Scripts & Terrains

[IronM@n]

Hello there ,

I have just found your gr8 site

I have been dabbling in mohradiant for about 3 or 4 months now and have no problems with actually building anything and compiling it all, the only thing im seriously noobish at is the terrains and making scripts.

I have tried some of the tutorials from people like nemisis and all the others on both subjects and for some strange reason i cant get my head around these items, i know in my self what it is im trying to do in my mapping attempts, but i am finding that scripts are playing a big part in those ideas.

I think i am basically needing lead by the hand into scripting and terrains.
Can some1 plz help

Thx Ironman aka Stuart

[Mj]

You've come to the right place matey

For terrain, you can either use Paint Shop Pro to draw a picture of your terrain, with black being up and white being down (i think its that way round...?) and so a shade of grey is in the middle. Use PSP because it has nice fuzzy brushes, which give you instant slope

Or you can do it, like i do, the unprofessional way as in mohradiant, make yourself a peice of LoD, press 'V' to show the verticies and drag them up and down. This is a bit of an art form, creating decent LoD like this, and will require a LOT of practice (i know for one )

For scripting, i'm still not really knowledgeable, but i know the basics like $player give blabla and $moveblock movey 60 Ect, and all the normal dm scripting and such, and i gained this by looking ad plagurising (stealing from) other peoples scripts . Its the only way i know how to learn scripting, so give it a go, cause as you use them, you tend to realise what there functions are.

Hope it helps,

Mj

[Krane]

I learned about terrains like this: Turn your floor brush into a LOD. Press "V" and lots of dots will appear in the LOD. Using the mouse, start to lower and higher some of them. Play w/ this for a while.

I learned about scripts this way: Take an existing map. If this map have some cool stuff that is obviously scripted, open the scr file and take a carefull look. You'll see some familiar terms. Try to copy and paste what you saw to your map scr. Ok, it will not work. Take another look, ask in the forum, keep trying, etc...

You'll end learning! Easy? Well, easy is to pell an orange! As long as you really want something, you'll make it. And here at this forum there's tons of ppl w/ goodwill to help you!

Good luck and welcome to .Map !

[Bjarne BZR]

And also there is my Wiki where me and a bunch of guys from therse forums collaborate to write tutorials: http://gronnevik.se/rjukan/
( It has a huge scripting tutorial and also a LOD terrain tutorial )

[IronM@n]

Thank you every1 who replied to my post .

I have been trying out a few of the terrain ideas that you have mentioned here by useing PSP and the editor its self i.e. LOD Terrain in the the past, but with what you are all saying here i think i might be doing something else wrong.

Let me ask a few questions :

1 When any of u guys make a map what is the first thing you start with?

2 Should buildings be made first or terrain ?

3 How big should a terrain be ?

That should be enough for now to keep me right.

Once again thx for the gr8 responce you all have given me on these trying subjects.

[Bjarne BZR]

1 When any of u guys make a map what is the first thing you start with?

An idea. Then perhaps some drawings to make the idea clearer. Then some fast layout using only big blocks, and then start working on eyecandy and details.

2 Should buildings be made first or terrain ?

If its an outdoor map using LOD, I'd start with terrain and later fit everything into the terrain. If its a city map, ther isnt a lot of terrain, and the terrain there is is probaly added after buildings.

3 How big should a terrain be ?

If by terrain you mean map size: not too big, most maps will have a center of combat where the main action goes on. Build that area first and make it a fun and varied place to do combat, then you add areas around it sor secondaru combat zones and perhaps routes around the combat area, allowing attacks fron the rear and so on.

Remember: K.I.S.S.
Keep it simple, stupid

[Jack Ruby]

Bjarne has lead the way for you, you couldnt get better advice anywhere else

When I start out on a map I like to have it based in some kind of reality, ie. make it similar to a real location where a battle was fought.

There were way too many battles in WW2, you can research locations on google, often you can find photos of the buildings, aerial recon shots and eye witness accounts of what happened.

For the sake of gameplay pretty much everything gets scaled down, you dont want people getting lost.

I usually block out the map with a basic layout and big brushes that represent buildings, get the postioning of the buildings and landscape right then work on individual buildings adding detail and adapting things as I go along.

Bjarnes LOD tute is excellent, those Telemark hills are maybe the nicest I ever saw

[PinkPanther]

|:( www.TheBunkerMakers.piczo.com

[Mj]

Please, don't spam, and stay on topic!!

[bdbodger]

Stay on a topic that is a year old already ? I think this guy is just trying to get banned .