Rookie mapper guide write up request?
deathsticks
Join Date: 2012-09-30 Member: 161112Members
Join Date: 2012-09-30 Member: 161112Members
in Mapping
Hey guys, i've been lurking these forums intermittently for a few months now leading up to launch, unfortunately i was stupid and didn't end up preordering until NS2 was nearing launch and as such have only recently been able to get my hands on spark editor and i'm ready to dive in and go nuts with it but i'm having a lot of difficulty finding any sort of guide or requirements set for making a map successfully.
I've watched numerous tutorial videos and have got my head around the physical use of the software, making levels, layouts, inserting props lighting etc but i just cant find any information on where to go from here?
I understand that fundamentally i will need to put in A&M start points, tech points, power nodes, resource points, a ready room, hiding props/geometry from the commanders view? All the required mechanics for the game to work but i have literally no idea about what entities govern these, how you set them up or anything like that.
Watching and reading through here i see numerous tutorials and the like that kind of give me a vibe that this stuff is assumed knowledge? Is there a piece of documentation i haven't read where i have missed these basic requirements? or are these advanced features and i just haven't come across any information on these yet?
I'm very keen into diving in and getting some awesome stuff out there, any help would be very much appreciated =]
(Side note: If there anything that is available as written text over video tutorials that would be awesome as its kinda hard to watch videos sometimes with work etc)
I've watched numerous tutorial videos and have got my head around the physical use of the software, making levels, layouts, inserting props lighting etc but i just cant find any information on where to go from here?
I understand that fundamentally i will need to put in A&M start points, tech points, power nodes, resource points, a ready room, hiding props/geometry from the commanders view? All the required mechanics for the game to work but i have literally no idea about what entities govern these, how you set them up or anything like that.
Watching and reading through here i see numerous tutorials and the like that kind of give me a vibe that this stuff is assumed knowledge? Is there a piece of documentation i haven't read where i have missed these basic requirements? or are these advanced features and i just haven't come across any information on these yet?
I'm very keen into diving in and getting some awesome stuff out there, any help would be very much appreciated =]
(Side note: If there anything that is available as written text over video tutorials that would be awesome as its kinda hard to watch videos sometimes with work etc)
Comments
to answer more directly, the most important entitiy you need to place into your map is the ns2_gamerules entity - without this the map won't even load.
that said - it would be good if the editor started each new map with all of the required entities (like a template i guess).
not to mention some prefab faces that fit the door and window models/props.
<a href="http://www.andrige.com/ns2/NS2-Mapping-Guidelines.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.andrige.com/ns2/NS2-Mapping-Guidelines.pdf</a>
I found this copy of guidelines trawling around the web, ill check out the launchpad information this afternoon when i get home =]
Someone also commented on fmpone's webbed topic saying
<!--quoteo(post=1890967:date=Dec 20 2011, 06:28 PM:name=LV426-Colonist)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (LV426-Colonist @ Dec 20 2011, 06:28 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1890967"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->A few things that would be useful for those looking to map but don't know all the techniques of creation:
-Spawning requirements (Mains)
-Random starts (And how they work)
-TP/RT requirements
-Powernodes (And how they work)
-Circular faces (Curvature)
-Creating one face from multiple faces
-Creating Mini Map to use in game
-Setting up pathways (Macs/Drifters)
-Adding audio (Sound Effects)
-How doors work/function
-Proper/Improper alignment
-Different lighting techniques
-Main use of rotation/size/scale tools
-Determining the "proper" size for each room (Onos)
-Determining the "proper" size for vent/air ducts
-How to piece the map together (Like a puzzle)<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This kind of stuff would be great to know haha. Unfortunately none of fmpones videos seem to come up on his channel for me =\
Even something like a checklist explaining the essential components of a functioning map, as well as where to find them, how to put them in, and testing if they work etc
Hell i'de even chuck in a free steam game or something for someone to do that ^^
i just remembered too that someone PM'd me asking for something similar, and i sent them a list with:
For a new map you need the follow entity:
1x ns2_gamerules
1x path_settings (copy this from the ns2_mineshaft readyroom for better settings,but default is fine for starting a new map)
2x techpoint (one set to marine, one set to alien - or both set to random)
2x resource nodes (1 near each techpoint)
1x minimap extents (use the resize tool to stretch to a huge size so that it fits over your entire map geometry/map)
1x location (give it a name, and stretch it over atleast one room, preferably the marine techpoint, so that they start with power on!)
