Merging Files

CorpseyCorpsey Join Date: 2011-07-02 Member: 107538Members
<div class="IPBDescription">Somehow</div>I posted this a long time ago.. but for mappers.. making 1 room can be incredibly detailed let alone a whole map, and since you can select multiple and rotate a giant chunk I thought:

Why not merge 2 files? Just do vertex, face, and prop lookup on the files and merge..

That way mappers can make separate rooms in files and just merge them to a master that they skew it around and place & fit it. Even sections like hallways, lighting configurations, etc. Maybe perhaps an export function too?

Comments

  • InsaneInsane Anomaly Join Date: 2002-05-13 Member: 605Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, NS2 Map Tester, Subnautica Developer, Pistachionauts, Future Perfect Developer
    The coordinates of your level objects are preserved when you copy & paste. This means you can copy a greybox room out of a .level file, send it to someone to work on in their own file, and then paste it back in and it will slot in right where it should be. Obviously this means you need to have greyboxed your layout first, but you should be doing that anyway, and once it's done it's very straightforward. This is how we've collaborated on levels internally, and it's worked out well.
  • CorpseyCorpsey Join Date: 2011-07-02 Member: 107538Members
    Will it include texture alignment information and props or not?
  • InsaneInsane Anomaly Join Date: 2002-05-13 Member: 605Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, NS2 Map Tester, Subnautica Developer, Pistachionauts, Future Perfect Developer
    It always has for me.
  • zastelszastels Join Date: 2003-11-29 Member: 23731Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1930602:date=Apr 27 2012, 04:56 AM:name=Insane)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Insane @ Apr 27 2012, 04:56 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1930602"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->The coordinates of your level objects are preserved when you copy & paste. This means you can copy a greybox room out of a .level file, send it to someone to work on in their own file, and then paste it back in and it will slot in right where it should be. Obviously this means you need to have greyboxed your layout first, but you should be doing that anyway, and once it's done it's very straightforward. This is how we've collaborated on levels internally, and it's worked out well.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    This information is so basic and useful I cannot believe I'm just learning about it!
  • hookeyedhookeyed Join Date: 2007-08-26 Member: 62011Members, Squad Five Blue
    edited April 2012
    While this is good for the dev team where multiple individuals are likely coordinating on a single map, I think as an individual mapper who has to create both the map layout AND the map design you should instead rely on Layers.

    For one, you're probably going to have a fair bit of difficulty making all your rooms fit together nicely if you're copying them all into a master file, moving them around, etc. Unless you already have your greybox done up.

    Using layers you can make large sections of your map invisible so that the editor is only rendering the geometry and models you see in the visible layer you're working on (except the lights, I think they are always rendered). Most mappers would then further divide those Layers into models, geometry, etc. Take a look at the layers in the maps that been released to get an idea of what I mean.

    This is something you'll need to do anyways as your map grows, and I think it's a lot easier to manage than having a pile of different files.

    [edited for clarity]
  • CorpseyCorpsey Join Date: 2011-07-02 Member: 107538Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1931260:date=Apr 28 2012, 02:55 PM:name=hookeyed)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (hookeyed @ Apr 28 2012, 02:55 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1931260"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->For one, you're probably going to have a fair bit of difficulty making all your rooms fit together nicely if you're copying them all into a master file, moving them around, etc. Unless you already have your greybox done up.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    That's kind of what I mean though.. export greybox as "room" then it will even just fix on import... but also prefabs and stuff.. like is there any way to prefab? I did some doorways by making one and duplicating it, but if I start a new map (because that one became too small very quickly for the amount of people currently playing) How can I get greybox prefabs? Also I know I did one other doorway that took 2 hours to fit a cargo door and look nice.. it would be great if I could just dupe that work out and fit it to new greybox instead of wanting a cargo door and having to do all that work to make it fit into the environment again.
  • hookeyedhookeyed Join Date: 2007-08-26 Member: 62011Members, Squad Five Blue
    <!--quoteo(post=1931409:date=Apr 29 2012, 03:37 AM:name=Corpsey)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Corpsey @ Apr 29 2012, 03:37 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1931409"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->That's kind of what I mean though.. export greybox as "room" then it will even just fix on import... but also prefabs and stuff.. like is there any way to prefab? I did some doorways by making one and duplicating it, but if I start a new map (because that one became too small very quickly for the amount of people currently playing) How can I get greybox prefabs? Also I know I did one other doorway that took 2 hours to fit a cargo door and look nice.. it would be great if I could just dupe that work out and fit it to new greybox instead of wanting a cargo door and having to do all that work to make it fit into the environment again.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    The best way to do this right now is to use Groups. You can put a bunch of geometry and models into a group and then easily select it all whenever you want to duplicate it.
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