My next map is going to feature a train crashing into a building I think, though I havent worked out the details, most of the train doesnt seem hard to fabricate, but I'm not sure how well I will be able to make something like a locomotive to make it look like a real functioning train.

Any advice on how you go about making a vehicle like that?

Curves and wheels and stuff still scare my noob mapper ass.

Advice?

Google image search is your friend. Do a search for trains and look at the pictures. That helped me create something that didn't look outlandish or out of place.

Download other maps that have trains in them and study how they were created. It may give you some insight on how they were conctructed and give you new ideas of your own. You can also check out some of the single player levels in the game that have trains and take screenshots of the areas that you like.

As for curves and wheels, you just have to experiement and practice making them until you have something that you're comfortable using. This also ties in with looking at how other people made their wheels- It might give you some ideas.

I hope that helps!

Speaking of awsome trains, has any1 played Iron Storm?
There's a level where your on a train flying through the country side the whole level, its too cool.

Its a great effect, I stood on the very front tip of the iron that sticks out on the front of the locamotive and its like your flying, too cool. anyway.....

Oh, yeah Axion, I just lost over 100 hours on a bad ass map, so I know how ya feel !

They asked Thomas Edison how he felt about failing over 1000 attempts to invent the light bulb and he replyed " I discovered 1000 ways not to build the light bulb!