1x powerpoint (inside the location entity)
1x ready_roomstart
Let it also be noted the minimap_extents entity needs to be a perfect square when looking at it from top down otherwise you will most likely run into issues when creating the minimap using overview.exe
Spawning Requirements:
<!--coloro:#000000--><span style="color:#000000"><!--/coloro-->###<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->a "Ready" room that contains the following:
<!--coloro:#000000--><span style="color:#000000"><!--/coloro-->######<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--> - 4 team_join entity's, one for Alien, Marine, Spectate and Random
<!--coloro:#000000--><span style="color:#000000"><!--/coloro-->######<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--> - a few ready_room_start entity's, these are the spawnpoints
<!--coloro:#000000--><span style="color:#000000"><!--/coloro-->######<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--> - 1 ns_gamerules entity (doesn't matter where you place it)
<!--coloro:#000000--><span style="color:#000000"><!--/coloro-->######<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--> - 1 commander_camera entity (doesn't matter where you place it)
<!--coloro:#000000--><span style="color:#000000"><!--/coloro-->###<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--> - the actual map containing:
<!--coloro:#000000--><span style="color:#000000"><!--/coloro-->######<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--> - 2 tech point entity's, these are for your hives and command centers
<!--coloro:#000000--><span style="color:#000000"><!--/coloro-->######<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--> - make sure there's enough room for infantry portals(you can set them to Marine only start, Alien only start, don't use as a start, random start)
<!--coloro:#000000--><span style="color:#000000"><!--/coloro-->######<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--> - 2 resource point's close to the techpoints (not sure if they have to be near them for a map to start properly)
<!--coloro:#000000--><span style="color:#000000"><!--/coloro-->######<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--> - 2 power point's close to the tech point's
<!--coloro:#000000--><span style="color:#000000"><!--/coloro-->######<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc--> - 1 minimap_extents entity, this enables the minimap
Random Starts:
<!--coloro:#000000--><span style="color:#000000"><!--/coloro-->###<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->Click a tech point => Team Number => Set whatever you want
Power node's:
<!--coloro:#000000--><span style="color:#000000"><!--/coloro-->###<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->These work with the location entity. The location entity works like the minimap_extents one, but is used for certain areas.
<!--coloro:#000000--><span style="color:#000000"><!--/coloro-->###<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->When a power node loses power all the light entity's and marine structures that are in the same location entity as the power node will turn off.
<!--coloro:#000000--><span style="color:#000000"><!--/coloro-->###<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->It's possible to let lights ignore the power grid.
<!--coloro:#000000--><span style="color:#000000"><!--/coloro-->###<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->Click light => Ignore Power Grid => True/False
Minimap:
<!--coloro:#000000--><span style="color:#000000"><!--/coloro-->###<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->Click the minimap_extents entity, and align it with your map. The actual map should be inside the entity.
<!--coloro:#000000--><span style="color:#000000"><!--/coloro-->###<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->When that is done look at it from the top and find out what it's biggest side is, copy that value into
<!--coloro:#000000--><span style="color:#000000"><!--/coloro-->###<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->the field that controls the shortest side. This should make the entity a square, as it will be buggy as a rectangle.
<!--coloro:#000000--><span style="color:#000000"><!--/coloro-->###<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->Click minimap_extents => Scale => X/Z (Y controls the height of it, which isn't needed)
Pathways:
<!--coloro:#000000--><span style="color:#000000"><!--/coloro-->###<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->No longer needed (i think)
Geometry size:
<!--coloro:#000000--><span style="color:#000000"><!--/coloro-->###<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->Steam\steamapps\common\Natural Selection 2\Mapping Guidelines.pdf
<!--coloro:#000000--><span style="color:#000000"><!--/coloro-->###<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->page 9
Also <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=111839" target="_blank">ns2_sample</a> is a good source
-There is no example on how to draw vents on the minimap (shows up as orange).
-The option to place infantry portals where possible starting bases can be, as it's possible that they end up in a weird spot if the game has to do it dynamically.
The portal thing isn't very hard but if you have no idea where to start it would be nice if it were included in the map.
- While not being used, there's an egg_starts and 2 waypoint layer's. The readme says it's no longer needed after a certain build, but removing them would avoid confusion.
While a little outdated, it sure isn't bad to start with. Not sure what OcclusionGeometry is for though, never really seen a post that explained it properly. Having 2 sentences as explanation isn't all that helpful.
To be able to play my map, I used the same entities that was used in the ns2_sample build 188, which can be found on the bottom of <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/wiki/index.php/Ns2_sample" target="_blank">this</a> page. Here's the list of the entities I used (one of each):
- tech_point
- commander_camera
- resource_point
- power_point
- team_join (Random)
- team_join (Marine)
- team_join (Alien)
- team_join (Spectate)
- ready_doom_start
- pathing_settings
- ns2_gamerules
- skybox
And a short video tutorial to get you acquainted with how to use the tools in Spark Editor can be found <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRnF6MuzqAk" target="_blank">here</a>. It doesn't really teach how to design a level as much as it teaches how to use the tools that the editor provides.
The ns2_ sample build 188 does not seem to be outdated. I used it to get myself through this bit a couple of days ago / last night / can't remember the exact time or date.
reverb's for sound. you can set the echo in any given room with a reverb entity. this applies to all sounds that happen within the room. great for making open halls or caverns with appropriate echo.